Partners in Flight – April 2010 newsletter

Thanks to Chris Eberly for distributing this month’s Partners in Flight newsletter:

PARTNERS IN FLIGHT NEWSLETTER

http://www.PartnersInFlight.org

April 2010

Partners in Flight 20th Anniversary – North American

Opening Reception

PIF sponsored the opening social reception at the North American on 23 March 2010 – the first time we’ve been able to do this in our 20-year history. This was only possible due to the generous contributions of a number of partners:
Weyerhaeuser
Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory
Kaytee
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
American Bird Conservancy
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
American Birding Association
Gulf Coast Bird Observatory
Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin
Klamath Bird Observatory
Department of Defense Partners in Flight
Central Hardwoods Joint Venture
Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture
Upper Missouri River/Great Lakes Region Joint Venture
Playa Lakes Joint Venture

The program featured framed posters from International Migratory Bird Day, 1993 to present, a wonderful new 5-minute hi-definition video of birds produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology just for this occasion, and presentation of special Champion of Bird Conservation awards to six individuals who made particularly important contributions to Partners in Flight over the last two decades (see next).

In addition to refreshments, each attendee received a limited edition PIF 20th lapel pin and a CD – The Diversity of Animal Sounds – produced by the Macaulay Library of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. If you were not there to receive your CD and would like one, please let me know (208-378-5347 or terry_rich@fws.gov). We also have a few more 20th anniversary pins if you would like to give them to colleagues, friends or family.

Special Awards

Rich Fischer, chair of the PIF Awards Committee, and Steve Williams, President of the Wildlife Management Institute, presented 6 special awards during the reception. These were given to individuals for “for tireless leadership, extraordinary vision, and persistence in the development of Partners in Flight.” The award recipients and a comment about each particular contribution are:

Peter Stangel – Partners in Flight would not have been created were it not for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and that not for the incredibly strong support from Peter. He taught us that money makes a difference.”

George Fenwick – George had the vision and tenacity to create American Bird Conservancy as the NGO that would implement Partners in Flight’s mission on the ground – a new “Ducks Unlimited” for all bird conservation.

Gary Myers – With unrelenting will and imagination, Gary made Partners in Flight an inescapable reality for state wildlife agencies nationwide. He charmed all of us into maturity.

Charles Baxter – The first to fully understand the relevance of Partners in Flight to Joint Ventures. A brilliant thinker who changed all of our lives; his absence leaves a huge void in our world.

Naomi Edelson – Naomi leveraged a huge multi-state funding opportunity at a critical point in PIF history — allowing us to complete our regional planning process – her influence transformed the way state wildlife agencies think about birds.

Paul Schmidt – Paul took the inspiration of Partners in Flight to convert the US Fish and Wildlife Service into the best Partner among us.

Each awardee received a carving of a bird especially selected for them. Each award also have a plaque with the words given above. You can view pictures of the awardees on the PIF Facebook page.

Special Session

PIF also contributed a Special Session, which has held on the morning of 24 March 2010. The title was “The Power of Partnerships in Bird Conservation:
North America and Beyond.” Papers included:

# The Power of Partnerships in Bird Conservation: North America and Beyond –
Terrell D. Rich* and John Hoskins.

# Hawaiian Birds: Out of Sight? – Paul Conry* and George Wallace
Canada’s Boreal Forests in Transition: New Opportunities to Achieve Migratory Bird Conservation – Samantha Song*, Peter Blancher, Judith Kennedy and Craig Machtans

The Partners in Flight Tri-national Vision: Shared Conservation Challenges in Mexico – Humberto Berlanga, Eduardo Iñigo Elias, Rosa Ma. Vidal and Eduardo Santana C.*

# Beyond our Borders: Protecting Tropical Forests for Wisconsin’s Neotropical Migrant Birds – Matt Frank and Craig Thompson*

The Caribbean: Serious Island Conservation Needs Next Door –
Lisa Sorenson*, Ann Hayes-Sutton, Andrew Dobson and Carol Beidleman

# Generation Next and Bird Conservation: “Always Connected” Continents, Disciplines and Communities – Ashley Dayer* and Mariamar Gutierrez Ramirez*

(*) notes the presenter of each talk and (#) marks talks that will also appear in the Transactions of the 75th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. English and Spanish abstracts of all talks will be posted on the PIF web site.

