Audubon California is working closely with landowners and its partners in the Tricolored Blackbird Working Group to protect the Tricolored Blackbird species across California.

The Tricolored Blackbird Working Group is a collaborative alliance of farmers, agricultural associations, governmental agencies, and environmental organizations that have all recognized the importance of a multi-faceted and cooperative approach to promote the long-term persistence of the Tricolored Blackbird. The Working Group strives to reverse the population decline of this species, and increase the population to more than 750,000 over the next 20 years.

The efforts of the Working Group are guided by the Tricolored Blackbird Conservation Plan that lays out a strategy to boost populations through long-term conservation planning and short-term action-oriented intervention. Specifically, the Plan commits stakeholders to implement:

(1) habitat conservation projects to benefit the species;

(2) a research program to more thoroughly understand the species’ life history;

(3) a monitoring program to effectively document population trends and distribution; and

(4) an outreach and education program to enhance public and private landowner awareness, and to build public support for conservation.

Audubon California recently took on the role of coordinating the working group’s efforts. For more information about these efforts or how you can help, please contact Tricolored Blackbird Conservation Project Manager Xerónimo Castañeda at xcastaneda@audubon.org.