Hello all, I've been volunteering in the Finger Lakes National Forest checking on the condition of bird boxes for the new biologist there. He is currently updating the Regional Forester Sensitive Species list for the forest, and asked for my input on any birds that should be added to the list that are in trouble. It would be irresponsible of me to give advice without asking for input from this community, who are far more knowledgeable than I am. What I have done in my efforts to make good recommendations are to crosscheck eBird sightings with the NY DEC's list of state Endangered, Threatened, and Species of concern, as well as the most recent State of the Birds report for species that are in trouble versus those that occur in the forest. I included any birds in the SotB report that received a score of "13" or higher. If any of you have recommendations for additional species, or other edits, please let me know. Thank you all for any input. Below is the list of bird species I came up with that have been recorded in eBird as occuring in the Finger Lakes NF, with NYDEC sensitive species first.
Short-eared Owl- NY Endangered Golden Eagle- NY Endangered (usually a migrant, one recent record of a perched bird) Pied-billed Grebe- NY Threatened Bald Eagle- NY Threatened Northern Harrier- NY Threatened Henslow's Sparrow- NY Threatened Upland Sandpiper- NY Threatened (flyover record, but habitat seems amenable) Northern Goshawk- NY Species of Concern (SoC) Cooper's Hawk- NY SoC Sharp-shinned Hawk- NY SoC Red-shouldered Hawk- NY SoC Common Nighthawk- NY Soc Horned Lark- NY SoC Vesper Sparrow- NY SoC Grasshopper Sparrow- NY SoC Birds not listed by NY DEC, but in trouble globally according to 2016 State of the BIrds report follow. The State of the Birds Watch List includes any species with a score of 14 or higher, as well as those with a score of 13 and a rapidly declining population. I have included all species that scored a 13 or higher that are known to occur in the Finger Lakes NF below: Bobolink- 14 breeding Wood Thrush- 14 breeding Canada Warbler- 14 breeding? American Woodcock- 13 breeding Black-billed Cuckoo- 13 breeding Blue-winged Warbler- 13 breeding Prairie Warbler- 13 breeding Cape May Warbler- 13 migrant Connecticut Warble- 13 migrant Honorable mentions- birds that score a 12 that breed on Finger Lakes NF lands: Yellow-billed Cuckoo Chestnut-sided Warbler Louisiana Waterthrush Mourning Warbler (breeds?) Veery Field Sparrow Rusty Blackbird (migrant?) Links to the State of the Birds, and NYDEC species list, and breeding bird atlas http://www.stateofthebirds.org/2016/ http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7494.html http://www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/bba/ State of the Birds species table: http://www.stateofthebirds. org/2016/resources/species-assessments/ Thank for any input! Josh -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
