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