State of the Birds 2025
Yellow-billed Magpie ©Erna Tarara
The recently released 2025 edition of the State of the Birds, a status of bird species across the United States produced by a coalition of science and conservation groups, including National Audubon, shows alarming trends in the decline of birds across a range of habitats. The report analyzes data from various bird monitoring programs, including the U.S. Geological Survey’s Breeding Bird Survey, Audubon’s Christmas Bird Counts, and eBird trends. Grassland and arid-land species have suffered the most, losing over 40% of their total populations since 1970, but shorebirds and forest birds have also shown significant declines. Around one-third of all bird species in the U.S. are categorized as of high or moderate conservation concern. Our Yellow-billed Magpie is on the Red Alert Tipping Point Species list in the review, one of 42 species listed with perilously low populations and steep declining trends. But there also is hope. The report notes that conservation practices can still make a difference and provides several examples of conservation success stories, including conservation ranching, a practice Audubon California is engaged in right here in Yolo County at Bobcat Ranch. It further states that bird-friendly policies benefit people too and strengthen American communities, estimating that Americans who watch birds contribute $279 billion to the nation’s economy each year. Adopting policies that protect birds yields benefits in income, jobs, tax revenues, mental health, and more. You can read more about the State of the Birds 2025 here.
May is the month we traditionally wind down our monthly activities before a summer break. We’ll have our last monthly program meeting of the season on May 21st which will be a photographic presentation on the birds of Bhutan by ornithologist and tour leader John Sterling. We will also conduct our annual members’ meeting at that time. Here is our slate for the YBA Board of Directors for the 2025-2026 season:
Returning board members:
Ann Brice
Genevieve Diane Colborn
Konshau Duman
Lynette Williams Duman
Ken Ealy
Kirk Ehmsen
JoAnne Fillatti
John Hansen
Emmett Iverson
Kelli O’Neill
Michael Perrone
Zane Pickus
Sonjia Shelly
Autumn Turner
Bart Wickel
New board members:
Kevin Hunting
Tom Uslan
We encourage you to attend the grand opening celebration of the Woodland Regional Park Preserve on May 17th. YBA will have a table at the event with some interactive activities for kids, along with other local conservation groups. Stop by and say hi if you come.
Have a wonderful summer, and we’ll see you in the fall!
–Genevieve Colborn and Ann Brice