As spring continues its journey north, bringing warmth and color back to our fields and forests, it is also the time of year that we celebrate the return of our spring migrants from their wintering grounds in Latin America and the Caribbean. Whether the bird is a brightly colored Prothonotary Warbler returning from the mangrove forests of Panama, or an

endangered Piping Plover landing on our sandy shores from the beaches of the Bahamas, or a Wood Thrush flying back from the mountains of Belize, they all depend upon healthy habitat unique to their species’ needs. With this in mind, I

would like to personally update you on the exciting projects Audubon’s International Alliances Program (IAP) has accomplished over the last six months with your generous support.

INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCES PROGRAM | SUMMER UPDATE 2011

Linking Communities in Chesapeake Bay, Panama Bay and Beyond •• In conjunction with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Audubon Virginia, and Richmond Audubon Society, IAP launched a cultural exchange program connecting communities in both Panama Bay and Chesapeake Bay. In January, a team of students from VCU along with faculty and members of Richmond Audubon banded birds as part of a tropical field course in the mangroves of Panama Bay aimed at improving knowledge of the ecological processes and the abundance of Prothonotary warblers and other Neotropical birds found there. Local elementary school students also participated in the bird banding efforts, which allowed them the opportunity to see birds up close and experience the mangrove forest as never before.

VCU, with Audubon’s support, hopes to make this field course available to students each January and grow the program to include Panamanian universities and students in future years. The trip to Panama also served to launch the Team Warbler online blog, which provides a safe environment for middle school children in both Panama and Virginia to share photos, experiences, thoughts and ideas about the environments on either end of the migration route for the Prothonotary warbler.

Piping Plovers in the Bahamas •• IAP, in collaboration with Audubon North Carolina and the Bahamas National Trust, led the 2011 population census in February for the highly endangered Piping Plover in the Bahamas. The census, which happens once every 5 years,

discovered more than 1000 birds, which is one-eighth of the species’ entire population and the majority of birds that breed on the east coast of the United States and Canada. The first census effort in the Bahamas in 2001 only found 23 birds. The February census also identified 2 new globally significant Important Bird Areas and elevated the importance of the Bahamas in the survival and recovery of the species to the second most important site in the world. The final results from the efforts will be published later this year by USGS.

Bird conservation in Belize •• IAP led its first birding tour in January of this year. In collaboration with Audubon Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Zoo, IAP highlighted the importance of Belize to shared birds from the US to a group of 10 intrepid conservation supporters. In total we saw 205 species of birds, 10 species of mammals and countless insects. Highlights included the Wood Thrush, Chestnut-sided warbler, Worm-eating warbler and of course the Jabiru Stork, Keel-billed Toucan, and countless other endemic and migrant bird species. The group donated binoculars and a spotting scope to Belize Audubon Society to begin a junior naturalist club in the communities that surround Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. IAP has a rich program of training, research and conservation planned for the next 12 months with Belize Audubon Society, positioning the organization as the bird conservation champion for the country.

USFWS

BRIAN LINTZ

JAMES DEEMY

Forest Bird Conservation MEXICO •• We got one! One of the twenty geolocators that IAP and its partners placed on Wood Thrush during our forest bird training in Veracruz, Mexico in 2010 was recovered in Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz by our partner Pronatura. This tracking device is now at the Smithsonian where its data is being analyzed. The information about this individual bird is an exciting step in understanding their habitat needs as they breed and overwinter. HONDURAS •• Our partner in the project David King from the USDA Northern Research Station conducted the monitoring protocols developed during the training in Veracruz to estimate habitat-specific abundance among shade coffee, forest fragments and contiguous forest. NICARAGUA•• Audubon North Carolina supported Reserva El Jaguar to implement the bird banding and monitoring research protocols developed during the training last year. In total the team captured and banded 23 Wood Thrush.

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act •• Early this March, IAP played a pivotal role in gathering partners from throughout the Western hemisphere for a celebration in Washington, DC in honor of the tenth anniversary of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act. Since its passage in 2000, the Act has helped protect more than 3 million acres of vital bird habitat. For our country’s investment of $35 million dollars, it has leveraged $150 million more in private funding. Ambassadors from Brazil, Panama, the Bahamas, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic attended the event and heard speakers like Audubon President David Yarnold and Secretary General of the Organization of American States Jose Miguel Insulza stress how no one country can stake a claim to any bird species and no one country can shoulder the responsibility for ensuring their survival. Strong partnerships are needed that support sustainable resource use and environmental protection that reverse the decline of many of 'our' migrating birds. For more information about the Neotropical Bird Conservation Act, watch the video released at the event: “Audubon Helps Birds Beyond Our Borders” (click here for Spanish).

With your support, it has been a busy and exciting six months for the International Alliances Program. We have many successes to report, and for that we thank you. Fall migration is only a few months away, so we are already busy working with our partners to advance conservation for the migratory birds that we look forward to seeing as they fly south. I look forward to reporting to you about our continuing efforts soon. If you have any questions, or would like more information on our work, please visit our website or give me a call. Thank you again, Matthew Jeffery Senior Program Manager, International Alliances Program

National Audubon Society | International Alliances Program1150 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036

(202) 861-2242, x. 3048 | IAP.audubon.org | international@audubon.org

Audubon is the BirdLife International Partner in the United States.

Pronatura

USFWS

Gustavo Marino