{"id":65994,"date":"2025-06-27T14:02:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T18:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/?p=65994"},"modified":"2025-06-27T14:02:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T18:02:01","slug":"incorporating-ebird-trends-into-state-of-the-birds-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/incorporating-ebird-trends-into-state-of-the-birds-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Incorporating eBird Trends into State of the Birds 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/blue-winged-teal-sharif-uddin-california-294362801-1.77-banner-1280x720.jpg\" alt=\"a brown and blue duck flies against a brown background\" class=\"wp-image-66200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/blue-winged-teal-sharif-uddin-california-294362801-1.77-banner-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/blue-winged-teal-sharif-uddin-california-294362801-1.77-banner-720x405.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/blue-winged-teal-sharif-uddin-california-294362801-1.77-banner-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/blue-winged-teal-sharif-uddin-california-294362801-1.77-banner-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/blue-winged-teal-sharif-uddin-california-294362801-1.77-banner-480x270.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/blue-winged-teal-sharif-uddin-california-294362801-1.77-banner.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Blue-winged Teal by <a href=\"https:\/\/macaulaylibrary.org\/asset\/294362801\">Sharif Uddin \/ Macaulay Library<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"toc-link\">From the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-summer-2025-table-of-contents\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"65438\">Summer 2025<\/a> issue of Living Bird magazine. <a href=\"https:\/\/join.birds.cornell.edu\/page\/14522\/donate\/1\">Subscribe now<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright order-bottom\"><div class=\"article-list list-style\"><h2 class=\"article-list-header\">More From Living Bird<\/h2><ul><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-living-bird-toc\" data-link-to=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-summer-2025-table-of-contents\/\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/song-sparrow-billy-tran-pennsylvania-621903832-1.33-fi-1280x963.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/song-sparrow-billy-tran-pennsylvania-621903832-1.33-fi-720x541.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/song-sparrow-billy-tran-pennsylvania-621903832-1.33-fi-1280x963.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/song-sparrow-billy-tran-pennsylvania-621903832-1.33-fi-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/song-sparrow-billy-tran-pennsylvania-621903832-1.33-fi-768x578.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/song-sparrow-billy-tran-pennsylvania-621903832-1.33-fi-480x361.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/song-sparrow-billy-tran-pennsylvania-621903832-1.33-fi.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" alt=\"a streaky brown bird perches on sunflowers\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><a class=\"article-item-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-summer-2025-table-of-contents\/\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Summer 2025\u2014Table Of Contents<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/li><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-living-bird-toc\" data-link-to=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-spring-2026-table-of-contents\/\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest-240x180.png 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest-480x360.png 480w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Living Bird-latest issue\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><a class=\"article-item-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-spring-2026-table-of-contents\/\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Magazine\u2014Latest Issue<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/li><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-article\" data-link-to=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-magazine-archives\/\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive-240x180.png 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive-480x360.png 480w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Living Bird archives\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><a class=\"article-item-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-magazine-archives\/\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Magazine Archives<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The 2025 edition of the <em>State of the Birds<\/em> report\u2014published in March by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, a consortium of more than a dozen U.S. bird conservation groups (including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology)\u2014 was the tenth such report, going back to 2009. Produced every few years for the U.S. Department of the Interior, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stateofthebirds.org\/2025\/\">reports provide regular check-ins on the status of American bird populations<\/a> in various biomes using long-term Breeding Bird Survey data that dates back to 1970.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year\u2019s edition was the first <em>State of the Birds<\/em> report that also extensively incorporated <a href=\"https:\/\/science.ebird.org\/en\/status-and-trends\/trends-maps\">eBird Trends models<\/a> from the Cornell Lab, plotting onto maps the patterns of bird declines across landscapes over the most recent decade. A few groups of birds, and a few areas of the nation, stood out as the biggest loss leaders\u2014specifically the Corn Belt for grassland birds; the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts for aridland birds; and the Prairie Pothole Region for ducks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>eBird Trends data in these regions could help conservationists identify the best potential areas for boosting bird habitat and avoiding land-use conflicts, says Amanda Rodewald, senior director of the Cornell Lab\u2019s Center for Avian Population Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"article-list alignright right list-style card-four \"><h2 class=\"article-list-header\">Related Stories<\/h2><ul><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-article\" data-link-to=\"https:\/\/www.stateofthebirds.org\/2025\/\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sotb-2025-fi-1.33.