Bringing Back the Birds

[Music]

thank you

[Applause]

have you ever been awake early enough to

see the sunrise

now what about experiencing the sunrise

through

sound i’m not sure

there’s anything comparable to the sound

of sunrise the sound of endless bird

song

just echoing across the landscape that

surrounds you

as a conservation biologist with the

smithsonian

i feel fortunate to be able to

experience the sunrise

on a regular basis through my research

on farms with birds

so today i invite you to take a walk

with me on some of the virginia farms

where i do my research

my mornings usually start out in a

rolling meadow

and the mist is just rising off the tips

of the grasses into a cotton candy sky

the first song we usually hear is that

of a field sparrow

it’s a tiny brown sparrow with buffy

cheeks

and a peach beak whose song completely

changes after the sunrise to mimic

the sound of a ping-pong ball bouncing

off

of a table you may hear a grasshopper

sparrow

buzzing from the depths of the grasses

or the classic witchity witchy witchy

of the common yellow throat singing from

a nearby wetland

you’ll likely hear a really strong

conclary

of the male red-winged blackbird whose

territory can contain anywhere from

five to fifteen females

and if you’re lucky you’ll hear the

bubbly song

of the bobbling

we like to call this the r2d2

of the bird world so miraculously these

birds can sing

multiple notes at once and it makes one

bird

sound like an entire flock and if you’re

really lucky

you’ll hear this the long

lost call of the bobwhite quail

or the haunting haunting call of the

eastern

meadowlark now this song symbolizes

pristine contiguous grassland habitat

and the meadowlark is one of those first

songs that indicates that spring is

right around the corner now what if one

day

these songs go silent

so one by one that dawn chorus

loses its momentum so one less field

sparrow

two fewer red-winged blackbirds five

fewer meadowlarks until

silence

this is what’s happening to our birds

right now

a recent study has shown that we’ve lost

nearly

three billion birds since 1970

with grassland birds those birds that

are living on our farms

they’ve taken the hardest hit so 700

million

individuals across 31 species of

grassland

birds are just gone

in the last 50 years that’s it

50 years

so for every five bobolinks that we had

in the 1970s

we now have two

we’ve lost 75 percent of our loggerhead

strikes

now these are a robin sized predatory

songbird

that are known for actually impaling

their prey

on barbed wire fences and thorns so we

also call them the butcher bird

we have less than a hundred remaining

here in virginia

and my personal favorite the eastern

meadowlark

for every four meadowlarks we had in the

1970s

we now have one

so what’s happening what is going on

with our birds

habitat loss and agricultural

intensification

are the most significant drivers causing

this decline

so grassland birds they actually nest

directly on the ground

so a single hay harvest can kill over

95 percent of the babies in that field

these birds are also facing threats from

pesticide use outdoor cats and

even climate change

but why should we care i mean why do

birds matter

for one the health of our bird community

directly reflects the health of our

planet

for every species we lose we

lose resiliency making our planet

less adaptable to change

birds also provide several important

services to

all of us they pollinate our plants

they they eat our agricultural pests

they disperse

our seeds they plant our trees

and through all of these actions they

are constantly replenishing

the soil with nutrients the soil that

supports our very livelihoods

and not only these things but these

birds just

ignite our souls they inspire fashion

technology music literature

they connect us to nature

and they connect us to each other

so where do we even start how do we help

to start we need to know where these

birds are

so we can provide them the support they

need

research has shown that more than 80

percent

of grassland bird distribution actually

falls on private lands

so the rolling hay fields and pastures

that make our countryside

so picturesque those fields

that support the livelihoods of our

neighbors

our farming families these are the homes

of our grassland birds too

so in order to successfully implement

conservation for these species

we have to facilitate a model that works

for

both birds and people

in a small town of front royal virginia

a team of smithsonian biologists is

collaborating with a growing

network of private citizens to do just

that i run a program called virginia

working landscapes

or vwl based out of the smithsonian’s

conservation biology institute

we collaborate with a network of more

than 75

citizen scientists and over 150

private landowners and together we’re

studying biodiversity

on private lands so our birds our bees

our plants our soils and through this

network

i am constantly enthralled by the

conservation efforts being put forth by

our farming community

they truly are the ambassadors

of grassland bird conservation so now

i’d like to introduce you to a few of

the farms that i work with

and show you some of the conservation

practices that they’ve implemented on

their properties

now this is a farm in fauquier county

virginia

this is literally less than an hour from

where we stand in washington dc

here today this farm has spent the last

decade

establishing over 300 acres

of native grasses and wildflowers

amongst a working

cattle operation now these meadows are

really well known for pollinator

conservation

but they’re also critical bird habitat

our citizen scientists have documented

over 75

species in and around these fields

including

bobwhite quail blue grow speaks

and yellow breasted chats it’s truly a

mecca

for breeding birds in the spring and

summer

and it’s also excellent wintering

habitat

so our research has shown that birds

that come here to stay for the winter

rely so heavily on these native

grasslands for food

and cover through some of their most

