{"id":18647,"date":"2025-09-26T13:50:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T17:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/?p=18647"},"modified":"2025-10-09T16:18:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T20:18:50","slug":"powering-a-new-era-of-conservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/powering-a-new-era-of-conservation\/","title":{"rendered":"Powering a New Era of Conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>You\u2019ve seen the headlines. Three billion birds lost over the past 50 years. A 2019 study published in the journal <em>Science<\/em> painted a startling picture of how habitat loss, environmental degradation, and extreme weather events are impacting North American birds.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"article-list alignright right list-style card-four order-bottom \"><h2 class=\"article-list-header\">More from the Report<\/h2><ul><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media content-article\" data-link-to=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/annual-report-2025\/\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/annual-report-2025-cover-fi-1.33-1280x960.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/annual-report-2025-cover-fi-1.33-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/annual-report-2025-cover-fi-1.33-1280x960.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/annual-report-2025-cover-fi-1.33-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/annual-report-2025-cover-fi-1.33-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/annual-report-2025-cover-fi-1.33-480x360.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/annual-report-2025-cover-fi-1.33.jpg 1329w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" alt=\"a group of children and adults look up into tall trees\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><a class=\"article-item-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/annual-report-2025\/\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Cornell Lab Annual Report 2025<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n<p>One bright spot has always been ducks. Since 1970, duck populations have rebounded thanks to decades-long conservation efforts with funding from sources like the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and sales of Federal Duck Stamps. This increase is a testament to what can happen when a coalition of allies\u2014in this case, conservationists, hunters, and federal agencies\u2014align around a shared interest: seeing waterfowl flourish in protected habitats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stateofthebirds.org\/2025\/\">2025 State of the Birds report<\/a>, released in March by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and a consortium of more than a dozen conservation groups, shows that birds are declining in all habitats. In the past five years, even ducks are on a downward trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DSC05645-2-1-1280x640.jpg\" alt=\"Person walking through a grassy wetland\" class=\"wp-image-19067\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DSC05645-2-1-1280x640.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DSC05645-2-1-720x360.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DSC05645-2-1-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DSC05645-2-1-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DSC05645-2-1-480x240.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/DSC05645-2-1.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dr. Casey Setash of Ducks Unlimited searches for waterfowl nests in a flood-irrigated pasture in Colorado.<em> Photo by Derek Christians<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tools Built for Conservation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately, there is an extraordinary new tool to help us understand and reverse these declines: <a href=\"https:\/\/science.ebird.org\/en\/status-and-trends\">eBird Status and Trends<\/a>. It\u2019s a tool that combines the treasure trove of eBird data with machine learning and supercomputing power, and it\u2019s providing a detailed, county-level look at how birds are faring across the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is the first time we\u2019ve had fine-scale information that allows us to understand the drivers of declines much better than we\u2019ve ever been able to before,\u201d says Amanda Rodewald, faculty director of the Cornell Lab\u2019s Center for Avian Population Studies. \u201ceBird Status and Trends gives us a new lens to detect and diagnose population declines and to respond to them in a way that\u2019s strategic, precise, and flexible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-small-font-size show-quotes\"><blockquote><p>Without federal protections, wetlands and waterways are subject to development or draining, which could reduce critical feeding and breeding grounds for waterfowl.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>One group making heavy use of eBird Status and Trends is the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) partnership. This international partnership among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico outlines waterfowl management and conservation goals and works with regional Joint Ventures, a collection of federal and state agencies and nonprofit organizations, to conserve waterfowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Orin Robinson, a senior research associate at the Lab, has been working with Joint Ventures to use eBird Status and Trends to refine waterfowl population goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been rewarding to work with the North American Waterfowl Management Plan and Joint Ventures\u2026to start using the eBird Status and Trends data in their models of waterfowl planning,\u201d says Orin. \u201cAnd the better we can make these tools, the easier it will be for more partners to use them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Engaging with duck hunters could provide much-needed support to bring awareness to the issues and help reverse population declines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe more hunters and duck enthusiasts can contribute to eBird, the better information we\u2019ll have to conserve and manage populations,\u201d says Amanda. \u201cWe know that over half of hunters are also birders, so there\u2019s already a strong connection there.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">eBird Tools in Action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full featured\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1036\" height=\"777\" src=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ML633315340-Ring-necked-Duck-Jacob-Meier-4-3.jpg\" alt=\"Group of dark and light-colored ducks flying together\" class=\"wp-image-19074\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ML633315340-Ring-necked-Duck-Jacob-Meier-4-3.jpg 1036w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ML633315340-Ring-necked-Duck-Jacob-Meier-4-3-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ML633315340-Ring-necked-Duck-Jacob-Meier-4-3-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ML633315340-Ring-necked-Duck-Jacob-Meier-4-3-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ML633315340-Ring-necked-Duck-Jacob-Meier-4-3-480x360.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1036px) 100vw, 1036px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Ring-necked Ducks by<\/em> <a href=\"http:\/\/macaulaylibrary.org\/asset\/633315340\"><em>Jacob Meier \/ Macaulay Library<\/em>.