Shorebirds in the Prairie Region of Canada have experienced long-term declines, including the threatened Lesser Yellowlegs, which has declined by 70% since 1970. Partners in our Prairie Habitat Joint Venture (PHJV) Science Committee are working to ensure that target landscapes include much needed habitat for Lesser Yellowlegs and other shorebird species. Lesser Yellowlegs breed in [...]
It’s a clear, May morning, on the plains of eastern Montana. The dawn chorus of birds welcomes the sun as it crests over hills of waving bunch grass. You can’t turn in any direction here without seeing a meadowlark singing atop a shrub or fencepost. You also can’t look anywhere without seeing, or hearing, cows. [...]
Since 2021, the Sea Duck Joint Venture has supported a large-scale collaborative research project to deploy Argos satellite tracking devices on American Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima dresseri). Eider populations have been declining across the southern part of their breeding range since the early 21st century. These changes are hypothesized to be caused by the rapid [...]
Throughout 2026, Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture is celebrating the ʻalae ʻula, or Hawaiian Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata sandvicensis). There are just 712 of these waterbirds left. Although they are endemic to Hawaiʻi, they have been lost from all of the islands except Kauaʻi and Oʻahu. In order to thrive, ‘alae ‘ula require healthy coastal [...]
The Sonoran Joint Venture has been supporting long-term ecological monitoring for decades. This spring we partnered with the Tucson Audubon Society (TAS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to revive a Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) bird banding station in the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area in southeast Arizona. This station was previously [...]
While “Motus” may seem like the latest bird conservation buzzword, the Motus Wildlife Tracking System (Motus) is a program of Birds Canada that was launched in 2014. It has continued to gain popularity as a tool to study the ecology and conservation of migratory animals. Radio telemetry has been used since the 1960’s to track [...]
The State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) practice within the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is an innovative approach which allows state fish and wildlife agencies, along with their federal and NGO partners, to define priority species and landscapes for practice delivery. North Dakota has several designated SAFE projects, but among the most relevant to the [...]
As an “all bird” Joint Venture, the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture (PPJV) is committed to addressing the conservation needs of all avian species that use the region. This is a daunting task given the diversity of bird species, landscapes, and variability in our understanding of limiting factors for many species. However, grassland and wetland habitat [...]
A Different Perspective on Spring Migration I have never seen a Yellow-billed Loon in full breeding plumage, which isn't surprising when you consider the range map below. Living in southcentral Alaska, and seeing other species of loons with some frequency, the Yellow-billed Loon piqued my interest. Ten years ago they were a candidate species for [...]
Colorado is putting its best foot forward with boots on the ground for conservation. The Bird Conservancy of the Rockies is partnering with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Colorado Parks and Wildlife, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, USFWS-Partners for Fish & Wildlife, Ducks Unlimited, and the Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV) in the name of [...]