vulnerable months

so it’s incredibly encouraging to know

that we have farmers right here in our

region

that are providing habitat for these

birds year round

now moving over to warren county this

farm produces over

30 000 bales of hay for the local

equestrian community

every year it also happens to produce

the region’s largest crop of bubblings

now these bubble links nest directly on

the ground so when the fields are hayed

it can have severe impacts on the

reproductive success

of these birds but the farmers here have

recognized

the rarity of this species and they’ve

set aside

several fields every year where they

actually alter the timing

of their hay harvests to accommodate the

baby birds

so they actually have time to leave the

nests

in the last 10 years we’ve been doing

surveys at this farm

we’ve seen the bobbling population

expand from one field

to the entire farm to farms up and down

the road

it’s been so rewarding and has also just

been

a great example of scientists working

together

with farmers to study and optimize

conservation

on private working lands

now this is a farm in augusta county

virginia

where cattle are rotated through

pastures

using a method called rotational grazing

now this practice is really well known

for regenerating soil health

and boosting vegetation productivity by

resting pastures in between bouts of

grazing

now conveniently this practice also

provides

prime nesting structure for grassland

birds

and those periods of rest between the

grazing

allow ample opportunities for the birds

to fledge out their young

and the birds are taking notice so our

citizen scientists have documented

some of our region’s most rare grassland

birds

breeding on this farm including dick

sissels

and our butcher birds the loggerhead

trikes

so these practices i’ve shared with you

establishing native meadows

altering your timing of hay harvests to

accommodate birds nesting

and rotational grazing these are all

critical actions

that farmers can and do take

to support grassland birds on their

farms

but you might be wondering how can you

help

if you don’t live on a farm how can you

support the birds in your own yard

as well as in the rural communities that

surround your neighborhoods

for one plant native plants

a recent study of chickadees showed that

an urban yard

needs to consist of at least 70 percent

native plants in order to sustain a

stable population of birds

now this is because native plants host a

variety of nutritious insects

that our birds need to feed themselves

as well as their

babies throughout the breeding season so

i encourage all of you

to take an inventory of the plants in

your yard

replace the non-natives with native

plants

embrace the bugs ditch the lawn

chemicals

if you do all of these things you won’t

even need a bird feeder

i promise you could take it a little

step further by adding things like

nesting boxes to your yard or water

features

but i will say please please

don’t attract birds to your yard in this

way

if you have outdoor cats

a study by some of my colleagues

actually showed that outdoor cats can

kill

an estimated 2 billion birds

in the u.s per year

and this includes some of our most

vulnerable grassland species

like this grasshopper sparrow i found

with a cat during one of my field

surveys just over the last couple of

months

so by keeping your cats indoors you’re

not only protecting the birds

but you’re protecting your beloved pets

from threats like diseases

animal attacks as well as road mortality

which can really

affect a family so while you’re at home

with your indoor cats who here enjoys

a morning cup of coffee

okay now who here is drinking bird

friendly coffee

yes bird friendly coffee actually exists

so traditional coffee farms grow their

coffee beans in full sun

and this requires the farmers to take

down valuable rainforest habitat

but bird-friendly coffee is actually

grown under shade trees

so the rain forest remains intact and

the birds have habitat

and these are the birds that breed right

here in dc

and migrate down to latin america for

the winter

so next time you’re shopping for coffee

look for the bird friendly label

now how many of you have heard of

citizen science

good with less funding being directed

towards

science researchers like myself are

relying more

and more in the knowledge and the

efforts put forth by citizen scientists

so through vwl i am so fortunate to work

with a cohort of more than 75

citizen scientists and this includes

educators

lawyers botanists entomologists

artists all dedicating time

and expertise to collecting data that

can help

us better understand our region’s

wildlife i

honestly i don’t know where we would be

without them

visit the national zoo here in dc or

other places so you can find out

which citizen science programs might be

available near you

and most importantly support your local

farmers

who practice sustainable agriculture and

nurture a conservation ethic

in their daily work get to know the

conservation practices that they’re

implementing on their farms

and around your communities for example

right here in virginia we have programs

that provide technical and financial

assistance

to farmers who want to fence their

cattle out of streams to improve water

quality

who want to create habitat for

pollinators and even bobwhite quail

and our research is showing that all of

these practices are benefiting a

whole suite of grassland birds too

donate to the programs and also share

your knowledge

that you learn from these programs with

your friends and your family

because ultimately we we the private

citizens

are the major stewards of our nation’s

remaining birds

our farmers in particular provide that

critical habitat

for the birds that need it the most our

grassland birds

together we have the ability

to lead change

if everyone here commits to one of the

simple actions

that i mentioned today we can make a

difference

we can bring birds back and we will

never

ever have to worry about experiencing

a silent sunrise

thank you

you