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State of the Birds

The 2014 Wisconsin State of the Birds report highlights successful partnerships, conservation efforts and their positive impacts to bird species throughout the state.

The Wisconsin State of the Birds Report contains excerpts from the State of the Birds Report, which is a national overview of the conservation status of birds in the United States issued by the U.S. committee of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative.

Also noted in the Wisconsin report are bird conservation efforts by the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative, a statewide partnership of more than 175 bird conservation organizations.

“The Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative has been a leader in the bird community for the past decade,” said Ryan Brady, WBCI bird monitoring coordinator and DNR research scientist. “WBCI continues to proactively address the national challenges we face in bird conservation here in Wisconsin through planning, education and outreach.”

Here are a few notable conservation accomplishments in the 2014 Wisconsin State of the Birds report:

• WBCI partners including the DNR and Ducks Unlimited have been extremely successful in securing grant dollars to protect and restore wetland habitats. To date, some $33 million in North American Wetlands Conservation Act funding has been awarded to Wisconsin, conserving 144,000 acres of habitat and supporting more than half of all Wisconsin’s birds depending on wetlands for some part of their lifecycle.

• The Wisconsin Young Forest Partnership began working with private landowners to create habitat for species such as the American Woodcock and Golden-Winged Warbler.

• The WBCI Southern Forests Committee is developing a landscape design for southern forests, which will integrate areas for oak regeneration and protection of mature forest areas, benefitting numerous bird species.

To read the full report visit wisconsinbirds.org.