Five years later, lessons to embrace

Scott Hicks of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the 2019 celebration of the delisting of the Kirtland's Warbler. Photo by Jim Bull

On Oct. 9, 2019, 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.

Caught in the act -- of migration

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 here 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!

Dealing with a major habitat shortfall

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 many of 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 chart below shows habitat development since 2006 and future averages the agencies hope to maintain.

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. 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.