Breaking news (and it's good for once!)

We have two things to report today, and both will make you feel positive.

First, registration opens tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 14), for the Michigan DNR/Michigan Audubon Kirtland's Warbler tours that go out of Hartwick Pine State Park in Grayling. That combined with longer days and pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training baseball camps, well, you know what it means!

Tours start May 24 and run through June 30. Weekend tours are most popular -- obviously -- so consider making your reservations quickly at https://www.michiganaudubon.org/kirtlands-warbler-tours/ .

Item No. 2 in the hopper today is news out of the Winter Meeting of the full Kirtland's Warbler Conservation Team, which was held on Tuesday, Feb. 11. We apologize for not writing about it immediately after the meeting concluded, but after sitting for a six-hour Zoom call, we were just not interested in any more chair time.

Here's the good news out of the meeting ...

We're written in the past about how the agencies have taken their eyes off the ball when it comes to creating new habitat. The good news is that both the Michigan DNR and the U.S. Forest Service have met their planting goals for two years in a row. That's the first time that has happened in more than a decade.

Now, that doesn't mean we are out of the woods. Even though the agencies have met their goals for two years in a row, we expect the amount of available habitat will continue to drop for at least one more year before it is projected to start growing again in 2027.

We're likely going to see this habitat shortfall manifest itself in a significant decline in the Kirtland's Warbler population when we conduct the census this summer. We know a population decline is likely because the DNR and Forest Service estimate that there's one pair for every 20 acres of nesting habitat. If you have fewer acres available for nesting, you are going to have fewer birds.

Dealing with this habitat shortfall has been the first major challenge of the Conservation Team since morphing from the Recovery Team. The problem has not been solved just yet, but everyone came away from the meeting optimistic that we are addressing the issue and moving in the right direction.

We'll write more in the near future about what might happen if the Kirtland's Warbler population falls below two key thresholds that are written into the Conservation Plan.

Uh-oh moment: New study shows signs of significant inbreeding among Kirtland's Warblers

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, however, 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://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/12/241210142037.htm

You can make a difference!

It's Giving Tuesday, and if your email inbox is like mine, it's full of solicitations right now. So I won't waste your time: Here are two very good reasons why the Kirtland's Warbler Alliance is worthy of your support.

1. We accomplish what we say we are going to do. Four years ago, the Michigan DNR asked us to help them conduct the census by identifying, training and organizing volunteers to count Kirtland’s Warblers. With the assistance of our volunteers, the census finished ahead of schedule and the final count showed that the population of the Kirtland’s Warbler remains healthy and stable. It's not 2025 yet, but we're already gearing up for next year's census, which will be conducted in June.

2. The Kirtland's Warbler still needs your help. Yes, it's no longer endangered but many people fail to understand that conservation/jack pine management efforts must continue for as far as we can see into the future. If we've taken fire out of the ecosystem, we humans will need to manage the habitat on behalf of the Kirtland's Warbler and the other species that use the young jack pine as their habitat. It's critical that we help people understand the benefits to the ecosystem and to themselves.

Our to-do list for 2025 is pretty long. Besides helping to organize the Census, we will be hosting our annual Jack Pine Planting Day and making regular trips to Lansing to discuss Kirtland's Warbler conservation with members of the legislature.

I think we are an organization worthy of your support. We're lean, we're focused and we get stuff done -- stuff that directly benefits the Kirtland's Warblers. But if we are going to achieve our goals for the coming year, we will need your help. Please make a donation to the Kirtland's Warbler Alliance today. You can donate at kirtlandswarbler.org/make-a-donation or by mailing a check to The Kirtland's Warbler Alliance, 2310 Science Parkway, Suite 302, Okemos, MI 48864-2525.

We continue to be inspired by the passion that people like you have for Kirtland’s Warbler. Please help us move our work forward by making generous contribution to the Kirtland’s Warbler Alliance today.

From all of us at the Kirtland’s Warbler Alliance, thank you for your support!