Posted June 23, 2015 7:22 am by Comments

By Vanessa Torres

Kirtland's Warbler Census Monitors Recovery of Michigan's Rare Songbird
Kirtland’s Warbler Census Monitors Recovery of Michigan’s Rare Songbird
Michigan DNR
Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Michigan -(Ammoland.com)- The Kirtland’s warbler is one of the rarest members of the wood warbler family.

The only places on Earth it currently nests are mainly in Michigan’s northern Lower and Upper peninsulas, and a few locations in Wisconsin and the province of Ontario.

In northern Michigan, June 6-20 is a special time, when dozens of surveyors are in large jack pine forests listening for the unique song of the male Kirtland’s warbler.

“We have a great group of DNR, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff members, as well as volunteers, who are trudging through young, thick jack pine in the early morning hours,” said Department of Natural Resources wildlife supervisor Keith Kintigh. “The reward is getting to hear that singing male Kirtland’s warbler, which is the way we actually census the population.”

The Kirtland’s warbler census is a tool managers use to compare population numbers relative to recovery goals by listening for the male’s song. Kirtland’s warbler numbers had been very low, under 200 nesting pairs, in the mid-1980s. Michigan became the focus for habitat …read more

Source:: AmmoLand

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.