Tricolored Blackbirds just finished a phenomenal breeding season. Together, we protected 90% of threatened colonies and saved 178,500 birds! An incredible win. 

Your dedicated support this spring made this success possible and gives Tricolored Blackbirds new hope for their flocks. 

During this season, our team found nesting colonies in 15 different farms in 4 counties in the Central Valley. We established partnerships with 90% of farmers to delay harvests for 6 weeks until chicks could fly off the nest.

Leadership from family farms like the Diamond J Dairy saved a whopping 25,000 birds this year. Watch them thriving in their silage fields below. Co-Owner Luciana Jonkman remarked, “We are a first-generation farming family, and we know that sustainability is vital to our farm families and our community...I hope that folks will see this as a huge win-win for conservation and dairy food security in the state of California.” 

Unfortunately, unabated farm activity at some locations resulted in 10% of colonies abandoning their nests. You can help ensure that 100% of chicks will fly next season by donating to help protect the Tricolored Blackbird and other birds today.  

This win is a team effort. We give special thanks to the following:

• Our donors who make this work possible each year.
• Audubon CA’s dedicated Tricolored Blackbird conservation team led by Xerónimo Castañeda and Samantha Arthur.
• Our agricultural partners including USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, Western United Dairymen, California Farm Bureau and DairyCares

Together, we created a life-saving breeding season for the Tricolored Blackbirds! Let’s do it again next year.