Tricolored Blackbird Conservation

Audubon California is dedicated to conserving the state’s population of Tricolored Blackbirds, and has taken a number of actions in recent years to protect this sensitive species. This has included direct conservation, monitoring, advocacy, and building partnerships with a diverse array of groups from government agencies and environmental groups to private landowners and agricultural associations.

We have taken up this effort not just because the Tricolored Blackbird population is threatened, but because we view it as a uniquely California species that carries a particular responsibility.

California is home to 95 percent of the world’s population of Tricolored Blackbirds, and while recent trends appear to indicate the species numbers have stabilized at around 250,000-300,000 birds, these numbers are far below numbers in the 1930s. They are listed as a state species of special concern. The birds commonly nest in silage fields and other areas around dairy farms in the San Joaquin Valley and in limited areas in southern California, which presents a risk when fields are ready for harvest and young birds cannot yet fly.

View “A Field of Birds,” a short documentary video about the state’s Tricolored Blackbird conservation produced by nationally-recognized agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners.

Recent news:

Survey observed nearly 395,000 Tricolored Blackbirds in California (Sept. 22, 2008)

Agreement Reached to Save World’s Largest Tricolored Blackbird Colony (May 1, 2008)

Volunteers to scour California for declining Tricolored Blackbird (April 22, 2008)

Agreement reached on Tricolored Blackbird restoration (Sept. 10, 2007)

Major effort to protect endangered Tricolored Blackbird colony (May 23, 2007)