When John Mittermeier was 15 years old, he received the book Threatened Birds of the World, a large volume published in 2000 covering more than 1,200 species at risk of extinction. “I saw a distribution map for a bird in the South Pacific that was nothing but question marks, and that just completely captivated my … Read More>>

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels are tiny, enigmatic seabirds, only about the size of a sparrow. Nevertheless, they take on two of the most titanic (and opposing!) forces on the planet: the vast open ocean, where they spend most of their lives, and the driest desert in the world, where they breed. Over the last decade, researchers have … Read More>>

For the past four years, a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks have nested above the front door of American Bird Conservancy's Senior Conservation Scientist David Wiedenfeld. In this guest blog, David recounts some of the things he's learned while observing the growing families in the space they both call home.  For the last four years, the … Read More>>

Lay of the Land: The Serra Bonita Reserve conserves one of the largest remaining privately managed stretches of tropical Atlantic Forest in eastern Brazil. True to its name — meaning "beautiful mountain" in Portuguese — the reserve mostly consists of hilly submontane forests with some stretches of lowlands. The reserve is made up of private … Read More>>

Be respectful of beach birds by keeping a safe distance and avoiding single-use plastic Millions of people and birds share U.S. beaches throughout the year, especially in summer. During hot weather, humans flock to the shore to celebrate holidays with fireworks and barbecues, while birds like American Oystercatcher, Black Skimmer, Least Tern, Snowy Plovers, and … Read More>>

If you read part one of our Treequently Asked Questions series, you learned about one side of American Bird Conservancy's (ABC) work with trees: tree planting. While ABC has planted a lot of trees (more than 7.7 million to date throughout the Western Hemisphere), we are also engaged in the day-to-day management of forests so … Read More>>

Decades of research, planning, and action by ABC and partners led to a big win for this little-known Hawaiian songbird. September 2011 was a momentous time in the history of the Millerbird, a songbird at risk of extinction and at that time found only in one place in the world: Nihoa Island in the Northwestern … Read More>>

One of the rarest and most spectacular hummingbirds in Mexico, found only in a small area of mountainous woodlands, is the focus of an ambitious conservation project that includes American Bird Conservancy (ABC), the Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero (Autonomous University of Guerrero), and local communities, as well as Mexico's National Commission of Protected Natural Areas … Read More>>

As we observed with female birds, avian parenting styles can vary greatly. Some female birds, like hummingbirds, are solo parents from start to finish, building nests, brooding, and raising young on their own. Others have no involvement at all in raising their young and, like the Brown-headed Cowbird, use brood parasitism to shift that responsibility … Read More>>

Cats. It's a four-letter word in bird conservation.  Domestic cats (Felis catus) can make wonderful pets, but their presence roaming the environment is a nightmare for birds and birders alike. Cute and cuddly though they may be, cats are also fierce predators that can wipe out local bird populations and disrupt ecosystem dynamics. Ornithologists have … Read More>>