Washington D.C. (January 6, 2025)- Today, Southern Wings published a full annual cycle migratory bird Online Guide. The Guide will help states identify where their priority bird species spend parts of the annual cycle. It is intended to be a one-stop shop for states to access novel and complementary sources of information to guide financial investments for implementing State Wildlife Action Plans targeting priority migratory birds. It will also help states partner with organizations working throughout the Western Hemisphere to maximize the protection and conservation for priority species.
“Southern Wings leadership in full annual cycle conservation of migratory birds is critical to successfully conserving hundreds of species whose populations are declining,” said Judy Camuso, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and President of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. “The Guide will assist state fish and wildlife agencies in successful implementation of the State Wildlife Action Plans as well as making strategic investments in conservation when birds are outside of the United States.”
The Guide was developed in partnership with American Bird Conservancy, Georgetown University, National Audubon Society, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the state agency Southern Wings Technical Committee, and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The user-friendly Guide includes state specific pages with tailored information such as:
- Shared Stewardship Connection Maps
- Focal Species Information
- Single and multi-species Tracking Connections maps for focal species
- Conservation challenges that impact focal species
- Project Partners in Latin America and the Caribbean
“Birds have an incredible power to connect us with nature, and to each other,” said Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez, Director of Conservation Science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “Our hope is that the migratory bird online guide will be a useful tool for agencies and organizations to visualize how our birds in the US are interconnected with critical places and conservation efforts across the Americas. It is through the acknowledgement of this shared stewardship, and resulting collaborative conservation efforts, that we will have the greatest chance at bending the curve for our birds and overall biodiversity loss.”
“Birds serve as great indicators of how biodiverse a site is, telling us much about the conservation value of an area,” said Daniel Lebbin, Vice President of Threatened Species at American Bird Conservancy. “As part of their extraordinary journeys between North American breeding habitats and wintering grounds in Latin America and the Caribbean, neotropical migratory species typically travel thousands of miles along the same routes, returning to the same places each year. Southern Wing’s new Online Guide will help support these on-site conservation efforts that also contribute to making a larger-scale difference.”
“The more we know about the places birds need throughout their migratory journeys and how they are connected, the better we can work together with local partners throughout the Americas to protect the land, air, and water that birds and people depend on,” said Dr. Chad Wilsey, chief scientist for the National Audubon Society. “Using the best available migration science contributed by hundreds of professional and community scientists and partners, the Southern Wings Online Guide will help all of us secure a safe future for migratory birds.”
“Southern Wings’ Online Guide brings science to conservation by harnessing the latest technology, data, and information available,” said Kendra Wecker, Chief of the Ohio Division of Wildlife and state agency lead for Southern Wings on AFWA’s Bird Conservation Committee. “The development of this Guide has been a true partnership to support the work of the state fish and wildlife agencies and the annual cycle conservation of our shared migratory birds.”
Celebrating 15 years of Impact: Southern Wings
Southern Wings, a partnership of state fish and wildlife agencies, was created in 2009 by AFWA’s Bird Conservation Committee to provide a mechanism for state wildlife agencies to partner in conservation projects for shared priority species with local habitat delivery organizations in Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Southern Wings is coordinated by AFWA but led by the state fish and wildlife agencies.
Since the program’s inception, Southern Wings has invested $4.2 million to implement conservation action at critical sites with strong biological connections to priority Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The program has leveraged an additional $9 million in partner funding to help conserve over 1.5 million acres of migratory bird habitat, plant over 800,000 trees, and directly benefit 81 priority shared bird species.
The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies—the organization that represents North America’s fish and wildlife agencies—promotes sound resource management and conservation, and speaks on important fish and wildlife issues. Found on the web at www.fishwildlife.org, on Facebook /AssociationofFishandWildlifeAgencies and on Twitter @fishwildlife.
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