The PIF Framework
South of the U.S., numerous partners are working to conserve migratory birds as part of broader conservation efforts for resident birds, other biodiversity, and the environment. For example, the Central American Species Assessment process is bringing together scientists, managers, and policymakers from Mexico and Central American countries in an ongoing effort to extend PIF’s science-based approach throughout the Western Hemisphere.
In 2013, PIF’s Fifth International Conference brought together more than 240 conservation professionals from 120 organizations and 16 countries across the Americas to launch a new framework for full life-cycle conservation, focused initially on seven winter geographies shared by suites of Watch List species.
Approximate geographic wintering areas, linked to breeding grounds, for suites of PIF Watch List species, with example species shown. Source: PIF Landbird Conservation Plan, page 23.
Partners in Flight’s Tri-National Vision for Landbird Conservation
» Download Saving Our Shared Birds, Partners in Flight’s Tri-National Vision for Landbird Conservation
For the billions of landbirds that pour south into Latin America and the Caribbean each year, identifying what is causing a species to decline has been extremely challenging. In most cases, we know little about migratory routes or stopover sites south of the U.S. for some species of conservation concern, we still do not know where most of the population spends the winter. Mortality during migration maybe 15 times higher than during the relatively stable breeding and winter periods. Migrating birds depend on high-quality habitats for safe travel and refueling stopovers between distant breeding and wintering homes. With mounting threats, only increased and strategic international cooperation can maintain this vital connectivity and protect sufficient high-quality habitats to ensure safe migrations for birds across the continent. We need to understand how and where our birds are connected for strategic cooperation.
Many migrant birds from Canada and the United States depend on the same tropical highland forests in southern Mexico as highly threatened resident bird species. The linkages among birds and habitats compel us to work internationally, reinforce partnerships, and develop new mechanisms for conserving migrants and residents. Identifying and protecting key stopover habitats, including those south of the U.S., is a high priority. These include important corridors, bottlenecks, roost sites for diurnally migrating raptors, swallows, and swifts, and key forested regions where millions of birds make extended stops to rest and refuel. The Neotropical Flyways Initiative is currently assessing the value of stopover regions and habitats to long-distance migratory birds in Central and northern South America.
» Download Saving Our Shared Birds English, Spanish Version, Partners in Flight’s Tri-National Vision for Landbird Conservation
The challenge of conserving migratory birds is complicated because habitat conditions in one season can affect the reproduction and survival of birds in subsequent seasons. Poor quality winter habitat, for example, can affect migration timing, leading to decreased survival or reproductive success. Information compiled for the PIF 2016 Landbird Conservation Plan illustrates that where a species spends the winter may predict population declines better than where it breeds. Therefore, actions to improve conditions in the Neotropics can have far-reaching positive effects on breeding birds in the U.S. and Canada. Conserving our shared North American landbirds requires a hemispheric perspective and a commitment to international cooperation.
The northern regions of great abundance and the southern zones of great diversity are joined through the annual migrations of billions of birds, funneling southward across the continent each fall and expanding back into the northern latitudes each spring. Join Partners in Flight in building an international vision for conservation action to preserve the spectacle of our migrating birdlife.
The unique “triangular” geography of North America shapes the birdlife in our three nations. The vast expanses of northern Canada and Alaska support relatively few breeding landbird species added up over such a large area; however, their total numbers are enormous. In contrast, a tremendous diversity of bird species, many with very small global populations, thrives in the narrow region of southern Mexico, where temperate and tropical systems meet. These disparate regions of great abundance and diversity are joined through the annual migrations of billions of birds, funneling southward across the continent each fall and expanding back into the northern latitudes each spring. Preserving this spectacle of birdlife requires a tri-national vision for conservation action.