Vermont

Rusty Blackbird populations have plummeted by over 85% in the past half century and no one knows why. Now a group of international investigators led by Judith Scarl at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies plans to study this problem by collecting data during the Rusty Blackbird’s spring migration.

Rusty Blackbirds breed in marshes and bogs in the boreal forests of Canada and the northern United States, including Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. During the Second Vermont Breeding Bird Survey nesting sites for this frequently overlooked bird declined in the western part of Vermont, but increased in the northeastern highlands, possibly due to increased effort directed toward finding their nests. Nonetheless, only 20 Rusty Blackbird nests were recorded in the second atlas down from 26 in the first survey. In 2014 Rusty Blackbirds were added to the list of Vermont’s endangered species. Since Vermont is at the southeastern edge of their range, further declines in the Rusty Blackbird population could result in their disappearance from the state.

Conservation biologists lack sufficiently detailed information about the Rusty Blackbird’s breeding grounds, wintering habitat, and migration stopovers to make recommendations for action. To fill in the gaps in our knowledge the International Rusty Blackbird Working Group initiated the Rusty Blackbird Spring Migration Blitz in 2014 in cooperation with eBird, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and VCE. Last year the group assigned migration target dates for 38 states, 9 provinces in Canada, and 3 territories asking birders to visit likely migration stopover points, count Rusty Blackbirds if present, and enter their observations into eBird. For Vermont the target dates in 2015 are March 15 through the end of April. In 2014, its inaugural year, 4570 birders nationwide submitted 13,400 checklists to eBird with Rusty Blackbird data, a huge success. This study will be repeated and extended in 2015 and 2016. The objectives this year are to revisit prioritized migration stopover points to determine the consistency with which Rusty Blackbirds use these locations and to identify additional habitats hosting Rusty Blackbirds in migration. The effort of citizen-scientists throughout Vermont is critical to the success of this study.

For more information about this project visit the International Rusty Blackbird Working Group website.

Let’s get out there and find those birds!

Bruce MacPherson, Green Mountain Audubon Society