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Foundation Funding Bird Habitat

en.wikipedia.org

The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin recently disbursed more than $47,000 to projects that protect Wisconsin’s birds throughout the course of their lifecycle.

The Bird Protection Fund supports nine projects that are priorities of the state’s leading bird conservation organizations.

The Foundation's Executive Director Ruth Oppedahl says birds serve as indicators of ecological health, so tracking changes in their populations informs researchers about other changes in the environment...

"...one of the things we look for when we want to support our birds is to support where they breed, where they nest, their stop overs during the migration period. All parts of the bird's lifecycle is a goal the bird protection fund supports...."

She says many of Wisconsin’s bird species face pressure from agriculture, development, exotic species, environmental pollutants and climate change. Thirty percent of Wisconsin’s bird species have low or declining populations, including 11 endangered species and 13 threatened species. She says part of the foundation's mission is to improve habitat management. More than 260 bird species breed in Wisconsin. Overall, more than 400 species of birds have been recorded in Wisconsin.

A 2011 survey showed that more than 1.7 million Wisconsin residents engage in bird-watching. The Northwoods has a population of one of the nation's most endangered bird species. Oppedahl talks about the Kirtland's warbler..

".....so the population of Kirtland's Warblers that is mostly found in northern lower Michigan, a few of them got blown across Lake Michigan and ended up in Wisconsin about 10 years ago. So we have started the second population of Kirtland's Warblers are here in Wisconsin, the second population of Kirtland's Warblers in the whole world are here in Wisconsin...."

The warbler has been seen in Vilas and Marinette counties, along with the Upper Peninsula. They migrate from their nesting grounds to the southeastern coast of the United States on their way to wintering grounds in the Bahamas.

Oppedahl says the Fund helps support the ongoing monitoring of endangered Kirtland’s warblers by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the DNR.

More information is available atwisconservation.org

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