Your eBird Records Help Our Wildlife Action Plan and Bird Conservation!

In 2001, Congress created the State Wildlife Grants (SWG) program to support state fish and wildlife agencies in conserving low and declining populations of fish and wildlife. A significant requirement of the SWG program, which emphasizes endangered species prevention, is that each state must produce a Wildlife Action Plan (WAP) and submit it for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approval.  A draft document was submitted in October 2005 that provides a blueprint for the PGC and the PA Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) to pursue comprehensive fish and wildlife management.  

The Wildlife Action Plan takes a habitat-based approach to wildlife conservation.  Pennsylvania is a critical state for the conservation of forest birds including Wood Thrush, Scarlet Tanager, and Worm-eating Warbler.  The widespread and common Wood Thrush has declined dramatically over the last two decades according to breeding bird survey data.  Birds of conifer forests are especially being threatened from losses by pests and diseases to our state tree, the eastern hemlock.  As a group, birds of thickets and early successional forest habitats have declined more than any other group.  Golden-winged Warbler, Prairie Warbler, and American Woodcock are among the more well known species of this habitat that have been prioritized for conservation. The loss of habitat effects both game and non-game species alike.  Another group of birds that have suffered from landscape changes in habitat are grassland species.  A few of  the  focal conservation species in this group are Henslow’s Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, and Upland Sandpiper. Pennsylvania has one of the largest populations of Henslow’s Sparrow, a Watch List species, in its western reclaimed strip mine grasslands. 

Among the many projects supported by the State Wildlife Grants are the PA Important Bird Areas and Important Mammal Areas, the 2nd PA Breeding Bird Atlas, Peregrine Falcon satellite imagery, Migrant Raptor and Songbird Habitat Use Along the Kittatinny Ridge; Oases Along the Flyway: Preserving Critical Stopover Habitat for Migrating Songbirds; the Susquehanna River Birding and Wildlife Trail; barrens habitat management guidelines, and Golden Eagle migration.  For more information about PA WAP and projects supported by the State Wildlife Grants, check out the PGC website at:  http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=496&q=162067