Partners in Flight Tri-National Vision for Landbird Conservation

Saving Our Shared Birds is in final design and layout, and will soon be translated into French and Spanish. The PIF Science Committee is making presentations on the content of the document, If you would like to schedule a presentation or to use graphs, maps, species lists or other content, contact any member of the Science Committee.–Terry Rich

IMBD and Saving Our Shared Birds Roll Out

On 27 May 2010, PIF and Environment for the Americas will share an event at the Smithsonian in Washington DC to roll out the 2010 International Migratory Bird Day and Saving Our Shared Birds: The Partners in Flight Tri-National Vision for Landbird Conservation. This event is geared to attract media attention and political support for bird conservation. A list of invitees is being assembled. For more details, contact Sue Bonfield (sbonfield@aol.com) or Alicia King (Alicia_F_King@fws.gov).

AOU/COS/SCO Symposium

PIF gave a 10-paper symposium at the joint annual conference of the American Ornithologists’ Union, Cooper Ornithological Society and Society of Canadian Ornithologists on 9 February 2010 in San Diego. The title of the symposium was
Tri-National Bird Conservation: Shared Strategies for a Shared North American Avifauna. Speakers from the U.S., Canada and Mexico participated.

Other 20th Anniversary Events

PIF also hosted an evening social at the PIF Southeast Working Group annual meeting in Gainesville on 10 March. Future events are being planned for the fall meeting of the PIF Western Working Group, the fall meeting of the Mesoamerican Society for Conservation and Biology in San Jose, Costa Rica, and the annual Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in Minneapolis in December. If you have ideas for other events, please contact Ashley Dayer (aad86@cornell.edu), Alicia King (Alicia_F_King@fws.gov), or me (terry_rich@fws.gov).

State of the Birds

On 11 March 2010, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the release of The State of the Birds: 2010 Report on Climate Change. Key findings include:
Oceanic birds are among the most vulnerable species because they don’t raise many young each year; they face challenges from a rapidly changing marine ecosystem; and they nest on islands that may be flooded as sea levels rise. All 67 oceanic bird species, such as petrels and albatrosses, are among the most vulnerable birds on Earth to climate change
Hawaiian birds such as endangered species Puaiohi and ’Akiapola’au already face multiple threats and are increasingly challenged by mosquito-borne diseases and invasive species as climate change alters their native habitats.
Birds in coastal, arctic/alpine, and grassland habitats, as well as those on Caribbean and other Pacific Islands show intermediate levels of vulnerability; most birds in aridlands, wetlands, and forests show relatively low vulnerability to climate change.
For bird species that are already of conservation concern such as the golden-cheeked warbler, whooping crane, and spectacled eider, the added vulnerability to climate change may hasten declines or prevent recovery.
The report identified common bird species such as the American oystercatcher, common nighthawk, and northern pintail, that are likely to become species of conservation concern as a result of climate change.
For more information visit http://www.stateofthebirds.org.

Wings Across the Americas Winners

The U.S. Forest Service International Programs presents annual conservation awards for those doing outstanding work for the conservation of bats, birds and butterflies. This year’s winners were recognized at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Milwaukee. The International Cooperation Award was presented to “Bird Conservation Partnerships for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Sustainability in Mesoamerica.” Among the awardees that many of us will recognize were Gerald Bauer, Wayne Arendt, Frank R. Thompson, Mariamar Gutiérrez, and Marvin A. Tórrez. Partners recognized included Dr. Juan Carlos Martínez-Sánchez, José Manul Zolotoff, Salvadora Morales, Osmar Arróliga, Juana Isabel Matamoros, Sara Otterstrom, Liza González, El Jaguar Private Wildlife Reserve, Organic Coffee Farm and Bird Santuary, Montibelli Private Wildlife Reserve, and Mark Willuhn. See http://www.fs.fed.us/global/wings/birds/awards/2010/award_agenda.pdf for full details.

PIF Funding Needs

As most people appreciate, Partners in Flight is not an NGO and does not have an operating budget. Everything we accomplish is done through partner contributions. 2010 is proving to be a special year for PIF with the celebration of our 20th anniversary and the publication of Saving Our Shared Birds. In addition, we have growing partnerships and needs in Mexico and Central America, in particular. If you would like to help support PIF activities or projects and have not yet pitched in this year, we can use your help. Contact Terry (terry_rich@fws.gov) for a detailed budget or to discuss some opportunities in more general terms.

