State of the Birds

The State of the Birds reports provide comprehensive analyses of the status of bird populations in the United States.

Socio-Cultural Significance of Birds

Totem
[Photograph: iStockphoto]

Birds have figured prominently in human culture and societies since prehistoric times and have served as a source of inspiration for creative endeavors. Our enduring fascination with birds extends to different aspects of culture and society, as the following examples show:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Focal Species

Marbled Godwit - John J. Mosesso
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
[Photograph: John J. Mosesso]

The Focal Species Strategy was developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to better measure success in achieving bird conservation priorities and mandates. One hundred and thirty-nine birds were identified as candidate species for conservation action.

Find information on focal bird species.

Learn more about this strategy by reading the Focal Species Strategy Fact Sheet (PDF).

Birds of California

Green Heron
[Green Heron - Photo copyright: John White]

Birds are vertebrates of the taxonomic class Aves. Thought of as "warm-blooded," birds are endotherms, meaning they are able to regulate their own body temperature independently of the temperature of their surroundings. Bird characteristics include feathers, wings, and a reproduction strategy of laying and incubating eggs.

California contains a wide variety of habitats that support 433 regularly occurring bird species across the state, some of which require conservation efforts. Birds play an important role in ecological diversity and several key organizations provide data and information online including PRBO Conservation Science, the International Bird Rescue Research Center, the California Academy of Sciences, and the NBII Bird Conservation Node. These sites provide a wide array of information on birds, descriptions of research and education programs, and bird collections.

Many California organizations focus on specific groups of birds such as the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research, which provides a source of information about birds of prey in California as well as the Ventana Wilderness Society that provides information about the reintroduction of the California Condor.

The California Node works with regional and national partners to provide access to a variety of data and information applications and products including the:

California MapSpecies of Greatest Conservation Need
Find out more about the California Birds of Greatest Conservation Need


Ecological Role of Birds

Birds provide important ecological services that contribute to maintaining ecosystem processes and some of the necessary conditions on which humans and other organisms depend. These services range from food provisioning to modification of habitats and resource flows in biological communities. Bird declines can have negative impacts on ecosystems, and their sensitivity to environmental change often lends them as useful indicators of environmental quality.

For overviews on the ecological role of birds, see the articles by Whelan and colleagues (2008) and by Sekercioglu (2006). Examples of ecological services and functions birds perform include:

Checklists and Identification Guides for Birds in California
Showing 8 Results
CollapseBird Checklists of the United States -- California
Description: This website links to bird checklists for each National Wildlife Refuge and several air force bases in California.
Resource Type: Checklists and Identification Guides
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
ExpandBird Species of Special Concern in California
ExpandBirds of Kern County, California
ExpandBirds of the Imperial Valley
ExpandCalifornia Parrot Project
ExpandCalifornia's Threatened and Endangered Birds
ExpandComplete List of Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds and Mammals in California
ExpandElkhorn Slough Birds
Species Profiles of Birds in California
Showing 10 of 13 ( Show All )
CollapseAll About Birds: Clark's Nutcracker
Description: The Cornell University Lab of Ornithology "All About Birds" program is an extensive resource about birds, with birding tips, identification guides, suggested birding spots, and species accounts. This species account describes the Clark's nutcracker, a highly specialized pine seed feeder in high elevation forests of the western United States. The account includes the nutcracker's size, appearance, sound, range, habitat, food, and behavior, as well as maps and photographs.
Resource Type: Life Histories and Species Profiles
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Cornell University
ExpandBiogeographical Analyses: Black-footed Albatross
ExpandBiogeographical Analyses: Laysan Albatross
ExpandCalifornia Partners in Flight
ExpandLong-billed Curlew Distribution Map
ExpandLong-billed Curlew in California
ExpandMarbled Godwit Distribution Map
ExpandMarbled Godwit in California
ExpandShorebird Trends at Bolinas Lagoon: Marbled Godwit
ExpandSnowy Plover Distribution Map

Economic Value of Wild Birds

Estimates on how much birds contribute to our economy reflect only a fraction of their value, because the monetary value of ecological and socio-cultural services birds provide has not been quantified. Wild birds have been part of trading and economic activity throughout history. In the United States, severe bird population declines in the early 1900s due to commercial activities led to passage of legislation restricting commercial trade of birds and their parts.

Today, recreational activities account for most of the commercial revenues generated by wild birds in the US. To learn more about the economic impact of bird-related recreational activities see:

Conservation by Citizens

Individuals and community groups can contribute to bird conservation by following any of these suggested practices:

Additionally, you can support bird conservation by joining conservation organizations or by participating in bird-related projects and activities like the International Migratory Bird Day.

Citizen-Based Bird Data

Birdwatcher and snow geese
Birdwatcher & Snow Geese
[Photograph: John & Karen Hollingsworth,
FWS Image Library]

Recreational and professional bird watchers can support bird conservation by contributing their individual bird observations to citizen science programs. Aggregation of these individual observations at a variety of spatial and temporal scales helps determine real-time abundance and distribution of birds throughout the world. To contribute or access data from citizen science programs, visit the following sites:

eBird - A real-time, online checklist program that provides data on bird abundance and distribution across North America.

Worldbirds - A platform for the collection, storage and retrieval of bird observations worldwide.

The NBII Program is administered by the Biological Informatics Program of the U.S. Geological Survey
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