Multimedia
Oak Regeneration
Competing species in the white oak range are shading out young white oaks thus preventing regeneration, resulting in a non-sustainable demographic dominated by older trees. Dr. Jeff Larkin is a professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at IUP, as well as the Forest Bird Habitat Coordinator for the American Bird Conservancy. He says: it's just as important for landowners and forest managers to 'look down' as it is to 'look up' when it comes to oak forest management and stewardship. These photos, taken by Dr. Larkin, demonstrate white oak regeneration within the forest understory.
Capture of GWWA on Nonbreeding Grounds
While studying migratory birds on their Costa Rican wintering grounds in March 2017, associates at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History (RTPI) were able to add some important data to the understanding of Golden-wing Warbler biology. RTPI affiliate Sean Graesser, who was working in a remote rainforest reserve in northeastern Costa Rica with other RTPI staff on a tropical biology course for high school students, captured a gorgeous male Golden-winged Warbler. When he extracted it from the net to collect data and band it, he realized that this bird already had a uniquely numbered band on its leg – a band that Sean had put there himself a year ago! Since the bird was last seen in March of 2016, it had flown to North America – likely somewhere in that upper Great Lakes Region area, possibly nested and raised young against all odds, and returned to Costa Rica to overwinter. This bird looked healthy as could be and was getting ready to make the same trek again – possibly travelling as far as 6,000 miles each year between its breeding and wintering grounds.
Birds of a Feather on Working Lands
Storyboard discusses similarities between habitat needs of the Eastern golden-winged warbler and Western sage grouse, both bird species with declining populations due to habitat loss in working landscapes - but benefiting from NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife intervention.
Managing for Healthy, Diverse Forests
How to manage for both wildlife habitat and timber value in Eastern forests by conducting responsible forest harvests that take the longer-term view instead of quick cash-outs. Up to 80% of the forests in Eastern States have experienced repeated "high-grade" or "diameter-limit" harvests that remove only the most valuable trees during each harvest, diminishing forest economics in the region and depleting wildlife.
Thinning Forests to Save the Birds
An interesting and informative 8-minute video that explains how tree harvests are critical to saving a host of bird species that rely on young forest habitat for part of their annual life cycle.
