HIGHEST NUMBER OF KIRTLAND'S WARBLERS EVER RECORDED
The full census is complete. In mid-July the Michigan Department of
Natural Resources announced the annual survey results indicating that the
state's population of the federally endangered Kirtland's warbler is increasing.
Biologists, researchers, and volunteers counted as many as 1,415 singing males during the 2005 official census period. This count exceeds the 1,348 males observed in 2004, and it represents the largest number of Kirtland's warblers recorded since this monitoring program began. The census was started in 1951 and has been conducted annually since 1971. The lowest numbers of warblers were recorded in 1974 and 1987, when only 167 singing males were found.
In addition, three singing males were discovered in Wisconsin this year.
The Kirtland's warbler recovery is succeeding through cooperation between the Michigan DNR, U.S. Forest Service, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Michigan Department of Military Affairs.
