From American Bird Conservancy
ABC is stepping up an effort to turn three iconic migratory birds into examples of how “full life-cycle” conservation programs work. The birds are the Long-billed Curlew, the Golden-winged Warbler, and the Bicknell’s Thrush. Andrew Rothman, Director of ABC’s Migratory Bird Program, said this relatively new approach to migratory bird conservation treats international and domestic conservation efforts as two sides of the same coin.
Rothman said the Long-Billed Curlew is a good example of why full life-cycle conservation programs are needed. These shorebirds spend the breeding season in the grasslands of the northern Great Plains and Intermountain West and the nonbreeding season predominantly in the desert grasslands of northern Mexico. Over the years, the grasslands at both ends of this migration have been badly degraded by urban and suburban growth, intensive grazing and agriculture, and invasive plants.
In Mexico, ABC and Pronatura Noreste are hoping to reverse the loss of grasslands by identifying and protecting lands used by the curlew and other birds in winter. A leading showcase for these efforts is the El Tokio Grassland Priority Conservation Area near the city of Saltillo, in northeastern Mexico. Rothman said additional protected areas are now being created on communal or “ejido” lands, adding that the badly damaged grasslands in these areas are also being restored.
Meanwhile, on the curlew’s breeding grounds, ABC has hired Cheryl Mandich, a wildlife biologist who will help private and public landowners manage their properties in “curlewfriendly” ways. To guide that process, a new report on how to manage grasslands for Long-billed Curlews and other birds has been written and is now being reviewed.
“One of our goals is to see these practices adopted on a landscape scale,” said Rothman. “Having these practices used on federal lands and supported by the Natural Resources Conservation Service as part of their financial assistance programs for private landowners would be a huge step toward that goal.”
The Golden-winged Warbler is another migrant that is receiving full life-cycle assistance. In North America, ABC and other groups are restoring early successional forests from the even-aged eastern forests that now dominate the warbler’s breeding grounds. In the Appalachians and Great
Lakes areas, researchers and private landowners have been restoring “young forest” openings that used to be created by beavers, small farmers, and unsuppressed fires.
See http://www.abcbirds.org/PDFs/GWWA_article.pdf for a more detailed Golden-winged Warbler article from Bird Conservation magazine.
Rothman said a different kind of restoration is being done in some of the warbler’s wintering grounds. In Nicaragua, ABC and the owners of the El Jaguar Reserve have been reconnecting forest fragments with shade coffee plantations and reforested areas. The goal of this project is a biological corridor that will connect the forests of El Jaguar with the forests on the Yali volcano.
Bicknell’s Thrush is a new addition to ABC’s list of migratory birds receiving full life-cycle assistance. On the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola, where most of these birds winter, ABC, Grupo Jaragua, other conservation groups, and government agencies are cracking down on illegal logging and other destructive practices in protected forests used by the Bicknell’s Thrush. And in Canada, where this
thrush breeds, groups such as QuebecOiseaux and Bird Studies Canada are mapping out key habitats and working with timber companies to log in ways that are beneficial for the birds.
These examples of full life-cycle conservation implementation and many more will be discussed and advanced at the fifth Partners in Flight International Conference and Workshop scheduled from August 25-28 in Snowbird, Utah. Learn more at www.pifv.org.
In an Era Known for Bird Migration Problems, Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds Are Thriving. Why?
See http://www.abcbirds.org/PDFs/RTHU_migration_article.pdf for an in-depth article by ABC’s John Nielsen.
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