June 18, 2013 — Swainson' s Thrushes, from a local population near Bolinas, CA, spend their winters together in Mexico, according to a new tracking study released by Point Blue Conservation Science, (Point Blue, formerly PRBO). This result is important because it shows how the conservation of habitat for these local populations in California is tightly linked with climate and habitat changes in Mexico, where these birds spend their winters, 1,600 miles away.
The Swainson's Thrush is one of the most melodic of all the songbirds, and can be heard singing now by hikers, walkers, and cyclists enjoying trails near streams throughout the bay area.
Using tiny tags to track a bird's location, biologists from Point Blue have pinpointed the wintering locations of Swainson's Thrushes, tracking them from study areas in Marin County to their wintering homes in central Mexico. Published this week in the journal The Auk, the study illustrates the linkages between nesting and breeding locations of migratory birds. Swainson's Thrushes have lost 95% of available nesting habitat along streams and rivers throughout California. They have also almost completely disappeared from the Sierra, and projections on Point Blue's "Where Will the Birds be" interactive website (choose bird distribution, then riparian, then Swainson's Thrush) illustrates that the Swainson 's Thrush will occur in fewer places in California, given climate change.
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