News
Over 25,000 Tricolors Banded in 3 Years
Tricolored blackbirds are being banded as part of a statewide effort to identify and document movement patterns and fidelity to breeding colonies. The banding of tricolors began in 2007 and has continued annually, with over 25,000 tricolors banded by autumn, 2009. The recapture of banded birds has demonstrated strong fidelity to breeding sites and a high degree of colony cohesion, with birds breeding together at one location tending to move as a group to breed together again a different location.
Unfortunately, two birds banded in 2008 were shot and killed by a rice farmer in June, 2009 in Butte County and turned in to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service staff. The severity of the threat posed by the shooting of breeding and post-breeding birds is unknown and requires further study.
Water Flows to Holiday Lake
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works provided a letter to the West Valley County Water District Board of Directors, informing the District that the County does not believe the existing Drought Ordinance applies to Holiday Lake. Therefore, the County of Los Angeles does not intend to take any action against the District to prevent the operation of the recreational facilities at Holiday Lake as an enforcement of the Ordinance. In a recent Board meeting, the District, after much debate, decided not to adopt the Ordinance. This decision supersedes the order to cease pumping made by the Board President last January, thus allowing water to again flow into Holiday Lake. With the return of water deliveries, it is hoped that the largest tricolored blackbird colony in Los Angeles County in 2008 will be active this year.
Antelope Valley Press: Tricolored Blackbird Habitat in Danger
An article in the Antelope Valley Press dated March 11th, 2009 illustrates the interaction between water conservation policy and tricolored blackbird breeding and describes the situation at Holiday Lake in northern Los Angeles County, where water deliveries had been terminated, threatening the largest breeding colony of tricolors in Los Angeles County in 2008 (according to the 2008 Statewide Survey).
Subsequent actions by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works have restored water deliveries to Holiday Lake and it is hoped that tricolors will breed here again this year.
Emergency Ordinance Threatens Largest Breeding Colony of Tricolored Blackbirds in Los Angeles County
In October, 2008, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved Ordinance No. 2008-00052U, Water Conservation Requirements for the Unincorporated Los Angeles County Area.
According to West Valley County Water District President Mr. John Gaglione, due to this Ordinance, WVCWD is no longer able to pump water into Holiday Lake, and Holiday Lake will be allowed to dry up.
Holiday Lake is located in the Antelope Valley, in the community of Holiday Valley. Many birds and other wildlife species make Holiday Lake their home and the largest breeding colony of tricolored blackbirds in Los Angeles County in 2008 (according to the results of the 2008 Statewide Tricolored Blackbird Survey) occurred at Holiday Lake.
Tricolored Blackbird Portal Highlighted in NBII Access
The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) has supported the development of the Tricolored Blackbird Portal. The NBII publishes a quarterly newsletter, NBII Access, which highlights the Tricolored Blackbird Portal in its Fall, 2008 edition.
April Tricolored Blackbird Survey a Huge Success!
The 2008 Tricolored Blackbird Survey was a great success, thanks to 160 volunteers who donated their time and expertise before, during, and after the survey. Our total count was approximately 402,000 birds, 144,000 more than were counted in 2005. Audubon California thanks all the volunteer whose participation in this survey is an important contribution that will help guide future conservation efforts for this species.
Use the link below to read the entire story.
Cooperative conservation could save tricolored blackbirds
This article appeared in the April - June, 2008 issue of California Agriculture, a University of California peer-reviewed journal.
Audubon California Reaches Agreement to Save World’s Largest Tricolored Blackbird Colony
Tulare County, California – Audubon California today announced that it has reached an agreement with a farmer in Tulare County to safeguard a single colony of about 80,000 Tricolored Blackbirds – nearly a third of the world’s population of this declining songbird.
The estimated global population of Tricolored Blackbirds is approximately 250,000 to 300,000 birds, with at least 95 percent of these occurring in California. Tricolored Blackbirds form just a few large nesting colonies each year, and in most cases these occur in San Joaquin Valley triticale fields. This puts the colonies in grave danger when farmers cultivate the field before young birds are able to fly.
Please visit the link below for the full story.
Merced Sun-Star: Dark future is feared for tricolor blackbirds
By Carrie Peyton Dahlberg
cpeytondahlberg@sacbee.com
The Central Valley fixture could be on path to extinction
For tricolor blackbirds that swoop and gather in Central Valley fields, the past breeding season turned unexpectedly into a nearly silent summer.
By the tens of thousands, the birds courted, built nests and waited – then abandoned nests en masse as females failed to produce eggs.
Robert Meese, a UC Davis researcher who tracks the trademark California bird with its blaze of red and white on the wings, hopes biologists are seeing just a temporary setback, fueled by dry weather that depleted a vital supply of insects.
"If this is the beginning of a trend rather than a one-time event we might really be in trouble with the tricolor," said Meese. "The bird is making its last stand, and it's making its last stand primarily in the Central Valley."
