Neotropical Migratory Birds have Dual Citizenship

Have you ever been outside and had a flash of color fly by? Do you find yourself intrigued to discover what kind of bird you caught a glimpse of? You are not alone in this curiosity, as tens of millions of Americans enjoy bird watching as a favorite pastime.

Chances are, you’ve seen a neotropical migratory bird species, like a Bicknell’s Thrush or Scarlet Tanager, who call multiple countries “home” depending its life cycle stage. Neotropical bird species are unique in that they breed in Canada and the United States during the summer and spend winters in Mexico, Central America and South America, making it critical to conserve habitat across many countries to ensure the longevity of these birds. Despite their incomparable beauty and invaluable ecological functions, populations of many migratory bird species with “dual citizenship” are in decline due to habitat loss and degradation.

Scarlet Tanagers are found in North, Central, and South America. Photo by Les Brooks.

The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) is a federal grant program designed to benefit Americans through helping sustain their continued enjoyment of birds while stimulating economic growth in the birdwatching industry, and through ensuring habitat for migratory birds that help maintain our environmental health. In this year alone, over $3.8 million in grants from NMBCA will support 31 collaborative conservation projects throughout 19 countries including Canada, the United States, Mexico, and other countries in Central and South America.

NMBCA is unique in that it fosters collaborations between partners across many countries and habitats to conserve migratory bird habitat, engages local communities in bird habitat protection, strengthens international relations, and raises awareness of the importance of bird conservation. Migratory bird conservation does not have borders – without collective conservation effort and collaboration across countries, successful conservation of migratory birds is not possible, since these birds are “dual citizens” that call multiple countries home.

Birding at Gachette Reservoir in the Dominican Republic, supported by the NMBCA. Photo by USFWS Headquarters.

“For a lot of our migratory birds that spend a good time of their annual life cycle outside of the U.S., working with partners in other countries is really critical for maintaining stable populations for those species, and protecting habitat on both ends of their migratory routes,” says Randy Dettmers, a landbird biologist for U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Division of Migratory Birds. “The NMBCA is one of few government sponsored funding mechanisms to help promote international and full life cycle conservation actions. It is really critical for a lot of our migratory species to link conservation efforts between breeding, migrating, and wintering areas.”

A Bicknell’s Thrush. Photo by Jeff Nadler.

A particular focus of the NMBCA is protecting habitat for various life stages of the Bicknell’s Thrush, a migratory bird species of highest conservation concern in the U.S.. The majority of the breeding population for Bicknell’s Thrush is in the northeast states, with wintering habitat in the Dominican Republic. “We recognize that loss of wintering habitat in the Dominican Republic is a major threat to Bicknell’s Thrush,” says Randy Dettmers. Randy, along with other members of the USFWS, had the opportunity to go to the Dominican Republic and meet with the Ministry of the Environment and other NGO conservation groups that are interested in protecting habitats for wildlife in general.  “We had a great opportunity to see first hand the issues they are dealing with, and discuss ways to collaborate and share information. We shared what strategies worked well in management areas, and worked on developing better strategic management plans for remaining habitat for Bicknell’s Thrush.”

So why get involved in migratory bird conservation? The 386 neotropical migratory bird species, including songbirds, shorebirds, and birds of prey, provide essential ecological functions including pollinating and dispersing seeds of plants that create habitat for other wildlife, keeping insect and rodent populations in balance, and providing early warnings of environmental contamination. Secondary contributions include generating billions of dollars in economic growth through the purchases of binoculars, bird seed, and travel expenses.

Click here for more information on ways you can invest in conservation.

Learn more about bird watching or click here for more information on NMBCA.

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Where bird biologists ‘Give Wing to Their Wild Side’

In honor of National Wildlife Refuge Week, I asked two of our Region’s bird biologists to answer the question, “When you go birding, which National Wildlife Refuge do you like to visit and why?” As you can see from their responses, picking just one proved to be impossible! Read on to hear some of the amazing experiences they have had while birding on America’s beautiful National Wildlife Refuges!

Mitch Hartley

Hartley looks on while a student examines a tufted titmouse. Credit: Bennett Gould

Asking me what my favorite refuge is for birding isn’t a hard question…  It’s an impossible question!  It’s a bit like asking me which of my children I love the most.  To me, birding is about experiencing the wonder and diversity of nature in its many forms.  I have more refuge birding memories than I can count, many of them uniquely special and irreplaceable.

