Development erects “No Vacancy” signs for migratory
birds, forcing olive-sided flycatchers, yellow-billed cuckoos, and
loggerhead shrikes to fly farther every year as they seek safe
havens to rest and eat. Their familiar breeding spots are also
disappearing, says Terry Rich of Partners in Flight, a group
created to address declines in populations that breed in North
America and winter in the tropics. Unprecedented in size and scope,
the group encompasses three federal and 49 state agencies, many
environmental groups and some in the forest products industry. It
also shares strategies with groups in Canada, Mexico, the
Caribbean, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Group priorities include
monitoring birds, teaching schoolchildren and, in the West,
convincing local constituencies to conserve riparian habitat. The
Western Group welcomes newcomers to a meeting Aug. 26-29 in Great
Falls, Mont. Contact Terry Rich at 208/373-4043 or
trich@id.blm.gov, or visit www.pwrc.nbs.gov/pif.
* Taffeta
Elliott
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Birds bridge borders.
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