On December 31, 2017, the Sonoran Joint Venture bid farewell to long-time Science Coordinator, Carol Beardmore, who retired after a 27-year career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and more than forty years working in conservation.
Nature and Culture International’s Monte Mojino Reserve has grown from a small reserve to 6,800 hectares.
Thanks to the Sonoran Joint Venture’s Awards Program, the Southern Sierra Research Station facilitated a Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo survey training workshop for Mexican biologists to lead surveys in Northwestern Mexico.
Both the SJV Management Board and the Science Work Group met this fall to discuss current issues in bird conservation and to strengthen our partnerships to best address threats.
If you’ve heard of clapper rails, you may know they are not very agile fliers and tend to quietly prod around within the coastal salt marsh where they were born, or released into. But the endangered Light-footed Ridgway’s Rail in Southern California and Baja California is not so much of a “home body” as originally thought.
In September 2017 waterfowl and wetlands biologists and managers, social scientists, and others with an interest in waterfowl conservation gathered in Shepherdstown, West Virginia for the Future of Waterfowl Workshop.
Despite having lost roughly 80% of historical wetlands in the Colorado River basin, about 100,000 acres remain. These are the most important wetlands in the Sonoran Desert.
The Sonoran Desert region plays a role in monarch migration. However, much is still not known about monarchs in Arizona.
Vault toilets, used in remote areas with no plumbing, have an unintended consequence for birds—Ventilation pipes, which help keep smells to a minimum, can trap and kill cavity-nesting birds that enter seeking shelter or nesting areas. The Teton Raptor Center’s Poo Poo Project and its many partners are taking huge strides to keep that from happening.
Once a vibrant tourist destination and thriving wetland habitat that supported millions of birds annually, the Salton Sea is now experiencing ecological collapse. Without regular freshwater inputs, the increased salinity and concentrations of pollutants are killing fish, reducing bird populations, and posing health risks to the local communities. Read more about the history of the Salton Sea, the conservation challenges, and what the SJV and its partners are doing to help.
Increasing demand for alternative energies like wind and solar bring increasing pressure on wildlife and their habitats. Finding a balance between the need for more sustainable energy sources and conservation of the delicate desert ecosystem of the southwestern U.S. is an ongoing challenge.
The Sonoran Institute’s Colorado River Delta Program takes a three-pronged approach to their habitat restoration efforts — Restore, Reconnect, Renew. Read about how community engagement plays a key role in the long-term success of their projects.
In our last newsletter, we introduced you to the danger that open vertical pipes represent for birds. Now learn more about open pipes, mining claims, and the people and organizations working to address this issue.
Did you know there is a strong connection between birds in Utah and Mexico? The American White Pelican commonly breeds in Utah and Idaho, and then travels south to spend the winter in Mexico. Researchers are banding birds and using GPS transmitters to track their movements. Follow along on their tracking website and keep on the lookout for banded birds!
The Sonoran Joint Venture recently selected its finalists for the 2017 SJV Awards Program. The objective of the SJV Awards Program is to support the investigation and conservation of birds and their habitats within SJV boundaries by providing funds through a competitive program. The SJV is pleased to announce the following award recipients.
The SJV Awards Program supported the work of biologists in Baja California Sur to research the endemic and endangered Belding’s Yellowthroat, as well as to develop strategies for its conservation.
The Arizona Important Bird Areas Program is a collaborative partnership that works to protect critical bird habitat. This year, the program added four new additions: Patagonia Mountains, Tucson Mountains, Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, and the Tucson Sky Island Region.
We are working to raise awareness about a silent killer within the bird conservation community, open vertical pipes. They can be found almost everywhere – on homes, office buildings, construction sites, agricultural fields, mining operations, even on protected public lands. They can take the form of fence posts, sign posts, irrigation systems, survey markers, vents on buildings and even vault toilet ventilation ducts. Any open vertical pipe between one and 10 inches in diameter with smooth walls (such as PVC or metal) is basically a death trap where birds and other wildlife can become ensnared and perish.
This year, we celebrate International Migratory Bird Day by recognizing the importance of stopover sites for migratory birds. Events are taking place world-wide to promote the conservation and knowledge of vital areas used by birds to rest and refuel on migratory journeys.
Led by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Audubon Society, 15 different countries participated in the development of a major new resource for the conservation of shorebirds along the entire Pacific Americas Flyway. The Pacific Americas Shorebird Conservation Strategy integrates conservation actions across the full suite of geographical, ecological, and cultural landscapes to provide a coordinated and connected framework to protect shorebirds and their habitats.