ALBANY — An alliance of
North American scientists is supporting work in the Dominican Republic to
preserve winter habitat of the rare Bicknell's thrush, which breeds on
mountaintops in New York, New England and Canada.
"This project is a
new effort to get conservation done in the wintering ground, which we are
convinced is the main limiting factor for Bicknell's thrush," said Chris
Rimmer, executive director of the Vermont
Center for Ecostudies.
The sparrow-size brown
bird nests 1,200 miles north of its wintering grounds, at elevations over 3,000
feet in New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and southeastern Canada. Its
population is estimated at 100,000. Scientists have documented annual
population declines of 7 to 19 percent in parts of its range over the past
20 years.
The bird winters on four
islands in the Caribbean, mostly on Hispaniola, he said, and it's under siege
from charcoal production, subsistence farming, logging, livestock grazing and
other threats.
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Fund-supports-work-on-rare-bird-4008000.php#ixzz2BMIKtlWX
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