For the future

Abstract

With the publication of this WatchList, bird conservation has a powerful new tool that is built on a solid foundation of defensible citizen science, and the consensus of many knowledgeable people. The WatchList will help all member organizations of Partners in Flight develop and implement wise land management practices for the habitats of all high priority birds of North America. It is the culmination of years of citizen-science cooperative efforts and holds great promise for the future ofavian conservation. The List brings a diverse assemblage of interests ogether behind a simple but powerful concept. Non-governmental organizations, federal, and state agencies across the country will consistently use this single WatchList for a wide variety of conservation purposes. There is every hope that it will substantially increase the breadth and depth of attention to bird conservation this continent. This group of 90 bird species i ranked by Partners In Flight in the highest tiers of conservation concern. It excludes those species already designated as federally endangered. It includes only full species as recognized by the American Ornithologists' Union. It does not currently include the birds of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or Guam. Their omission is based on a decision to focus on mainland species for now rather than lack of recognition oftheir importance. Partners In Flight has developed a Species Prioritization Scheme to evaluate the status of all birds in all of the places they occur. Each species was evaluated on the basis of parameters that collectively establish its likelihood of extinction i the relatively near future. The abundance ofa species where it occurs relative to the abundance of other species i one of these factors. A common species i less prone to extinction than one that is rare. The size of the range of a bird, both in breeding season and winter is also considered. Range and relative abundance together make up a rough index of the number of individuals ofa species. Population trend, as measured by the Breeding Bird Survey, Christmas Bird Counts, or other data, is another important parameter. The last measures considered are threats, defined as the loss of conditions necessary for survival and reproductive success, notably loss of habitat but also including such factors as pressure from cowbird parasitism. Threats indude losses in the recent past as well as those anticipated in the future in both the breeding and non-breeding season. Inclusion on the WatchList does not foreshadow listing under the Endangered Species Act, nor does it imply any other sort of government regulatory action. The hope of Partners in Flight is that focusing conservation attention on birds on the WatchList, at a time when they are common, will prevent further deterioration that could lead to listing. Partners In Flight is not an independent organization, but rather a vehicle for bird conservation that is used by federal agencies, tate wildlife agencies, non-governmental conservation organizations (including the National Audubon Society, American Birding Association, American Bird Conservancy, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and many others), academicians, and private industry. It is dedicated to the long-term well being of the birds of this continent and hemisphere, and the WatchList is an important tool developed tohelp achieve that goal. [ Continued on •age 240 ]