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Within the Central Valley, Audubon California researcher Ian Souza-Cole’s winter mornings start earlier than daybreak, bundled up in a beanie, gloves, and layers beneath his waders, as he navigates California’s chilly, muddy rice fields. These fields function surrogate wetlands for migratory shorebirds and different waterbirds. On bustling days of shorebird tagging, jotting down knowledge with a mechanical pencil, sans gloves, can depart his fingers tingling.
In distinction, throughout a latest journey to the Cali area of Colombia with Xerónimo Castañeda, Working Lands director for Audubon California, Ian discovered himself traversing alongside migratory Lesser Yellowlegs, Larger Yellowlegs, and Solitary Sandpipers wearing a t-shirt and with no beanie in sight. The warmth was palpable earlier than the solar even got here up, as they walked the rice fields with Gloria Lentijo, the Working Lands technique director for Audubon Americas, Jorge Velásquez, Audubon’s science director for Latin America and the Caribbean, and their crew. Ian and Xerónimo had been visiting the Colombia crew to share data and acquire a deeper understanding of the native initiatives geared toward establishing important chicken habitats and monitoring their migration patterns throughout the hemisphere. The Cauca Valley warmth made Guanabana juice a delight on the finish of every shift. Ian mirrored on the expertise, saying, “We had it on daily basis after work. You already know, round midday when it was sizzling, this icy yogurt fruit drink was scrumptious!”
Exploring Birdlife in Colombia
The crew embraced the unimaginable birding alternatives between work shifts, including an additional layer of pleasure to their journey. An encounter with the cryptic Widespread Potoo inside the metropolis limits illustrated the juxtaposition of city growth and wildlife. Ian described recognizing the muppet-like chicken, saying, “Widespread Potoos appear to be damaged branches on bushes. This one was simply chilling, sleeping throughout the day, completely unaware of the visitors proper beneath him!”
Xerónimo’s city birding highlights included sightings of the Nice Kiskadee, Blue-headed Parrot, and the gorgeous Saffron Finch. Describing the vibrance of the finch, Xerónimo remarked, “It appears to be like like somebody spray-painted orange on their brow.”
The crew’s birding adventures prolonged past Cali, delving into nature reserves nestled within the cloud forest simply 12 miles from city, offering a glimpse into a unique realm of lush greenery and various habitats. A spotlight of their journey was the go to to Kilometro 18, the place they marveled on the staggering range of birds. Ian enthusiastically described one among his favourite hummingbirds from a chicken lodge, the mesmerizing White-booted Racket-tail. He recounted, “They have this loopy tail and would fly proper in entrance of your face or land only a foot away!” With over 150 chicken species noticed, together with greater than 50 lifers, their expertise actually illustrated the richness of Colombia’s pure treasures. Their stops at chicken lodges had been complemented by indulging in Colombian espresso and pastries, including one other layer of enjoyment to their journey.
Tagging Shorebirds for Motion Research
Earlier than Ian and Xerónimo parted methods on their Colombia journey, they collaborated with members of Gloria and Jorge’s analysis crew, Juan David Garcia and Santiago Muñoz Bolaños. Collectively, they trapped and deployed Motus tags on a Lesser Yellowlegs and a Larger Yellowlegs, two chicken species recognized to make use of the Pacific Flyway, which features a route via California’s Central Valley on their approach to Cali, Colombia. Touring the three,719 miles from Sacramento to Cali by airplane isn’t any small feat—it took Ian and Xerónimo roughly 18 hours for one leg of the journey.
Now, think about being a migratory Larger Yellowlegs. As an alternative of boarding a airplane to your lengthy flight to Colombia, you’re the airplane, however you solely weigh about as a lot as 40 marshmallows. Your weight on the day you’re taking flight is essential as a result of your major gas and water supply include the fats shops you collected at your final stopover. You may draw moisture from your personal organs and even digest a part of them to remain hydrated. If that water had been to expire, your physique would then resort to burning the muscle groups that energy your wings.
