Working Lands

Partnering with landowners to protect birds

Black-necked Stilt flying by granary.

Audubon California's Working Lands Program increases the scope and scale of bird-friendly practices on farms, wetlands and other managed lands in the Central Valley.  We do this by cultivating relationships with landowners, advocating for statewide policies that secure water and habitat for birds, and engaging our grassroots network in their communities. Our work provides protection for focal species like the Long-billed Curlew, Tricolored Blackbird, and Western Grebe.

California’s Central Valley has 205,000 acres of managed wetlands, less than 5 percent of what was historically available. The region has some of the most fertile land in the nation and boasts 7 million acres of irrigated farmland. Some types of farms – particularly those with rice and other flood-irrigated field crops – provide important and complimentary habitat to managed wetlands for birds and other wildlife. This synergy of flooded farmland and managed wetlands fundamentally links the health of Pacific Flyway bird populations and California’s farms. Audubon California has worked for 15 years to build partnerships with farmers to protect, enhance, and restore bird habitat on farmland in California’s Central Valley.

The Pacific Flyway, connecting Alaska and South America, is a major migratory pathway for birds. The Central Valley is an important stopover site for birds to feed and rest. Flooded habitat provided by Central Valley farms, refuges, and other managed areas supports between 5-7 million waterfowl and 350,000 shorebirds each year- that’s over 60% of the Pacific Flyway and 20% of the nation's waterfowl population! Over the long-term, the best opportunities to ensure the long-term conservation of birds and other wildlife in the Central Valley are to protect and enhance working landscapes for birds and wildlife while also ensuring a vibrant system of managed wetlands on public and private lands.

Examples of Audubon California's private lands work includes:

  • Audubon CA partners with other non-profits, industry partners and agencies to enhance 20% of the nearly 500,000 acres of rice grown in the state for waterbirds. Most enhancement takes the form of management practices developed in cooperation with farmers and includes extending the drawdown of winter-flooding to provide habitat during migration or building islands in growing rice to provide safe nesting habitat to shorebirds. Working together we’ve enhanced over 150,000 acres using bird-friendly management practices. You can read more here.
  • The Tricolored Blackbird is an iconic California species whose population has seen precipitous decline over the last 100 years. In an effort to protect the remaining birds, Audubon California works closely with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the dairy industry and the California Farm Bureau Federation, to save 100% of known colonies nesting on farmland that were at risk of destruction during harvest this year. 2016 marked the first time we achieved full protection of colonies at risk of destruction on farmland in the Central Valley, saving 57,000 breeding adult Tricolored Blackbirds 
  • Audubon California partnered with The Nature Conservancy to create over 3,000 acres of shorebird habitat during April and May on private wetlands in the San Joaquin Valley by prolonging flooding and delaying drawdown of these wetlands. The prolonged flooding supported ten times the number of shorebirds than surrounding wetlands drawn down on the traditional timeframe. Learn more about this project here.
  • We part of an innovative partnership that combines the experience and expertise of three leaders in bird conservation – Audubon California, Point Blue Conservation Science, and The Nature Conservancy – to create a better California home for migratory birds. This Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership seeks to protect, restore, and enhance lands that support bird populations in California. 

The Tricolored Blackbird in California

Grasslands Video on CVPIA with MH from Meghan Hertel on Vimeo.

Conservation Ranching
Conservation Ranching

Conservation Ranching

How we empower ranchers and consumers to protect grassland birds.

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Water and Wetlands
Water

Water

Birds and wetlands in the Central Valley must receive the water they need.

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Giving Migratory Birds "A Fighting Chance"
Working Lands

Giving Migratory Birds "A Fighting Chance"

An innovative partnership to save California’s vulnerable birds

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Healthy Soils
Working Lands

Healthy Soils

Making Climate Solutions on Working Lands Bird-Friendly

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Fire and Drought
Fire and Drought

Fire and Drought

From fires in the Sierra to clouds of windblown dust at the Salton Sea, the effects of drought driven by climate change are impossible to ignore.

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Sandhill Crane
Birds

Sandhill Crane

California supports a large population of wintering Sandhill Cranes in its Central Valley and northeastern corner.

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Tricolored Blackbird

Latin:  Agelaius tricolor

Illustration for Tricolored Blackbird

Sandhill Crane

Latin:  Antigone canadensis

Illustration for Sandhill Crane

Long-billed Curlew

Latin:  Numenius americanus

Illustration for Long-billed Curlew

Western Meadowlark

Latin:  Sturnella neglecta

Illustration for Western Meadowlark

Black-necked Stilt

Latin:  Himantopus mexicanus

Illustration for Black-necked Stilt

Snow Goose

Latin:  Anser caerulescens

Illustration for Snow Goose

Wood Duck

Latin:  Aix sponsa

Illustration for Wood Duck

Western Sandpiper

Latin:  Calidris mauri

Illustration for Western Sandpiper

News & Updates

Audubon California’s Samantha Arthur to Head Salton Sea Management Program
Audublog

Audubon California’s Samantha Arthur to Head Salton Sea Management Program

— “…a consummate professional with a profound understanding of the intersections of water, agriculture, communities and wildlife.”
Audubon California-Sponsored Bill Would Promote Regenerative Ranching in California
Working Lands

Audubon Promotes Regenerative Ranching in California

— AB 720 encourages ranching practices to restore grasslands and sequester carbon.
Audubon and Partners Protected 155,000 Tricolored Blackbirds in 2022
Conservation

Audubon and Partners Protected 155,000 Tricolored Blackbirds in 2022

Iconic California bird faces pressure from habitat loss and climate change.

Love at First Screech: Accounts of a Wildlife Biologist
Working Lands

Love at First Screech: Accounts of a Wildlife Biologist

How Audubon is protecting Tricolored Blackbird colonies in the Central Valley

Women in Audubon Conservation Ranching: California
Conservation Ranching

Women in Audubon Conservation Ranching: California

To celebrate Women’s History Month, we’re introducing you to the incredible women ranchers in California who are enrolled in Audubon’s Conservation Ranching Initiative. We asked questions, and they responded with fun, insightful, and birdy answers.

Drought in the Sacramento Valley - a Bird's Eye View
Fire And Drought

Catching Shorebirds at Dawn

Drought in the Sacramento Valley - a Bird's Eye View

Volunteer Opportunity: Bluebird Nesting Boxes
Important Bird Areas

Volunteer Opportunity: Bluebird Nesting Boxes

The California Bluebird Recovery Program is training volunteers in January 2022.

Dairies Help Save Tricolored Blackbirds
Tricolored Blackbird

Dairies Help Save Tricolored Blackbirds in the Central Valley

6 Years Strong - Audubon partners with NRCS and family dairy farmers in the Central Valley to protect threatened birds.

The Annual Dilemma
Working Lands

The Annual Dilemma

If annual, non-native, and invasive grasses have a strategy for success, it is certainly, “the early bird gets the worm.” Our response focuses on prescribed burns and timed grazing to benefit grassland birds.

A Way Forward for California's Working Lands
Working Lands

A Way Forward for California's Working Lands

Conservation ranching techniques create habitat and sequester carbon. Under a new bill, the state would pay ranchers to implement them.

How you can help, right now