Audublog

Tricolored Blackbird update

With about a month/five weeks left in the Tricolored Blackbird nesting season, it's probably about time for an update on how our efforts to save these birds are coming along. Thus far, we have identified four massive breeding colonies and struck agreements farmers to protect them. This amounts to the breeding production of about 70,000 birds, perhaps a quarter of the entire species. Sadly, we did have a sad instance where we found a nesting colony but couldn't reach the farmer in time to prevent the harvesting of the field. Anyway, so far the colonies that we've found are in Kern, Tulare, Merced and Madera counties. As these colonies fledge, we expect some of them to move north and attempt to establish new colonies in places like Yolo County and Sacramento County. So if you're in those areas, keep an eye out. If you would like to help us protect this terrific California bird, think about making a contribution. Five dollars saves five birds -- it's that simple.

How you can help, right now