January 2006 Update on the Birds Without Borders – Aves Sin Fronteras® project of the Foundation for Wildlife Conservation, Inc. and the Zoological Society of Milwaukee.

As you may know, we completed five years of field research in Wisconsin and are currently analyzing the data obtained. After examining the data from each study site, we decided that six scientific papers on our Wisconsin research would be written. After completion of these papers, we will compile the Wisconsin Landowner Recommendations. These will have details of our research results and provide information for landowners on how their lands can be managed to benefit birds. BWB-ASF is continuing field research in Belize because there is still so much to discover. The highlights of our 2005 accomplishments are listed below. 1. The Belize Landowner Recommendations were completed and will be printed in Belize in 2006. They will then be

distributed country-wide to landowners, schools, conservation organizations, farmers and tour guides. In April 2005, we met with Belize government officials who agreed that their district agriculture and extension officers would work with BWB-ASF staff to help distribute and explain the Landowner Recommendations to farmers throughout the country, including those in some of the more remote areas. We are very proud of this beautiful and informative manual and would be happy to send you a copy after it is printed. If you would like to receive a copy, please contact the BWB-ASF Project Assistant Kari Williams at (414) 276-0339 or kariw@zoosociety.org.

2. We completed the Belize data analysis. To date, six papers on our Belize research have been published in peer-

reviewed scientific journals and another has been submitted for publication. Since 1997, we have shared this information with the Belizean public by giving 45 educational outreach talks and bird banding demonstrations there. In 2005, BWB-ASF staff gave two presentations at scientific meetings. A list of BWB-ASF publications and presentations along with PDF files are posted on our Web site (http://www.zoosociety.org/Conservation/BWB-ASF/list.php).

3. Our data analysis allowed us to learn about the Belize “winter” homes of 13 species of migratory birds. The attached

sheet summarizes some of this information, which was presented at the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology/Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative Symposium in February 2005. It was also published in the journal of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology (Passenger Pigeon 67: 61-76).

4. The first of three papers on our Pewaukee study site research was completed and will be submitted for publication in

early 2006. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (414) 276-0339 or by e-mail at vickip@zoosociety.org. To view some of the Belize and Wisconsin data on our Web site, please visit www.zoosociety.org, and click on Conservation. Vicki Piaskowski International Coordinator, Birds Without Borders – Aves Sin Fronteras®

7 10 9 8

Common yellowthroats (5, Geothlypis trichas)

nest in marshes (6), other wet areas, and

grasslands in Wisconsin. They use varied

habitats in Belize during the non-breeding

season, including a transition zone between a

wetland and a karst hill forest (7), scrub-shrub

(8), riverine forest (9), and pine savanna (10).

6 5

Shrubby areas in

Wisconsin (1) are nesting

areas for the gray catbird

(2, Dumetella

carolinensis). During our

winters, they prefer

riverine forest (3) and

scrub-shrub habitats (4) in

Belize. 4 3 2 1

During the breeding season, the wood thrush

(11, Hylocichla mustelina) can be found in

deciduous forests (12). Their preferred habitats

for the non-breeding season are riverine

forests (13) and secondary broadleaf forests

(14) in Belize.

11 12

13 14

Although we often view the Neotropical migrants that breed in Wisconsin as “our” birds, they spend as little as three months in their breeding homes in North America. They spend up to six months south of our borders in southern Mexico, Central America and South America, and islands in the Caribbean Sea. To learn more about these non-breeding homes, Birds Without Borders – Aves Sin Fronteras® researchers studied the habitats used by these birds in Belize, Central America. From our bird banding research, we’ve learned about the different types of habitats used as winter “homes” by 13 species of migratory birds. Because these birds spend half of each year in their non-breeding homes, it is important to focus conservation efforts on habitats in North America and south of our borders, so that these birds can find suitable habitat year-round. Three of the birds with their Wisconsin breeding and Belize non-breeding habitats are pictured here.

In 1998, the Foundation for Wildlife Conservation, Inc., a partner in conservation education with the

Zoological Society of Milwaukee, purchased 6,009 acres (2,432 hectares) of land critical to

conservation in central Belize to protect it from development. This land is managed as the Runaway

Creek Nature Preserve (RCNP). To date, BWB-ASF researchers have found that 57 species of

Neotropical migratory birds use the RCNP during the non-breeding season. All of these species can also

be found in Wisconsin during either the breeding season or migration. Preserving the RCNP will ensure

that these Neotropical migrants find habitats that provide food and shelter during our northern winters.

For more information about the Runaway Creek Nature Preserve, visit:

http://www.zoosociety.org/runawaycreek