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Breaking News

IBTCG Sponsored Symposium at American Ornithologists' Union Meeting in Philadelphia

Bicknell's Thrush in the news

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bicknell’s Thrush is among the landbird species of highest conservation concern in North America.  A rare and geographically restricted habitat specialist of balsam fir-dominated forests in the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada, Bicknell’s Thrush is estimated to number fewer than 50,000 individuals.  The species is at risk from a variety of threats to its breeding habitats, including recreational development, telecommunication construction, wind power development; acidic precipitation, mercury deposition, and climatic warming.  On its Caribbean wintering grounds, where an estimated 90% of the global population is concentrated on Hispaniola, loss of forested habitats has been severe and is ongoing.  Recent monitoring of breeding populations indicates consistent, rangewide declines.

In response to heightened conservation concerns for Bicknell’s Thrush, a coalition of scientists, natural resource managers, and conservation planners formed during the fall of 2007.  The International Bicknell’s Thrush Conservation Group (IBTCG) held its inaugural meeting in Woodstock, Vermont, with 25 people attending from five northeastern states and two Canadian provinces.  The groups’ overall charge is to develop and implement a conservation action plan for Bicknell’s Thrush.  Participants include representatives from academia, federal and state wildlife agencies, non-governmental organizations, and industry.   

Mission

To develop a broad-based, scientifically-sound approach to conserve Bicknell’s Thrush, incorporating research, monitoring, and on-the-ground management actions

Goals

1. Establish an explicit conservation objective for Bicknell's Thrush across its range

2. Establish and formalize administrative structure of IBTCG

3. Summarize what we know about Bicknell's Thrush limiting factors range-wide; prioritize research and monitoring needs

4. Develop preliminary set of conservation actions and associated resources necessary to accomplish them

5. Develop a unified breeding season monitoring program/survey design

Coordination Committee

IBTCG is a flexible, inclusive group with a shared commitment to Bicknell’s Thrush conservation. The group is organized by a coordination committee comprised of numerous partners who will seek funding, maintain momentum, set meetings and agendas, and identify next steps.

Chris Rimmer (co-chair), Vermont Center for Ecostudies
Becky Whittam (co-chair), Bird Studies Canada
Randy Dettmers, United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Yves Aubry, Canadian Wildlife Service
Tony Diamond, University of New Brunswick
Dan Lambert, American Bird Conservancy
Kent McFarland, Vermont Center for Ecostudies
Mike Burger, Audubon New York
Tom Hodgman, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Scott Makepeace, New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources

Open chairs for Caribbean, forestry, and other industry representatives. Please contact us if you are interested.

Subgroups

Subgroups were formed around evolving themes during the first IBTCG meeting. Each subgroup is working to develop a list of priority conservation actions to work on in the next 2-3 years. Co-chairs are indicated.

Wintering Grounds--Investigating potential limiting factors on the wintering grounds, primarily loss and degradation of habitat, non-native predators, economic factors, and educating the public.
Chris Rimmer: crimmer AT vtecostudies.org
Seeking a co-chair

Forestry--Investigating the potential impacts of forestry practices on Bicknell's Thrush breeding success, primarily in Maine and Canada.
Greg Campbell: gcampbell AT bsc-eoc.org
Scott Makepeace: scott.makepeace AT gnb.ca

Research--Investigating specific research questions that potentially limit Bicknell's Thrush throughout its annual cycle, such as climate change, industrial development, ecotoxicity, and epidemiology.
Kent McFarland: kmcfarland AT vtecostudies.org
Kevin Fraser: kevin.fraser AT unb.ca

Monitoring--Developing a range-wide monitoring program for Bicknell's Thrush on the breeding grounds.
Dan Lambert: dlambert AT abcbirds.org
Becky Whittam: bwhittam AT bsc-eoc.org