Kirtland's Warbler Alliance

Email this morning brought us some news to be worried about: a new genetic analysis from researchers at Penn State shows considerable inbreeding among Kirtland's Warblers. Why does this matter? Well, we know that inbreeding can bring forward all kinds of recessive genes resulting in various deformities. Inbreeding among 16 generations of the members of the House of Habsbergs led to Charles II of Spain having a jaw that was so badly deformed that he could not chew. An autopsy after his death claimed his heart was the size of a peppercorn. Other family members suffered from insanity and epilepsy. The Habsbergs chose to breed inside the family to consolidate power. In the case of the Kirtland's Warblers, it seems that birds with similar genetic backgrounds bred with one another simply because there was no other option given the size of the population. The researchers identified the inbreeding by looking for "runs of homozygosity" or long strands of identical DNA that would come from parents with similar genetic backgrounds. There are no indications that Kirtland's Warblers are turning into the Habsbergs. We have seen no signs of physical deformities, and we're not sure we would recognize insanity in a bird, so maybe it's best to let the press release from Science Daily warn us what to look for: "The researchers noted that the Kirtland's warblers they sampled did not appear to have any physical deformities. However, they said that inbreeding could manifest during the stages of life they did not observe, for example during development or the energy-intensive task of migration, or impact aspects of their reproductive success, such as how many eggs they lay or how many hatch." The researchers said that monitoring for these would be important to species survival. Is there a solution? We're not sure, but lead researcher Anna María Calderón, a graduate student in biology in the Penn State Eberly College of Science, will be presenting her findings at the winter meeting of the Kirtland's Warbler Conservation Team in February. We'll report more after hearing what she has to say. You can read the Science Daily press release here: https://lnkd.in/eg2yhzmp

Happy Thanksgiving! Here, on this day before the holiday, we are thankful for the opportunity to work with you on protecting the Kirtland's Warbler, the under appreciated jack pine ecosystem and all of its inhabitants. We recognize that this year that many of you are feeling more fearful than grateful. We've heard from several folks worried about what impact the most recent presidential election might have on conservation in general and Kirtland's Warbler conservation specifically. They're concerned about potential budget cuts and that appointees to run the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may not be as concerned about preserving our resources as the current administration. We are concerned too, but the Kirtland's Warbler Alliance was created specifically to build support for our special bird regardless of who may be occupying the Oval Office or the governor's mansion. Our to-do list for 2025 is already long, but it's clear we are now going to have to double our efforts to educate members of Congress and the Legislature. We will continue to tell the story of the Kirtland's Warbler and point to the success of the Endangered Species Act. We will need to remind lawmakers that that landmark legislation still works. If the election has you down, we might be able to provide something of an antidote. The answer to anxiety and depression is to do something concrete to make things better. We invite you to volunteer with us in 2025! For us, this year's presidential election was a reminder that environmental organizations in the education/public awareness space, like the Alliance, need to be steadfast in our efforts to engage citizens and voters. Our mission, which is "To be a force for Kirtland's Warbler conservation," has taken on new importance. You can count on us to continue that mission with strength and purpose, and we hope you will join us as we get to work making a better future for the Kirtland's Warbler and conservation.

Five years ago today, a notice appeared in the Federal Register, the official journal of the U.S. Government, that announced that the Kirtland's Warbler was being removed from the federal Endangered Species List. That morning, in an event held in East Lansing that was half ceremony-half celebration, many of the people who were and are responsible for the conservation of the bird gathered to say, "Job well done." Even though it was self-congratulations, it was still well-deserved. Endangered species conservation doesn't often have a happy outcome. The Kirtland's Warbler is one of the rare stories of success. An anniversary, even if it is just as short as five years, gives us a chance to pause and reflect, an opportunity to consider what we've done to achieve delisting and what worked and what's not since 2019. In the years prior to delisting, we learned that we needed to understand the natural processes of the jack pine ecosystem to give the bird what it wants and needs. Since delisting, we've learned that the management that we're doing to benefit the bird is actually having a negative impact on the ecosystem as a whole: our management is helping the birds but is causing a decline in the biodiversity of the jack pine ecosystem. And just as scientists adapted jack pine management during the recovery period, they understand that this new challenge will force them to continue to adapt. Perhaps the most important thing that we have learned is that we must continue to watch the warbler. Its actions and reactions to various conservation efforts will guide us in future decisions. In the words of Carol Bocetti, the long-time leader of the Recovery Team and Conservation Team says, "We have to continue to listen to the bird. The bird is always teaching us." Of all the lessons that we've learned, perhaps that is the most important.

We were thrilled yesterday when we got a text from our friends at the Powdermill Avian Research Center in western Pennsylvania that contained only a photo and two words. The photo was of a hatch-year Kirtland's Warbler being held by a bird bander, and the words were simple and direct: "So exciting!" Exciting, indeed! It seems like Kirtland's Warblers are traveling incognito these days. They are rarely seen in migration and, even with the proliferation of Motus tags and towers, they are rarely detected. So when one ends up in a bird bander's mist net someplace between the breeding grounds and the wintering grounds, it gives us a chance to marvel at the luck. It doesn't surprise us, though, that a Kirtland's Warbler was found in the hills of western Pennsylvania. Fall migration for the Kirtland's Warbler tends to track more eastwardly than the spring migration. And a Kirtland's Warbler has been recorded there before. According to records, a Kirtland's Warbler was banded at Powdermill in September of 1971. It also does not surprise us that this was a hatch-year bird. Younger birds tend to depart the breeding grounds before the older adults. They'll start heading south in the next couple of weeks and are usually gone by the second week of October. Hopefully we'll be getting some more data on this particular bird from our friends at Powdermill. We hope to share that with you soon. In the meantime, safe travels little bird!

