Wednesday, June 8, 2011

shrubland bird species

"According to the Breeding Bird Survey data from 1966 to 2003, 50 of 78 shrubland species are declining, and there is no trend information for 29 species." See more at this link. Plus additional information is at this link.

Our recent exchanges about bobwhites have me thinking about this group.

The partial list given at the first linked page above is dominated by western species, but some familiar WI species are on the list as well.

Along with ongoing declines, however, may be some range expansion of some shrubland species resulting from a warming climate in the upper Midwest. This summer I have already heard a few more reports than usual (for June) of White-eyed Vireo (the usual locations in Dane or Green counties, plus a report of a possible pair for the 2nd year in a row near the Ozaukee-Washington county line, and now a possible Milwaukee County bird). I had one along Milwaukee's Menomonee River in September last fall; where was that individual en route from? And this species is fairly regular not far south, in locations about 100 miles from the WI-IL border (I had them reliably near Joliet, IL, in June last year). Will we see (or mostly hear) more in future summers?

But what of the other declining species in this group: how will they fare in Wisconsin in the coming decades?

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