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sotb-2025-fi-1.33-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sotb-2025-fi-1.33-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sotb-2025-fi-1.33-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sotb-2025-fi-1.33-480x360.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sotb-2025-fi-1.33.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"stylized illustration of person watching silhouetted eagles and ducks against a green background\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><a class=\"article-item-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stateofthebirds.org\/2025\/\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">State of the Birds Report 2025<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/li><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-article\" data-link-to=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/birds-decline-strongholds-ebird-models-offer-hope\/\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/F2-Banner_REV2-4-3-Featured-Image-white-background.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/F2-Banner_REV2-4-3-Featured-Image-white-background-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/F2-Banner_REV2-4-3-Featured-Image-white-background-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/F2-Banner_REV2-4-3-Featured-Image-white-background-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/F2-Banner_REV2-4-3-Featured-Image-white-background-480x360.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/F2-Banner_REV2-4-3-Featured-Image-white-background.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><a class=\"article-item-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/birds-decline-strongholds-ebird-models-offer-hope\/\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">As Birds Decline, High-Precision eBird Models Offer a Vision of Hope<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cRight now there are so many problems we\u2019re facing, so many competing demands for any area of land,\u201d says Rodewald, who was science team chair for the <em>State of the Birds<\/em> report. \u201cWith this information, we can better align where we\u2019re doing conservation and prioritize areas for bird conservation with where we can \u2026 protect water quality or improve soil health. Those kind of win-wins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Grassland Birds <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-default has-sans-font-family has-xlarge-font-size\">Accelerating declines with the intensification of row-crop agriculture<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <em>State of the Birds<\/em> report attributed the steepest losses for grassland birds to conversion for row-crop agriculture and drought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s not surprising to Michael Ward, a professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana\u2013Champaign. Ward studies grassland bird population dynamics in agricultural landscapes, and he says he\u2019s seen the losses in grassland birds firsthand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large featured\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"934\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-sparrows-grasslands-1280x934.png\" alt=\"Map of the Great Plains showing mostly red dots and a few blue dots. Callouts indicate types of prairie: Shortgrass prairie, Tallgrass prairie, Mixed-grass prairie.\" class=\"wp-image-66049\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-sparrows-grasslands-1280x934.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-sparrows-grasslands-720x525.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-sparrows-grasslands-768x560.png 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-sparrows-grasslands-480x350.png 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-sparrows-grasslands.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A composite map of eBird Trends for grassland birds shows declines across the Midwest. Eastern Meadowlark, Grasshopper Sparrow, and Bobolink are species that declined more than 15% to 20% between 2012 and 2022. <em>Grasshopper Sparrow by <a href=\"https:\/\/macaulaylibrary.org\/asset\/451973001\">Ryan Sanderson \/ Macaulay Library<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn the 20-something years I\u2019ve been working on birds here, species like Grasshopper Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark in Illinois are just going down the tubes,\u201d Ward says. \u201cThere\u2019s no longer pasture, especially in Illinois. \u2026 Corn and soybeans are predominant. The only reason we still have grassland birds, in my opinion, is the Conservation Reserve Program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ward is talking about a voluntary program in the U.S. Farm Bill\u2019s Conservation Title that compensates farmers for converting marginal croplands (such as highly erodible acreage) into vegetative cover, such as native grasses. CRP acreage enrollments have declined in the 21st century, and CRP funding is uncertain in the upcoming Farm Bill reauthorization by Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBecause of changes in policy, people aren\u2019t re-upping [CRP enrollments] to maintain these grasslands, and so species like Henslow\u2019s Sparrows are not there. There\u2019s no habitat for them,\u201d says Ward. \u201cIt\u2019s ag policy that dictates what our land use is, and that