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Joint Ventures are the regional planning and delivery arms of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. Their job is to translate continental population objectives into regional habitat objectives that support target duck populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To do that, managers need estimates of duck numbers and their distributions for the entire year\u2014during the breeding season, migration, and the nonbreeding season. According to Joe Lancaster, the biological team leader for the Gulf Coast Joint Venture, that kind of year-round data is hard to find. \u201cWe just didn\u2019t have the data that derived contemporary migration chronologies we needed across our region,\u201d says Joe, \u201cso we started exploring using eBird data.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201ceBird Status and Trends are the only data available to understand the distribution and relative abundance of waterfowl at a species level across the entire continent,\u201d says Michael Brasher, senior waterfowl scientist at Ducks Unlimited.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And a new study is showing just how credible eBird data are when used in combination with available waterfowl surveys to produce estimates of duck abundance throughout the year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michael says, \u201cWe\u2019ve compared eBird Status and Trends to existing datasets from traditionally collected methods as a way of helping to verify, validate, and build confidence in eBird datasets. And for the areas where we looked, it does a pretty darn good job of it. It matches up with other datasets, and it matches up with our expectations and expert knowledge across the waterfowl management community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright  has-forest-green-tint-2-background-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">eBird on Fire<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>eBird Status and Trends provides the United States Forest Service with the localized information it needs to create efficient prescribed fire plans and manage forests to reduce the risks of wildfires on birds and people. \u201ceBird Trends helps land managers look at different scenarios, pinpoint the areas of opportunity, and see where an investment in conservation actions could benefit birds the most,\u201d says Andrew Stillman, a researcher at the Cornell Lab. Sarah Sawyer, the national wildlife ecologist at the U.S. Forest Service, says, \u201cAt the Forest Service we see immense value in citizen-science data, especially when the Lab really digs into the accuracy and reliability of the data, so that when the final data product comes to us, we have some confidence to utilize that information.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The results are now being implemented across Joint Ventures and at Ducks Unlimited to drive habitat priorities. \u201ceBird Status and Trends products are being used to establish and guide habitat conservation objectives on the ground, like: <em>Where do we need to be providing waterfowl habitat? When do we need to be providing it? And then how much?<\/em>\u201d says Michael.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the South, the Gulf Coast Joint Venture uses this information to identify regions where a specific type of habitat may be lacking for duck populations. Then they start working with partners to put more habitat on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur information [with eBird data] basically shows that in Louisiana and on the Texas Chenier Plain, we have sufficient types of habitat to support our population objective, whereas in our Texas Mid-Coast region we have a deficit in that type of habitat. So, the Texas Prairie Wetland Program has shifted to focus more on the Texas Mid-Coast and improving habitats there to reduce the deficiencies in that region,\u201d says Joe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Way Forward<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur commitment to sharing the latest science with partners is making a difference, but the results from the 2025 U.S. State of the Birds Report remind us that we cannot be complacent,\u201d says Amanda Rodewald.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wetland habitat is being lost at an alarming rate. Loss of wetland habitat has increased by 50% since 2009. And new policy is about to accelerate those losses. The recent changes to the Clean Water Act and the Waters of the United States narrowed the definition of navigable waters, which, according to a recent study published in the journal <em>Science<\/em>, means that 690,000 stream miles and 35 million acres of wetlands will lose federal protections.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amanda and environmental economists from the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University are investigating what these changes mean to waterfowl populations. According to preliminary analysis using eBird data, Amanda says they estimate that waters supporting 20% of waterfowl populations in the contiguous U.S. will lose federal protection.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large featured\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3403-4-3-1280x960.jpg\" alt=\"Person standing in shallow water, gently holding a duck \" class=\"wp-image-19081\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3403-4-3-1280x960.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3403-4-3-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3403-4-3-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3403-4-3-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3403-4-3-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3403-4-3-480x360.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3403-4-3.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Joe Lancaster releasing a duck with a transmitter for tracking. <em>Photo by Ken Gross.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Without federal protections, wetlands and waterways are subject to development or draining, which could reduce critical feeding and breeding grounds for waterfowl. \u201cThose waters,\u201d says Amanda, \u201crepresent important breeding, migratory stopover, and nonbreeding areas for waterfowl and other bird species.\u201d She adds, \u201ceBirders are basically the eyes and ears of the environmental and conservation agencies working to make conditions better for birds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A new era of conservation that provides hope and a way forward is unfolding thanks to birders around the world. And eBird now holds more than two billion observations\u2014an unprecedented amount of data that is fundamentally changing what we know about birds and how we protect them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Lab\u2019s investments in eBird Status and Trends are improving the ability of agencies and nongovernmental organizations to monitor changes in waterfowl populations and respond accordingly,\u201d says Amanda. \u201cThe scientific expertise and credibility of the Lab, combined with its ability to engage birders around the world, make it uniquely suited to support agencies and nongovernmental organizations doing the frontline work to conserve waterfowl.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<style>\n.secondary-nav .menu-item-1769 a:after { opacity: 1; }\n<\/style>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How eBird and participatory science are supercharging waterfowl conservation and habitat 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