Mark LaBarr and guests at a fall bird migration event at Nordic Farm. Photo credit: Allaire Diamond, VLT
Your eBirding data helps create tools that can be used to further conservation, inspire support, and inform ecological management strategies. eBird in Action is a segment which shares the conservation stories made possible because of your contributions. This edition comes from the Cornell Lab’s Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative (LTBCI).
Bird conservation is the core of Audubon Vermont’s work, and while birds are not a primary focus of Vermont Land Trust (VLT)’s conservation work, bird-focused projects can help ‘unite land and lives,’ fulfilling the mission of the organization, says Allaire Diamond, Ecology & Restoration Program Director at VLT. Because birds are identifiable and colorful and charismatic, they can help connect people with the work of land conservation and habitat management, says Mark LaBarr, Conservation Program Manager at Audubon Vermont—so collaboration was a natural fit for the two organizations.
By working together on two of the Cornell Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative’s small grant projects, Diamond and LaBarr harnessed the strengths of both VLT and Audubon Vermont. The partnership helped Audubon Vermont identify project properties for bird-friendly habitat management and create a larger conservation footprint, notes LaBarr. Diamond says the projects with Audubon Vermont help make VLT’s conservation work more enduring, improving the resilience of the habitat at the project sites.
VLT and Audubon Vermont partnered on one small grant in 2020 and another in 2023. Similar in focus and approach, the projects were completed on adjacent properties protected by VLT. The first project took place on Nordic Farm, a 580-acre working farm, and the second at Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge, a nearby site in Chittenden County, Vermont. The projects helped extend the connectivity of Golden-winged Warbler habitat, contributing to the management efforts of the Western Vermont Golden-chain Collaborative, an organization that LaBarr leads.
Both projects included the removal of invasives and the planting of native species in shrublands, efforts that were led by LaBarr. Diamond helped recruit and manage the volunteers that supported habitat management implementation efforts at the sites. LaBarr held bird banding events at each site, and Diamond took the lead on outreach for these public events, utilizing VLT’s online event management system. LaBarr and Diamond worked together on outreach for partner events at each site, inviting conservation colleagues to events designed to increase the capacity for the Western Vermont Golden-chain Collaborative, which included training on project planning and habitat management strategies.
Before and after the habitat management efforts took place, LaBarr conducted bird monitoring at each site using eBird. Implementation work was focused on improving habitat for shrubland species, including Golden- and Blue-winged Warblers, which are “species that you wouldn’t normally see if you weren’t looking for them,” notes LaBarr. Data contributed through continued monitoring for these warbler species at these managed sites is also helping the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in their efforts to determine the ratio between Golden- and Blue-winged Warblers in the region. This is important because the two species hybridize with one another where they overlap, and both are experiencing significant population declines in parts of their ranges. Understanding the ratio and how these birds interact helps inform effective conservation strategies.
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LaBarr notes that eBirders are key to helping Audubon Vermont identify potential sites for future conservation or habitat management. At sites such as Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge, an eBird hotspot, observations submitted by birders throughout the year help LaBarr get perspective on what species other people are seeing in the region. This information is especially useful for shrubland species, as the habitat these birds prefer is transitional and constantly shifting across the landscape. “Sometimes these shrubland species can pop up where you weren’t expecting them, as new habitat grows,” he says. LaBarr uses eBird data, and data from the Northeast Bird Habitat Conservation Initiative Mapping Tool, as a coarse filter for shrubland species when approached by landowners interested in working with Audubon Vermont on habitat management projects.
Learn more about hybridization of Golden- and Blue-winged Warblers, and log your bird observations on eBird to contribute to science and conservation in your area.
Read more about the small grant projects completed by Vermont Land Trust and Audubon Vermont on the Cornell Lab’s Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative website.
Mark LaBarr of Audubon Vermont demonstrating bird banding and tree planting at Nordic Farm. Photo credit: Allaire Diamond, VLT