then ultimately impacts birds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not the farmer\u2019s fault. Obviously, it\u2019s a business, they gotta make the most of it,\u201d Ward says. And, he thinks many farmers would like to help out grassland birds. \u201cI do spend a lot of time in rural Illinois and ask farmers about bird populations. They\u2019ll notice there\u2019s less bobwhite, less birds around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think a lot of times, they have a connection to the land, and so if they\u2019re given the opportunity to set aside some grassland here, have a pasture there, a lot of them are willing to do that. It\u2019s just that policy dictates the economics of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, he says, the current policy favors \u201cessentially row-to-row corn or soybeans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ward says farming and grassland birds can coexist, if farmers are incentivized to make room for bird habitat: \u201cWe didn\u2019t really see huge declines of grassland birds until the 1960s or \u201970s. But we\u2019ve had ag for 100-and-something years. It wasn\u2019t until ag practices changed to be so intensive that we really lost those birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo it\u2019s not like we have to go back and make all our corn and soybean fields into prairie. We just need to have policies that incorporate habitat for the grassland birds.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Aridland Birds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sans-font-family has-xlarge-font-size\">Drought plus habitat loss is decimating desert birds<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The native birds of America\u2019s aridlands in the West are evolutionarily attuned to living in lean, dry places where precipitation is scarce. But even these scrappy species are suffering in the stressed-out 21st century, especially in the Southwest where the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chris McCreedy, the Southwest riparian bird recovery coordinator for the American Bird Conservancy, says that when he looks at these present-day eBird Trends maps, he is reminded of a set of bird distribution maps issued 15 years ago that projected what might happen to bird populations in aridlands if climate change continued unchecked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s kind of creepy. This [eBird Trends] map shows those predictions, that were kind of dire, bearing out,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large featured\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"981\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-aridlands-verdin-1280x981.png\" alt=\"Map of western U.S. and a small yellow and gray songbird. Callouts point to areas of aridlands: Great Basin, Shurb-steppe, Mojave Desert, Coastal chaparral, Sonoran Desert, Chihuahuan Desert\" class=\"wp-image-66052\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-aridlands-verdin-1280x981.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-aridlands-verdin-720x552.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-aridlands-verdin-768x589.png 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-aridlands-verdin-480x368.png 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-aridlands-verdin.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A composite map of eBird Trends for aridlands birds shows declines across the West. Allen\u2019s Hummingbird, Bendire\u2019s Thrasher, LeConte\u2019s Thrasher, Verdin, and Greater Sage-Grouse are showing the biggest losses. <em>Verdin by <a href=\"https:\/\/macaulaylibrary.org\/asset\/422848851\">Bryan Calk \/ Macaulay Library<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>McCreedy says extreme drought in the 2010s and into the 2020s is driving aridland bird declines, but it\u2019s not the only factor. He says urban development and rapid renewable energy development are making a bad situation for birds even worse. Along with rampant wildfires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think you have more acres lost to fires in aridland habitats now than in the past,\u201d he says, citing more people on the landscape and higher fuel loads from flammable invasive grasses that act as wildfire accelerants. \u201cSo the fires have fuel to spread to places that didn\u2019t really necessarily burn that often in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McCreedy also points out that desert bird species are adapted to bouncing back after drought: \u201cAridland birds will respond if we work to remove the constraints that we place upon them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He cites populations of Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, Bell\u2019s Vireos, and other aridland species at a site in the Mojave Desert where his group controlled nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds (which had moved in along with nearby human developments and their bird feeders). Once the cowbird pressures were removed, the native birds flourished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe nest success is off the charts. I had 100% success in 2022, which is insane for open-cup nesting birds,\u201d McCreedy says. \u201cUsually you\u2019re happy with 40% or maybe 50%, but they had 100%.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dabbling and Diving Ducks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sans-font-family has-xlarge-font-size\">Recent declines driven by drought, exacerbated by wetland loss<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Historically waterfowl have been a bright spot in <em>State of the Birds<\/em> reports, an increasing group of birds that benefitted from dedicated habitat conservation programs such as the federal Duck Stamp and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. And again in this 2025 report, duck populations are up 24% over the long term since 1970. But the eBird Trends map for dabbling and diving ducks depicts a more ominous recent trend\u2014duck populations in the Prairie Pothole Region over the past decade have declined to a point that\u2019s 10% below the long-term average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large featured\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"981\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-ducks-potholes-1280x981.png\" alt=\"Map of northern Great Plains with blue and red dots and an overlay illustration of two ducks flying\" class=\"wp-image-66053\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-ducks-potholes-1280x981.