Keiller Kyle explains why Audubon California works with farmers in California’s dairy country to save the Tricolored Blackbird. Share on Facebook

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By Keiller Kyle, Tricolored Blackbird Program Manager Opening Day has come; Opening Day for the Tricolored Blackbird season, that is. Despite being on the job for four springs so far, my blood still starts pumping faster when I come upon a Tricolored Blackbird colony. Usually I can tell I’m getting close to one of the [...]

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Guest post by Keiller Kyle, Tricolored Blackbird Project Manager Spring is in the air and over the next two weeks we expect to see Tricolors form into large flocks in preparation for the breeding season. Your generosity helped the Tricolored Blackbird population get through quite the dry spell in 2012. With the help of  Tricolored [...]

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The nominees for Audubon California’s 2012 Bird of the Year are: Golden Eagle, Black Oystercatcher, Tricolored Blackbird, Yellow Warbler, Sandhill Crane, Western Snowy Plover, and Burrowing Owl. You’ll decide which bird wins. Vote now for one of the nominated birds — or write in your own choice. Voting continues through Dec. 7. Want to know [...]

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Voting has begun for Audubon California’s 2012 Bird of the Year, which will recognize a California bird species of conservation interest that made a significant impact this year. All members of the public are encouraged to cast their votes online through Dec. 7. Audubon California established the contest three years ago to highlight the state’s remarkable [...]

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Each year, Tricolored Blackbirds nest in just a few huge colonies in California, often in grain fields on dairy farms due to habitat loss. Without incentive to do otherwise, farmers sometimes harvest the fields before the young can fly. A machine harvester can easily wipe out 25 percent of the entire species’ young in just a [...]

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Today’s Central Valley Business Times featured an article about our work with NRCS and farmers to help Tricolored Blackbirds in the Central Valley. Check it out here… Share on Facebook

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The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Audubon California have released final 2012 results on the status of the rare Tricolored Blackbird, a California Bird Species of Special Concern, found in California’s Central Valley. Results show the species is having a good year, thanks in large part to four farmers who have agreed to [...]

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We received the following question from a member about our Tricolored Blackbird campaign and thought we would share it and our response in case anyone else had the same question: Q: I received this email and have pondered on it since. I’ll start by saying I’m an engaged birder and loyal (Davis) chapter member. But [...]

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One of the most amazing things about the Tricolored Blackbird is its massive breeding colonies. Unfortunately, this behavior sometimes put them at great risk. Just ask the Passenger Pigeon and the Caroline Parakeet, which were also known for creating huge breeding colonies, and are both extinct. But the Tricolored Blackbird is still with us, and [...]

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Sometimes our work with Tricolored Blackbirds benefits other birds, as well. In this case at a duck club in Kern County, our efforts to keep water on a wetland attracted a bunch of shorebirds, including these very awesome Black-necked Stilts: Share on Facebook

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As you probably know, we’re working hard this spring to save Tricolored Blackbird breeding colonies in the Central Valley. Here is some video of one such colony of 50,000 birds settling down in a Kern County dairy field earlier this season. This constitutes a little less than 20 percent of all Tricolored Blackbirds on earth. [...]

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Two hundred years ago, there were three bird species native to North America that were known for nesting in huge colonies: the Passenger Pigeon, Carolina Parakeet and the Tricolored Blackbird. In some areas, millions of these birds blanketed the sky. Now, all but the Tricolored Blackbird is extinct — and it’s hanging on by a [...]

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Interest in the declining number of Tricolored Blackbirds isn’t new; in fact in the 1930′s Johnson A. Neff conducted the first complete population study. Neff was a Sacramento based scientist who organized his study in response to controversy over the government’s failure to respond to the public’s outcry over “widespread reductions in abundance.” Over five years, [...]

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