Kirtland's Warbler Migration Blitz 2017
Fig. 1. Kirtland’s Warbler is a rare and endangered warbler that nests primarily in shorter Jack Pine forests of Michigan, Ontario, and Wisconsin and winters in beach scrub of the Bahamas. Its stopover habitat, however, is very poorly known. Photo by Nathan W. Cooper.
Catching a glimpse of the endangered Kirtland’s Warbler is a lifelong dream for many birders. Relatively few have had the opportunity to see these large, charismatic warblers due to their extremely limited breeding range, unique habitat requirements, and small population size. But even fewer have been able to observe these birds outside of their Jack Pine breeding areas in Michigan, since they stop for short periods only as they migrate to and from their wintering grounds in the Bahamas. This year, we want to challenge you all to help us find migrating Kirtland’s Warblers, and help inform management efforts to bring back this endangered species. We will be reaching out to birders to try our Kirtland’s Warbler Migration Protocol to see if we can find Kirtland’s Warblers and get more information about their stopover behavior and habitat.
For 2017, we will be targeting the window of peak Kirtland’s passage in these states:
- Florida: Friday, 14 April to Sunday, 14 May
- Georgia: Friday, 21 April to Sunday, 21 May
- Ohio: Friday, 5 May to Sunday, 4 June
If you’d like to participate, please send sign up as a surveyor on our Google Form. If you have questions, please send us an email. Please also visit our Google Map below to plan where to conduct your surveys. These points will also appear as eBird hotspots, so you can navigate to them and enter data from the field (NOTE: All points have been added as of early May 2017).
Visit GOOGLE MAP of Kirtland’s Warbler Survey points
Kirtland’s Warblers were on the brink of extinction throughout the 1970’s and 80’s, when numbers were estimated to be as low as 200 males. Range-wide fire suppression and high rates (~70%) of brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds led to loss of breeding habitat and poor reproductive success. State and federal agencies responded quickly by controlling cowbird populations and creating thousands of acres of new Jack Pine breeding habitat. This highly effective management has allowed the population to substantially recover, with over 2300 singing males counted in 2015!
Fig. 3. Identification of Kirtland’s Warbler is not something most birders are very comfortable with. Their yellow underparts with black streaks can resemble Magnolia or Prairie Warblers, but watch for the broken white eye ring, dark lores, large size, and persistent tail pumping of Kirtland’s. Prairie Warbler can do occasional tail wagging, but only Palm Warbler pumps their tail more than Kirtland’s. Photo by Nathan W. Cooper.
Now, we need your help to find the critically important stopover areas. Although the Kirtland’s Warbler populations are recovering, global climate change and human development are increasingly threatening the species during other times of the year, such as on their wintering grounds and during migration. Recent research suggests that about 40% of all Kirtland’s Warbler mortality occurs during either spring or fall migration, and this could hamper the success of management efforts on breeding areas. To lower mortality rates during migration, we need to first identify key resting and refueling stopover sites that Kirtland’s use during migration. This is where we need you!
Although sightings of Kirtland’s are rare during migration, scientists at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center recently tracked 27 male Kirtland’s Warblers using small light-level geolocators. Using the tracking data, they were able narrow down the time and location for three important stopovers in Florida, Georgia, and Ohio for the first time ever in this species.
Fig. 4. Kirtland’s Warblers seem to make two or three stopovers during April and May, focused on Florida, Georgia, and Ohio. This map shows actual stopover information from male Kirtland’s fitted with light-level geolocators. The blue, purple, and red areas seem to be areas that multiple birds stopped on their migration and will be the focal areas for this pilot study. Figure from Cooper et al. (2017).
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center are teaming up to launch the 2017 Kirtland’s Warbler Migration Blitz. By carrying out playback assisted surveys in key stopover regions in Florida, Georgia, and Ohio, you can help us pinpoint the locations of their stopover sites. Data from the Blitz will be used to determine what types of habitats they use during migration, and help us identify potential threats to migrating individuals. Your participation is key to improve our understanding of Kirtland’s Warbler migration, and to help us ensure that this endangered species thrives for decades to come.
How to participate
First, and most importantly, please sign up as a Kirtland’s Warbler surveyor. We will contact you directly by email.
Second, the survey protocol should be downloaded: Kirtland’s Warbler Migration Blitz 2017 protocol.
Third, be sure to review the Kirtland’s Warbler Migration Blitz 2017 map. This shows the designated survey points, so you can plan which ones you will visit and when. you can zoom in on this map and see the exact areas of the survey points. All of these will appear as eBird hotspots in time for the start date of the survey, which will allow you to use them for surveys. NOTE: Florida points were added 11 Apr; Georgia and Ohio points will be added before 17 April.
We contact you by email if you have signed up as a Kirtland’s Warbler surveyor and will provide further details, including more info on visiting the points as well as the audio file to use.
We recommend getting a speaker for broadcasting the audio recording. We can recommend the JBL Clip (about $40-50) but there are a wealth of options that should work equally well. These speakers can sync to your phone over Bluetooth or can be plugged in with a cable.
Here is a quick checklist to help prepare for the survey
- Sign up as a Kirtland’s Warbler surveyor (if you haven’t done so already!)
- Read the protocol (links above). Print out the protocol and the Kirtland’s Warbler questionnaire, in case you find a warbler.
- We’ll be in touch with further details, including the audio file. Be sure to download the survey audio file to your smartphone
- Plan your route using our Google Map (link above)
- Charge your smartphone and speaker, bring a clipboard with the protocol, and plan your route.
- Conduct your survey. While morning is the most active time, feel free to conduct your survey at any time of day. If the weather is too windy or it is raining hard, do your survey another day.
- Report your results to eBird
To reward those that participate in this year’s Kirtland’s Warbler Migration Blitz, we will be giving away three Kirtland’s Warbler photos, which our good friends at fotoflōt have generously donated to us.
fotoflōt provides a beautiful and unique way to print and display your own photos in a manner that doesn’t require framing! Please visit their website (www.fotoflot.com) to learn more about this great service.
For each state (Florida, Georgia, Ohio), we will be holding one random drawing to choose a lucky winner! For each completed survey you carry out, you will get one entry into the drawing for your state. The prize is a 10 x 15 print of the photo (Fig. 4) below.
Fig. 5. An inquisitive male Kirtland’s in a Jack Pine. Do Kirtland’s use similar stunted pine habitat for stopover on migration? Or do they prefer quite different deciduous habitats? This survey will try to help answer those questions. Photo by Nathan W. Cooper.