Kirtland's Warbler Initiative
co-sponsored by Rotary Club

Kirtland’s Warbler — Michigan's Bird

Kids for Kirt!

At 9:30 am on November 6, 2003 a school bus from Grand Blanc pulled up to the State Capitol unloading 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders bent on a singular mission. THEY HAVE DONE THEIR HOMEWORK AND ARE NOW, SELF-TRAINED LOBBYISTS. It all started several weeks ago when their teacher Mrs. Vickie Weiss asked, “If you had a choice between the Robin and the Chickadee as the STATE BIRD which would you choose. Come back tomorrow and defend your choice.” They returned the next day and to a person they all said “Neither.” They had researched the INTERNET and concluded that the bird of choice was the Kirtland’s Warbler, sometimes called the “Jack Pine Warbler” because it’s exclusive nesting area is in Michigan’s Jack Pine Barrens. When asked how they came to this decision they came up with the following:

• IT ONLY NESTS IN MICHIGAN. NO MICHIGAN, NO KIRTLAND’S WARBLER.
• IT IS THE RAREST WARBLER IN NORTH AMERICA.
• THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT AND THE MICHIGAN HABITAT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM SAVED THE WARBLER. IT IS A MODEL FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES ALL OVER THE WORLD.
• THE HABITAT PROGRAM HELPS SUSTAIN MICHIGAN’S FOREST PRODUCTS INDUSTRY.
• IT ENCOURAGES TOURIST TRAVEL TO MICHIGAN.
• IT PROVIDES HABITAT FOR BOTH GAME AND NON-GAME SPECIES.
• IT ESTABLISHES HUNTING AND RECREATION DURING THE NON-BREEDING SEASON.
• THE KIRTLAND’S WARBLER PROGRAM GENERATES MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR THE STATE OF MICHIGAN.

Besides lobbying for Senate Bill 740 the students have:

• Created a Kirtland’s Warbler Web site for elementary schools: mswww.grand-blanc.k12.mi.us/warbler/
• Have registered to be an expert witness at legislative committee meetings.
• Are communicating via Email to their counterpart elementary schools around the state.

To learn more about “KIDS FOR KIRT”
517-886-9144; MAS@michiganaudubon.org

Kirtland’s Warbler now nests in the following Michigan counties: Alcona, Clare, Crawford, Grand Traverse, Iosco, Kalkaska, Montmorency, Ogemaw, Oscoda, Roscommon, Delta, Marquette, Schoolcraft, and Baraga.

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Six Reasons to make Kirtland’s Warbler Michigan's State Bird

By Michigan Audubon and Detroit Audubon Society

1. Unique to Michigan

The Kirtland’s Warbler is unique to Michigan, the American Robin is not.

The Kirtland’s Warbler nests nowhere else in the world except in th northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The American Robin, our current state bird, is also the state bird of Connecticut and Wisconsin. Some have suggested making the Black-capped Chickadee our state bird, but it is already the state bird of Maine and Massachusetts. In the past, the governor of Michigan gave metal sculptures of the Kirtland’s Warbler to visiting dignitaries as a memento because of its uniqueness to the state.

2. World Renowned

People come to Michigan from all over the world to see the Kirtland’s Warbler.

The bright, cheerful song of this lemon-breasted warbler, which can be heard for over a quarter of a mile, is music to the ears of and the songster a prize to see for bird watchers from all around the world. These tourists eat in our restaurants, stay in our hotels and motels, buy souvenirs, find other pursuits while they are here, and tell their friends and families about their experience. We are not aware of anyone making a trip to Michigan expressly to see an American Robin!

3. Economic Impact

It helps feed two important parts of Michigan’s economy: tourism and the forest products industry.

While wildfire was historically the predominant way that the Kirtland’s habitat of 5-18 foot jackpine was created; today the mature, fifty-year old jackpine (Kirtland’s habitat) is managed by harvesting and then replanting by forest managers in a way that closely mimics the conditions created by natural burns. Over 80% of Kirtland’s Warblers today nest in jackpine plantations. Jackpine sells at a very good price for pressboard, pulpwood and cogeneration of energy.

4. A Symbol of Michigan

Its beauty, tenacity and exuberance represent well the character of Michigan and Michiganders.

In 1974 there were only 167 nesting pairs of this endangered species in the whole world. With the can-do spirit of Michiganders, biologists, foresters, the forest industry and environmental groups worked together to forge and implement a plan to bring this warbler’s population and its jackpine ecosystem back to stability. For three years in a row now, the population has stayed above 1,000 pairs. This year, 1,202 were counted! AT this rate it won’t be long before the Kirtland’s is taken off the endangered species list because it has fully recovered. The comeback of this species is symbolic of how Michigan and its citizens never give up, roll up their sleeves, and use ingenuity and passion to overcome impossible odds. The fact that the Kirtland’s spends part of its life cycle in the Bahamas and makes stops in states in between represents Michigan’s strong national and international connections and importance.

5. A Conservation Success Story

Management for the Kirtland’s Warbler and its ecosystem benefits many other species.

The vast expanses of short jack pine which the Kirtland’s requires is also prime habitat for white-tailed deer, snowshoe hare, badger, coyote, eastern bluebird, hermit thrush, brown-thrasher, clay-colored sparrow, vesper sparrow, Nashville warbler and several other species. Wildflowers such as Turkey-foot violet, frostweed, blueberry, trailing arbutus, and the threatened pitcher’s thistle thrive amidst the low jackpines. Black-backed three-toed woodpeckers and Spruce Grouse nest in the areas before and after occupancy by the Kirtland’s Warbler. Because wildfires no longer burn vast areas of jackpine each year, and those that do get started have to be suppressed to protect human lives and habitation, intensive management will always be required to maintain the jackpine ecosystem and the Kirtland’s Warbler.

6. The American Robin

Won’t the folks who pushed the American Robin for our state bird be upset? Why change now?

Michigan Audubon Society was the group that pushed for the American Robin to be made Michigan’s state bird in 1931. It wasn’t until three years later that scientists finally realized that northern Michigan was the only place in the world where the Kirtland’s Warbler nests. That same group is now leading the effort for this change because it is time Michigan had a state bird that represented its uniqueness. There is no other bird which fits the bill nearly as well as the Kirtland’s. And 2003 marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the first Kirtland’s Warbler nest by two ornithologists who were fly fishing on the Au Sable River. What better anniversary present could there be?! Michigan Audubon Society, which long ago adopted the Kirtland’s for its logo celebrates its centennial in 2004, and Detroit Audubon will celebrate 65 years of service to the cause of conservation.