Breeding season bonanza: Best KW season yet; pontoon nesting platforms; tern travels
2015 was one for the record books for Kirtland's warblers in Wisconsin. Photo credit: Ashley Hannah
Best Kirtland’s warbler season yet
Wisconsin recorded the most successful breeding season yet for the federally endangered Kirtland’s warbler since the birds were first confirmed nesting in the state in 2008. Among the 2015 highlights: best fledging success, lowest predation and cowbird parasitism rates, and a new breeding site in Adams County. Read more…
Pontoon boat "terns" into a nesting success
To counter declining nesting habitat for common terns, an endangered bird in Wisconsin, DNR Natural Heritage Conservation and wildlife management staff in 2015 teamed up with the Lake Puckaway Protection and Rehabilitation District and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to provide nesting structures in Lake Puckaway and Lower Green Bay, respectively. A pontoon boat was repurposed as a nesting platform on Lake Puckaway and a new raft built to entice breeding pairs in Lower Green Bay. The birds came: 20 pairs nested on Lake Puckaway and produced 55 chicks, and three pairs nested on Lower Green Bay and produced six chicks. All chicks fledged; they were banded by Sumner Matteson, an avian ecologist for DNR's Natural Heritage Conservation program, who reports: “We saw unexpected and unprecedented nesting success on these structures.”
Unlocking terns’ travel itineraries to better protect them
Common terns returning to Wisconsin in 2015 are giving up their travel secrets. Tiny electronic tags attached to the legs of common terns by DNR and partners in 2013 are revealing the birds’ migration routes and winter habitat so both can be better protected. Eight adult terns outfitted with the tags in 2013 near Superior have been recaptured, data downloaded, and more birds tagged in 2015. Information so far shows terns taking different routes in the fall and spring: they fly to the East Coast in fall before heading to winter habitats along the western coast of South America. In spring, they fly north along the Gulf of Mexico and then follow the Mississippi Valley back to Lake Superior.