Conservation Florida teams up with local organizations to promote bird conservation
Environmental groups seek to engage new audiences in bird conservation through the online resource eBird.
Conservation Florida, along with Tall Timbers and Alachua Conservation Trust, is partnering with local Audubon chapters, including West Volusia Audubon and Orange Audubon Society, to document declining bird species on private and land trust owned lands. Collectively, the three land trusts protect thousands of acres that, in many instances, have been birded infrequently, if ever.
The partnership aims to generate more interest in birdwatching and eBird, an online database of bird sightings that provides bird enthusiasts, research professionals, and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and population. The partners intend to engage private landowners and birdwatchers in the collection of scientific data. The partnership offers opportunities for private citizens to contribute to the protection of Florida’s birds.
“Conservation Florida is grateful to Tall Timbers for spearheading this unique partnership,” said Traci Deen, Conservation Florida’s CEO, “and we are excited to host our first birdwatching tour with Orange Audubon Society and West Volusia Audubon at D Ranch Preserve.”
Tall Timbers received a $5,000 grant from Cornell Lab of Ornithology to work with other land trusts and Audubon chapters to address the well-known bird population decline in North America and help assess habitat reduction and fragmentation.
“Tall Timbers, along with its partners, will help fill in the gaps of bird distribution within Florida and Georgia, while engaging new audiences with bird conservation through the use of eBird,” said Peter Kleinhenz, Aucilla River Watershed Coalition Coordinator at Tall Timbers. “Until people feel personally connected to a problem, they are far less likely to take actions required to solve it.”
This month, Conservation Florida will be holding educational events to give landowners and birders online and in-person tutorials of eBird. The collaborative events are a way for seasoned and aspiring birders to learn about bird conservation efforts and how they can help. On Feb. 27, Conservation Florida, Orange Audubon Society, and West Volusia Audubon will host a guided birdwatching tour at Conservation Florida’s 487-acre D Ranch Preserve in Osteen, Florida. The event is a way for bird enthusiasts to learn about eBird and bird conservation efforts in a safe, socially distanced environment.
eBird is an app and website that gives birders the ability to document the species of birds they see, record the given time, and mark the location of the sighting. Every time a user documents a sighting, it contributes to a global database of recorded distribution, abundance, habitat use, and migration trends. The more people contribute, the more it will help scientific research and bird conservation efforts.
On Feb. 25, Conservation Florida and Orange Audubon Society will host an introductory training to eBird. Local Audubon volunteers will teach the basics of eBird and how to log bird sightings on eBird. This event is a great way to get people involved with conservation efforts.
“Orange Audubon Society is pleased to be joining with Conservation Florida in this effort, funded by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, to get more people into birding, including landowners, and at the same time to develop a better knowledge of bird distribution on conservation lands that normally have no public access,” said Deborah Green, Orange Audubon Society President. “eBird is Cornell Lab’s remarkable bird observation recording app and database that we hope more people learn to use. We are excited to do bird surveys on the D Ranch Preserve and look forward to expanding this effort in partnership with Conservation Florida into other important conservation properties.”
Eli Schaperow, West Volusia Audubon's lead birder, will be attending the outing at D Ranch Preserve.
Schaperow said, “We are always excited to partner with organizations like Conservation Florida and Orange Audubon Society to both educate the public and learn about what other organizations are doing. We hope that with what we learn from collecting data at sites like D Ranch, we can find suitable habitat that can be restored to healthy Scrub for imperiled species like the Florida Scrub-jay. This is also a great opportunity to sharpen our surveying skill, so the data we collect may be improved and shared by using tools like eBird.”
Getting more people connected with nature is one of many steps in protecting Florida’s habitat. Florida land trusts have access to thousands of acres that have rarely been birded. Introducing landowners and bird enthusiasts to eBird could offer greater insight into bird distribution on private conservation lands.
In addition, equipping landowners with the ability to document birds on their properties will give researchers long term data on bird distribution, something that can be challenging to track on private lands. More frequent data collection of bird species on private and land trust owned lands will improve conservation efforts throughout the state. The decline in bird populations is no secret but, through this project, Conservation Florida looks forward to lending a helping hand.
About the Partners
Conservation Florida
Conservation Florida is a statewide accredited land trust with a mission to save Florida’s natural and agricultural landscapes for future generations. Our conservation projects support Florida’s native plants and wildlife, fresh water, conservation corridors, family farms and ranches, the economy and nature-based recreation. Since our founding in 1999, Conservation Florida has led the way in strategic and evidence-based land protection and has saved over 30,000 acres of critical habitat through acquisition, facilitation and incubation of conservation projects.
We save land by developing conservation strategies, exploring funding sources and purchasing or accepting donations of land and conservation easements. Our other services include providing expertise to guide landowners through the land protection process, serving as a trusted community partner to support statewide land conservation and promoting land conservation through effective education and advocacy. Our vision is large-scale, and we are 100% committed to conservation in the state of Florida – for nature, for people, forever!
Tall Timbers
Tall Timbers is recognized as the home of the study of fire ecology and is an advocate to protect the right to use prescribed fire for land management. It is also recognized as one of the nation’s leading land trusts.
Alachua Conservation Trust
The mission of Alachua Conservation Trust (ACT) is to protect the natural, historic, scenic and recreational resources in and around North Central Florida. ACT protects land through purchase, donation, and conservation easements in 16 counties.
Orange County Audubon
The purpose and dedication of Orange Audubon Society (OAS) is to promote public understanding of, and an interest in, wildlife and the environment that supports it. OAS’ education programs foster the recognition of the tangible and intangible values in the remaining natural areas of Florida and the world, and our responsibility for the conservation of the Earth’s natural ecosystems and the services that they provide for the health of the planet.
West Volusia Audubon
West Volusia Audubon is committed to ongoing stewardship and enjoyment of the natural world.