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-ducks-potholes-720x552.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-ducks-potholes-768x589.png 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-ducks-potholes-480x368.png 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eBird-trends-map-region-ducks-potholes.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A composite map of eBird Trends for duck species shows declines across the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region. Many waterfowl rely on grassland\u2013wetland habitat complexes for breeding. The combination of grassland and wetland loss in the Dakotas and Montana is rolling back decades of waterfowl population gains built by conservation policies such as the federal Duck<br>Stamp and North American Wetlands Conservation Act. <em>Macaulay Library photos: Blue-winged Teal by <a href=\"https:\/\/macaulaylibrary.org\/asset\/294362801\">Sharif Uddin <\/a>and Canvasback by <a href=\"https:\/\/macaulaylibrary.org\/asset\/23357191\">Caroline Lambert<\/a><\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cObviously not a good thing. That\u2019s North America\u2019s duck factory,\u201d says Orin Robinson, a Cornell Lab research associate who specializes in eBird data analysis. \u201cThat\u2019s where the majority of our ducks breed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robinson is also a duck hunter, with almost 30 years of experience hunting the fall duck migration through the Lower Mississippi River Valley in Arkansas. The ducks that he hunts in fall \u201cstart as eggs\u201d up in the Prairie Pothole Region, he says. As a scientist, Robinson says his peers who work on waterfowl surveys in the Dakotas and Montana confirm what he sees on the eBird Trends maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe people I talk to, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service folks and Joint Venture folks, it seems to match what they\u2019re seeing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mike Brasher, the senior waterfowl scientist at Ducks Unlimited and science team co-chair on the <em>State of the Birds<\/em> report, says that recent drought has revealed the extent of wetlands loss in recent decades.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright sidebar-space order-bottom\"><!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n<span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\">\r\n    <span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" id=\"hs-cta-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\">\r\n        <!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]-->\r\n        <a href=\"http:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/95627\/096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" ><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/95627\/096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da.png\"  alt=\"subscribe to Living Bird magazine\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\r\n    <\/span>\r\n    <script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script>\r\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n        hbspt.cta.load(95627, '096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da', {});\r\n    <\/script>\r\n<\/span>\r\n<!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt allows us to see reduced capacity,\u201d says Brasher, referring to the capacity of the Prairie Pothole landscape to produce ducks. Brasher says that a weakening of wetland protections and intensified rowcrop production in the region have contributed to wetland loss rates that have accelerated by 50% within the past decade, according to a recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThose conversions are driven by market forces. This is not farmers that set out to convert habitat. These are producers that seek to make a living and produce the food, fiber, and fuel that each of our countries needs,\u201d says Brasher, referring to farmers in the U.S. and Canadian portions of the Prairie Pothole Region. \u201cMarket forces are driving them. The best alternative for their land use right now [from an economic perspective] is to convert it to agricultural production or intensify agricultural production. So [conservationists] need to give them attractive, competitive alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brasher says that in the U.S., those cost-competitive alternatives for farmer land use come primarily from conservation programs in the Farm Bill and from investments in easements from nonprofit groups like Ducks Unlimited. And sometimes, he says, it means incentivizing beef production instead of planting corn or soybeans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons we are big advocates for cattle ranching,\u201d Brasher says. \u201cDucks and cattle both need grass and they both need wetlands. So those two things work in combination, and it\u2019s why we invest in a fair bit of programs to support ranchers in both the U.S. and Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the first time, the <em>State of the Birds<\/em> report leveraged fine-scale estimates of bird population changes derived from eBird data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc":65959,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc_title":"Living Bird Summer 2025&mdash;Table Of Contents","_birdpress_featured_image":false,"_birdpress_hero_toggle":false,"_birdpress_hero_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_image_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_style":"textured-glass 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