A puffin swimming at Seal Island NWR. Credit: LightHart via Flickr

That includes seeing Atlantic Puffins and Razorbills up close on Maine’s Seal Island NWR, hearing–and feeling–the force of hundreds of wingbeats as flocks of shorebirds poured over my head (a Peregrine Falcon in close pursuite) at Montezuma NWR in New York, and waiting patiently to get a great look at one of the more secretive–and rarest–birds on the Atlantic Coast, the tiny Saltmarsh Sparrow, at Parker River NWR in Massachusetts.

The elusive saltmarsh sparrow. Credit: Brian C. Harris

I was lucky enough once to visit some of the hundreds of potholes that make up the refuge system’s Wetland Management Districts in North Dakota, surely some of our most productive “refuges” on a per acre basis.  I had more exciting and satisfying duck hunting in a few days there than I had experienced over twenty five years in other states.

A duck takes flight. Credit: Ryan Moehring

The joy of birding is seeing new species, seeing something you haven’t seen in a while, or just getting a great look at something unusual.  I’ll never forget the first rail I saw in the open, walking along the edge of the marsh at New Jersey’s Forsythe NWR.  But it’s nearly as exciting when a Whimbrel lands near you on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, or you get really clear views of a Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, and Blackburnian Warbler in the same conifer forest at Umbagog NWR in New Hampshire.

Hartley scanning a Connecticut field for birds.

Each visit to a refuge is another great chance to have one of these unexpected moments, where I get the thrill of feeling like I am connected directly to nature.  I look forward to those encounters every time I’m birding, whether they involve a relatively common bird or a rarity from far away.

Caleb Spiegel

Spiegel spotting piping plovers. Credit: Craig Watson

During 20 years as a wildlife biologist I have been lucky enough to spend numerous hours watching and studying birds, both on and off the job. Some of my most memorable bird experiences have been on National Wildlife Refuges across the country. Here are a few of my favorites:

The forest at Hakalau NWR. Credit: David Patte/USFWS

Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge, Big Island of Hawaii: Some of the rarest birds in the world find sanctuary from threats such as avian malaria and habitat loss among the massive native koa and o’hia trees on this jewel of a refuge. One of my favorite birding experiences was at Hakalau while helping to lead public birding tours during a refuge open house. Many species of native forest birds fluttered from tree top to tree top, from the flame orange ‘Akepa, to the long-billed ‘Akiapola’au.  I can’t think of another refuge where you can see so many incredible endemic forest birds in one place.

The flame orange ‘Akepa. Credit: HarmonyonPlanetEarth via Flickr

Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge: Amidst the hustle and bustle of the San Francisco Bay area, this refuge provides critical habitat to a huge variety of waterfowl, shorebirds, and marsh birds…Not to mention bird lovers. In 1996, while a Student Conservation Association Intern at Don Edwards, I lived in a staff trailer only feet away from one of the most beautiful brackish marshes I have ever encountered. Every day after breakfast, I’d grab by binoculars, climb down the steps of my trailer, and stroll the boardwalks of my ‘home’ marsh. I really got to know the birds that lived next to me.  This experience helped solidify my career path.

Credit: Ingrid Taylar

Credit: TJ Gelhing

Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge: Many miles of ever-changing sands and marshes of Monomoy refuge jut off the ‘elbow’ of Cape Cod and out into the ocean as far as the eye can see. A great number of breeding, migratory, and wintering birds call this spectacular place home. Since 1998 I have had the opportunity to go out to (and even fly over) Monomoy several times to help hard-working Refuge Biologists and other partners study shorebirds and waterbirds, including the listed Piping Plover and Roseate Tern. My times on Monomoy have always been memorable, from watching the sun set over a tidal flat with several hundred foraging Red Knots, to the cacophony of thousands of Common Terns circling above my head.

Spiegel releasing a common tern. Credit: Pam Loring/USFWS

 If you would like to go on a birding adventure at a nearby Refuge, plan your visit on the Northeast Region National Wildlife Refuge System website!

Wednesday Wisdom – George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver was a visionary in the field of botany as well as an inventor during the early 1900s.  He spent a lot of time behind a microscope.  When we take the mystery out of that which is unfamiliar by looking at it a little more closely, we begin to make connections and understand “it” better.  When we connect, we begin to care…perhaps these two birdwatchers are looking at hope right in the eye!

Students from Pepper Middle School, Longstreth Elementary and Norwood Elementary in Philadelphia bird watch on Tinicum Marsh at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Pennsylvania.