Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released the Birds of Conservation Concern 2021 (BCC 2021) list that identifies 269 avian taxa that–without conservation intervention–would likely become candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). One of the goals of the report is to spur proactive, collaborative conservation to keep these taxa off the Endangered and Threatened species list, something that Migratory Bird Joint Ventures are very familiar with. Several factors were used to determine if a bird taxa made the list–population abundance, population trends, threats and the size of the breeding and nonbreeding ranges. The BCC list identifies taxa (species or subspecies) within four geographic contexts, including Continental, Bird Conservation Region, Hawaiʻi and Pacific Islands and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Out of the 269 birds on the BCC 2021 list, 148 are found within the Pacific Birds region. (There are also 41 bird taxa within Pacific Birds already on the Endangered and Threatened species list.) We see this as a call to action for our partnership. Protecting habitat, removing or mitigating threats, and promoting bird-friendly actions and policies are all ways the Pacific Birds partnership can help these species or subspecies continue to grace our lands and waters.
Please reach out to us if you have a project that would benefit a bird of conservation concern, especially if it relates to one of our conservation priorities.
