Entries Tagged 'Bird Conservation' ↓

The American Bird Conservancy is working with a host of partners across Idaho, Washington, and Oregon to conserve habitat for four cavity-nesting birds. The Lewis’s Woodpecker, Flammulated Owl, Williamson’s Sapsucker, and White-headed Woodpecker are on the WatchList with the Lewis’s being one of the highest priority species not protected by the Endangered Species Act.

Lewis’s Woodpecker by Metaphor

The National Forest Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Society/Doris Duke Foundation, and the American Forest Foundation are working to help the American Bird Conservancy reach its goal of increasing Lewis’s Woodpecker population by 10% in fifteen years.

The project focuses on teaching private land owners proper management of Ponderosa Pine forests, one of the main habitats for these cavity-nesting birds.

Ponderosa Pines overlooking Lake Tahoe, Nevada

The American Bird Conservancy does a fine job partnering with multiple organizations and individuals to reach lofty conservation goals. We would hate to see any of these four wonderful birds run out of suitable habitat.

The Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii) is a shy little bird of shrubby habitats found in the midwest, southwest United States, and northern Mexico. With an estimated 1.5 million individuals, this vireo has declined approximately by over 60% since 1966.

While hard to find in northern Illinois, some important breeding areas can be found in Arizona at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge and the San Pedro Riparian National Wildlife Area. In Texas, Big Bend National Park and the Nature Conservancy’s David Mountain Preserve also holds breeding populations.

At Camp Pendleton military base in California, approximately half the population of the subspecies Least Bell’s Vireo can be found. Accommodating military bases can be extremely important to many bird species.

Conservation Needs

• Increase acreage of riparian and shrubby habitat
• Improve riparian habitat degraded by grazing and invasive plant species
• Develop baseline inventory of breeding and wintering populations

Conservation Action

The Upper San Pedro Partnership includes many organizations working to improve the area along the San Pedro River. Less conservation efforts have been made in the Midwest, but we feel that places in Illinois could support more Bell’s Vireo if the habitat was managed for them. This is one of the 14 birds on our Focused Bird Conservation Project

Full details on this species and 99 other North American birds at risk can be found in Jeffrey V. Wells’ Birder’s Conservation Handbook.

Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea)are one of the few songbirds to nest in cavities and inhabit much of the southeast and Great Lake states. They nest in swampy forests and winter along the coast of Central and South America. Their mangrove wintering sites are rapidly decreasing.

In our area, Prothonotary Warblers are uncommon but found yearly along riparian areas. We have been lucky to see them often this year, perhaps due to high amounts of rainfall.

Conservation List

• Increase acreage of bottomland and upland forest habitats
• Slow or halt deforestation and degradation of wintering mangrove habitat (restore habitat where possible)
• Develop baseline inventory of Prothonotary Warbler breeding and wintering populations

Conservation Action

Partners in Flight along with other conservation organizations such as Mississippi Valley Joint Venture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Wildlife Program, The National Resources Conservation Service Wetland Reserve Program, Ducks Unlimited, and the Nature Conservancy have taken up efforts to increase acreage of proper habitat. Other organizations on the wintering grounds have been limited and stricter laws are needed (and enforced).

In our area we have been tracking Prothonotary Warbler sightings to work on establishing nesting locations. We have hopes of creating a nest box program similar to what has been done for Eastern Bluebirds. However, according to the Birder’s Conservation Handbook, nest boxes have “increased local densities of breeding birds, though there is concern that birds breeding in nest boxes may have increased rates of nest predation”.

As of 2004, Prothonotary Warbler population was estimated at 1.8 million (39% decline since 1966). Full details on this species and 99 other North American birds at risk can be found in Jeffrey V. Wells’ Birder’s Conservation Handbook.

Every time a Duck Stamp is bought, precious bird habitat is conserved. For every Duck Stamp purchased, 98 cents of every dollar goes directly to purchase land.

We found more proof showing how wonderful Duck Stamps are for conservation. The Mirgratory Bird Conservation Commission approved 18,118 acres of wetland and grassland habitat for Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge along with quite a few other grants.

From the U.S. Department of Interior Press Release: As part of a suite of wetlands acquisition and conservation grant approvals, the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission today approved $4 million to purchase more than 18,000 acres of prime prairie wetland and associated grassland habitat for the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Minnesota – one of the largest purchases ever using dollars generated from Federal Duck Stamp sales and import duties on firearms and ammunition.

This huge land purchase shows how hunters and conservationists can come together and proof that Duck Stamps work.

This acquisition also secures habitat for three other National Wildlife Refuges.

1. Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge - Oregon - 180 acres
2. Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge - North Carolina – 1,481 acres
3. Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge - Maine – 1,129 acres

Also approved:

1. $24 million in federal funding to protect, restore, enchance and manage over 107,000 acres of habitat in North America under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA)
2. $1.67 million for 27 projects affecting 28,657 acres in 24 states under the NAWCA Small Grants program
3. $19.7 million for four Canadian projects affecting 80,000 acres
4. $640,000 for two projects protecting 2,470 acres in Mexico

ConserveOnline is a free online community for conservationists. Maintained by the Nature Conservancy, ConserveOnline offers the ability to post data, documents, images, maps and other resources; announce upcoming meetings or events and host discussions in your workspace; search for documents within a selected list of conservation organization websites.

The new ConserveOnline allows conservationists anywhere easily manage their local knowledge flow, via free and fast coordination and document management tools; identify other individuals and organizations who are doing similar work; grow the existing global library of conservation tools, techniques, and experiences; discuss how and where to channel resources for the greatest conservation impact; and share successes and failures to ensure that proven strategies – not failed approaches – are repeated and strengthened.

ConserveOnline has been recently revamped and looks to be a great tool for conservation organizations all over. In a simple search for Blue-winged Warbler we found 24 results with various articles about this species. As more organizations sign up, this resource will only improve, although the information overload is a bit heavy.

There are few places on Earth where large areas of intact ecosystems remain and birds abound. The Boreal Forest is one of those places. The Canadian Boreal Forest encompasses 1.4 billion acres and is responsible for the breeding of billions of birds. BILLIONS of birds!!

Helping the Boreal Forest means helping birds like this Bay-breasted Warbler

Unfortunately, the Boreal is not safe from destruction and many opportunistic companies are attempting to snatch up land for profit. While this natural resource is important for both Canadian and American economies, much of the products produced from this important bird habitat are waste products: junk mail, catalogs, and other paper materials. And of course there are the oil, gas, mining, and hydro industries.
Continue reading →

Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, which we prefer to call Bird Conservation Stamps (Duck Stamps) are one of the best ways of creating and restoring habitat. 98 cents of every dollar goes straight to conservation funding making it the most cost-effective form of bird conservation.

• In 2007, approximately 1.6 million duck stamps were sold! At $15.00 each that means over $23 million that goes straight into protecting habitat for birds.
• Since 1991, there has not been any price increase on the Duck Stamp. This year there is a proposal to raise the price to $25.00, a notable increase but one that is important to increasing conservation.
• Some people might be discouraged to purchase the stamps but even if total sales decrease by say 10% (1.44 million stamps) the new price will raise over $35 million, a substantial increase in funds. But hopefully all birders will be inspired to purchase stamps.
• If there are 40 million birders in the U.S. and just half of these birders buy one stamp a year, that’s $490 million (98%) that would be used to purchase and protect land that birders enjoy.

Bird Conservation Stamps do more than protect waterfowl. Many species of birds benefit from the increase in habitat protection.

Do your part and buy a stamp if you haven’t yet. Or you can join The National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) and buy a stamp with your membership!