Along certain skyways, air traffic control is directed by changing seasons, ancient instinct, biology and ecological connections among the flyers. Each fall and spring, some 500 bird species make the annual round-trip flight along the Atlantic Flyway, touching at layovers along coastal and inland waterways, wetlands, bogs, and even urban refuges. They stop to feed, rest, mate, brood and to teach their young the finer points of flight — and then they are off again.

Ducks and geese, songbirds and hundreds of other winged creatures follow the seasons along the Atlantic route, one of four unique flyways in the U.S. Their flights commingle with other mammals and fish who are also on the move, or perhaps staying in place.

The science of migration captivated Tomas Koeck when he was a student at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, where he found an ideal launch pad for his curiosity about nature, his love of storytelling and his passion for filmmaking. There, he also developed the business savvy that launched his career as a wildlife documentarian.

At 27, Koeck has released his first feature-length film, “Flyway of Life,” produced in partnership with the Audubon Society and other conservation partners. The film is now making its way through New England and down the flyway coast, and will be screened Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Audubon Nature Center and Aquarium in Bristol, followed by a cocktail reception and post-screening director’s talk. Koeck has already held screenings in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York City and New Hampshire; in February, he will present the film in Costa Rica.

“I was in grad school, and my professor knew the kind of workaholic I was,” Koeck said. “He said, ‘If you want to do a professional project, go for it.’” He had begun college at the University of Pennsylvania as a fencer before transferring to Sacred Heart, where he found his path as a director, filmmaker and storyteller. He also discovered the business and fundraising angle: his “Flyways” project required $250,000 to $300,000. The full production took more than two years to complete.

By partnering with Audubon — he serves on the board of the Connecticut Audubon Society — he gained the avian expertise he needed, along with access to a broad Audubon audience. He collaborated with Canon, the photography company, to buy or borrow equipment, and with other vendor partners — all part of the financing scramble familiar to documentary filmmakers. He also secured support from tourism boards and conservation groups, and by sharing content with fellow filmmakers.

“My plan was to do something really impactful, to show local environments along the migration paths from Central America up to the sub-Arctic region,” he said. “At first we wanted to focus on birds, but then it became clear how birds tie much of our ecology together. Even wolves have a role in bird migration.”

The Atlantic Flyway is not a single corridor of flight; that would simply be too crowded. Its various paths encompass offshore and coastal waters of the Caribbean and Atlantic, the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia and northeastern Ohio, the Canadian interior, the Northwest Territories and Alaska’s Arctic coast. The so-called Pelagic Migration includes ocean-only routes from the Caribbean to the Canadian Maritimes and Greenland. Flyway of Life brings together scientists, conservationists, entrepreneurs and storytellers to share this sweeping ecological narrative.

Koeck’s screening will also offer a post-screening talk about behind-the-scenes production moments and a sneak preview of his next project, “Ocean State” — a collaboration with Ocean State Media focusing closely on the ecology of Rhode Island, which is now in production. Koeck also has a coffee-table photography book for sale at the screening, “Flyway of Life: Love Letters to the Natural World.”

Koeck is clearly gaining traction in the world of nature documentaries: he has also produced shorter works for National Geographic, PBS Nature, the Smithsonian and ESPN.

“‘Flyway’ is meant to show that the birds we see in the spring are the birds that came here from Costa Rica. Their involvement in nature in New England is just as important as it is in Costa Rica,” Koeck said. Preserving bird habitats, he added, is crucial to keeping flyway migration intact, but many ecosystems are under threat from development and the loss of migratory habitat.

Still, the winged travelers persist year after year, sometimes navigating treacherous flight conditions.

“Some of these birds are three inches long,” he said. “Kudos to them.”

The Dec. 6 event begins with a reception at 4 p.m., followed by the screening at 5 p.m.