Upon arriving in Colombia, Ian and Xerónimo loved native meals akin to buñuelos (fried corn dough) and arepas (floor maize dough filled with numerous fillings). Migratory shorebirds don’t have the luxurious of exploring native delicacies upon touchdown. They’ve particular meals and habitat necessities and face hunger inside just some hours in the event that they don’t discover sufficient meals to help their restoration. That is why coordinating our conservation work throughout the hemisphere to guard birds throughout their lifecycle is essential.
Land and Soul Reworked: Embracing Silvopasture
Whereas Ian continued working with the Colombia crew on the shorebird motion research, Xerónimo joined Gloria on a tour of rice farms and ranches. Throughout a go to with a big rice farm landowner, they witnessed the enjoyment on the proprietor’s face as he realized that the migratory shorebirds on his property journey all the way in which to California and past. Having espresso and pastries with a property proprietor may not be the everyday picture related to shorebird conservation, however guaranteeing these birds have a combating likelihood means constructing relationships with as many individuals as attainable at each stopping level alongside their path.
These conversations open a window of alternative to foster appreciation and connection for birds—connecting the dots between these lands and the intricate migratory journeys they make. Elevating a landowner’s consciousness that their on a regular basis environment are essential to the survival of migratory birds provides depth to their inherent appreciation of the pure world and their place inside it.
Rice fields aren’t the only working locations of significance for migratory birds—that is why Xerónimo and Gloria met with a retired schoolteacher deeply invested within the apply of Silvopasture on her ranch, much like the work our California Audubon Conservation Ranching crew does to assist North America’s grassland birds in California. In conventional ranching, non-native grasses are included as forage for cattle. Nevertheless, with Silvopasture, reintroducing native vegetation and bushes produces extra forage for cattle whereas concurrently including habitat worth for birds and rising biodiversity.
For this rancher, the operation started as a passion along with her husband earlier than he handed away and earlier than she retired. After the lack of her husband, she delved into studying about sustainable practices and determined to place them to the take a look at. For her, the advantages of changing to Silvopasture turned obvious as extra birds started to reach, and the optimistic outcomes had been confirmed within the ranch’s productiveness numbers. By the transformation of her ranch, she additionally skilled a private type of development; she recalled, “it modified my soul.” Her ardour continues to drive her, main her to be taught extra in regards to the native watershed, share her story with different ranchers in her group, and host college students on her property for analysis functions.
From Cali to California: Gloria Visits the Central Valley
After Ian and Xerónimo spent per week within the Cauca Valley, Gloria joined our crew within the Central Valley to study our conservation packages. These visits provide worthwhile alternatives for our groups to alternate data and acquire insights into regional processes for creating essential habitats for shared chicken species, such because the Lesser Yellowlegs—an Audubon precedence species. Simply as we’re linked by the birds we share, we’re additionally linked by our shared struggles. That is evident in each the Cauca Valley and the Central Valley, the place lower than 10% of our wetlands stay. The story of migration, for each people and birds, serves as a robust reminder of our interconnectedness in each challenges and progress.
It was affirming for the groups to acknowledge that all of us encounter comparable challenges, regardless of language obstacles and cultural variations. No matter our musical preferences or culinary decisions, we face frequent struggles. By acknowledging the position of birds in connecting us, we additionally acknowledge the unifying facet of the human expertise. As Xerónimo expressed of the Colombia crew, “They stay in a good looking place and so they’re attempting to save lots of their wildlife, like all of us are.”
Pathways of Hope: Nurturing Migratory Birds and Our Communities
Collectively, we are able to make the modifications that birds demand throughout the hemisphere’s working lands. Uncover extra about our efforts in creating habitat for migratory birds via the BirdReturns program in California, and discover how the Audubon Americas crew is supporting the birds we share all through their migratory journey. Keep up to date on our progress by signing up for our newsletter.
Migratory chicken conservation goes past merely finding out the actions of those spectacular vacationers throughout the Pacific Flyway. It is about fostering understanding and reciprocity inside our communities as a lot as attainable—guaranteeing that birds have what they should full their bi-annual migration cycles. By collaborating with landowners and stewards to create habitat for birds, we additionally strengthen our resilience within the face of biodiversity loss and the local weather disaster.
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