The Kirtland's Warbler Conservation Team held two days of meetings earlier this week to discuss ... well ... Kirtland's Warbler Conservation. The really good news is that all the agencies see and understand where we stand with the habitat shortfall and are making moves to address the problem. For the past decade, the Forest Service and the Michigan DNR have missed their annual planting targets, which means there is a significant shortfall of habitat available for the KW to nest in. Even though the agencies know they have a problem, the problem is going to get worse before it gets better. Unfortunately, it takes time to free up land by either selling stands of mature timber and replanting them or by essentially grinding up trees between 20 and 30 years old and allowing natural regeneration to take place. Based on projections it would appear that we will continue to lose acreage until 2027, which is when projections say we should bottom out. The good news is that the State of Michigan will be purchasing a new piece of equipment this fall -- a masticator -- that will help the DNR and Forest Service quickly develop new habitat. The cool thing about the masticator is that certain tracts can be treated in different years, which will end up producing more variation in the age of trees on the landscape and lead to more diversity among the age of the trees. The best news from our point of view is that the agencies get it. They understand the problem and they understand that if they fail to act decisively the KW population will fall to the point where the bird would have to be re-listed on the Endangered Species List. (See the population projection chart.) That would be a MAJOR blow to their prestige and add fuel to the argument that the Endangered Species Act doesn't work. That view is held only by a few people who, unfortunately, have a platform that allows them to make a whole lot of noise. This episode has been a major test for the Conservation Team. Would the member agencies respond quickly and with enough urgency to meet the moment? As of right now, it appears the answer is yes. The next step is to ensure that this does not happen again. In the meantime, level your expectations for the numbers coming out of next year's census. The number of singing males in the northern Lower Peninsula is going to be down until we get through this bottleneck. The Alliance was first to raise this issue and has been forceful in letting the agencies know that they were not meeting their obligations. That is one of the most important parts of our mission. We will continue to do our best to ensure that the future of the rarest songbird is secure.

Our 10th annual Jack Pine Planting Day is one month away and we have news. First, we are already closing in on the maximum number of registrants. If you haven't already registered, do so ASAP. Here's the link: https://lnkd.in/exgv6gpi.... Registration is being handled by Michigan United Conservation Clubs, which is one of our partners in JPPD. Second, the location has been set. The Michigan DNR has identified five acres just east of last year's site, so we are going to use last year's staging area again this year. We'll be tucked in deep in the jack pine, so plug these coordinates into Google Maps to find the site: 44.591663, -84.639717. Unfortunately, it can't be seen from Four Mile Road. Jack Pine Planting Day will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 4. The event will be held rain or shine. Northern Michigan weather can be finicky, so come prepared for anything. There is no rain date because we need to get these trees in the ground before everything in the ecosystem comes out of dormancy. Come help us support Kirtland's Warbler conservation. If you can't make it into the field, you can still support the event by making a donation at https://lnkd.in/ejXRkba3. A $150 donation helps to support one acre of Kirtland's Warbler habitat. You can also support a quarter acre of habitat at the $50 level. Thank you for your support. We hope to see you in the field.

We wake up from our holiday food coma to celebrate because today is the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Endangered Species Act. And even though we should be out getting some exercise after all that food and drink, we can't take anything more than half a victory lap. If it had not been for the Endangered Species Act, it's unlikely we would not be here today to celebrate the accomplishments of the Kirtland's Warbler Recovery Team. The ESA provided money, personnel and (most importantly) a framework to bring the Kirtland's Warbler back from the brink of extinction. It took a little time for the Recovery Team to figure it out, but once the team started building the habitat the KW wanted, the population responded. The result: The Kirtland's Warbler was removed from the Endangered Species List in October 2019. But there's a flaw with the Endangered Species Act: Unless something changes, most species on the Endangered Species List are likely to exist there forever. That's because those species rely on human intervention for their very survival. Congress designed the Endangered Species Act to be the equivalent of first aid, not life support. Congress did not anticipate that some species would need ongoing support so they failed to set up a mechanism to support recovered species. The Kirtland's Warbler Recovery Team is often cited as a model for endangered species recovery, and there's a good reason why: About a decade ago the Recovery Team began to look into the future to anticipate where conservation efforts might go. The warbler's population was looking good and the handwriting was on the wall. The ESA would require delisting. So, how do you deal with a recovered species that still needs help? The first step was to create a framework to shift from a recovery team to a conservation team. Unlike a recovery team, a conservation team is not required by law. Nevertheless, it was created as an acknowledgement that we can't just walk away and let the work of the past 50 years slowly reverse itself. So here we sit, 50 years later. The Kirtland's Warbler is no longer considered an endangered species but its future is still far from secure. The sense of urgency was reduced with delisting, and we're starting to see the result. The state and federal agencies responsible for KW conservation have shifted their focus away from the KW, which has allowed the number of new acres planted for the KW to decline. We are now to the point where we are nearly 10,000 acres below habitat goals. Based on recent developments, it's clear that the agencies know they have a problem and are working to find solutions. But it's going to take a decade or more to build enough acres to meet their goals. The Kirtland's Warbler Recovery Team was blessed with people who were talented and blessed with equal parts determination and vision. Now it's up to the Conservation Team, which we are part of, to face a new set of challenges. Half a lap. The job's not done.