Facebook

Partners in Flight has launched into the world of online social networking. Join our group on Facebook!! Keep in touch with your favorite bird conservation friends and find new friends. It’s easy to sign up for Facebook. Once you are in, search for “Partners in Flight” and then click “Become a Fan.” An immediate source of entertainment is your ability to then view and comment on photos from the North American, from the SE PIF annual meeting and from other events.—
Ashley Dayer (aad86@cornell.edu)

Share Your Memories of Partners in Flight

Environment for the Americas (home of International Migratory Bird Day) has created a blog to help you share your memories, photos, and history of Partners in Flight and of the partners who have helped to conserve birds. To join and follow this blog, please visit http://pif20.blogspot.com/. If you don’t want to join the blog, but would like to share a tidbit or some information about partnerships in conservation, please send the information to Susan Bonfield at sbonfield@aol.com.

Implementation of Actions Identified in the PIF Tri-National Vision

The PIF Tri-National Vision will be one of the most significant conservation assessments ever completed, anywhere. With nearly 900 species (9% of the world’s avifauna), all of the U.S., Canada and Mexico included, and an unprecedented level of analysis, this truly will be a landmark in the history of bird conservation. But this assessment will mean little if we can’t mobilize more resources and political support, and do it faster, to fully develop and implement its recommendations.

One of the plainest actions we can take – one that partners have been working on for years now – is to increase the amount of funding and lower the match requirements for the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act. We need much more than $4-5 million a year to conduct bird conservation on half of the planet. We also need to greatly increase funding in Southern Wings and in agency budgets that are devoted to bird conservation.

But in addition to funding, we need make more effective use of existing structures and processes whereby bird conservation needs are addressed systematically and strategically. These include the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, the Trilateral Committee (FWS, CWS, CONABIO), various bird committees of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, programs within the USFWS and the various committees within PIF itself.

Meso PIF and the Mesoamerican Society for Biology and Conservation

The XIII Mesoamerican Society for Biology and Conservation Congress (SMBC) and the Partners in Flight Mesoamerica Working Group Meeting were held in Belize City, Belize, 24-31 October 2009. On 23-25 October, a SMBC-PIF sponsored workshop, “Strengthening Partners in Flight Mesoamerica’s Migratory Bird Conservation Efforts through Training in Statistical Analysis and Scientific Writing,” was held at the University of Belize in Belmopan. This workshop was accepted as an official SMBC workshop as part of the SMBC-PIF Letter of Cooperation signed at last year’s SMBC Congress in El Salvador, designed to enhance cooperation and capacity building for migratory bird conservation.

The workshop coordinator was Pablo Elizondo, the PIF Costa Rica National Coordinator. Mariamar Gutiérrez, one of the coordinators of last year’s SMBC-PIF workshop in El Salvador, provided assistance. The workshop was facilitated by PIF in partnership with the SMBC, University of Belize, Asociación Ornitológica de Costa Rica, USDA Forest Service, Klamath Bird Observatory, and National Park Service, with financial support provided by the Missouri Department of Conservation, Audubon North Carolina, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The workshop instructors were Oscar Ramírez Alán, statistics professor at Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica, and Pablo Elizondo. Thirteen students from 7 Central American countries participated in the hands-on workshop, which provided training in the management and analysis of ornithological data, the use of e-Bird, and writing ornithological manuscripts for submission to scientific journals.—Jose Manuel-Zolotoff (zolotoff@ibw.com.ni), Carol Beidleman (Carol_Beidleman@nps.gov) and Pablo Elizondo (jpelizondo@zeledonia.org)

Mesoamerican PIF Meeting and Needs Assessment

In addition to the previous, Meso PIF also met during the congress on 28 October 2009. Complete minutes of the meeting are available at http://pifcostarica.org/Recursos/460378DE-28A9-43BB-8ADF-DB31172C8722.html. 53 participants from 10 countries participated in an excellent discussion of ongoing projects and future needs. An important outcome was identification and discussion of future training needs. After the meeting, a questionnaire was broadly circulated to get input from many additional partners who were not able to attend the meeting. From among 100 individuals who responded to the survey, those training needs with the most votes were: Banding Certification from the North American Banding Council (28%), Statistical analysis (16%), Geographic Information Systems (14%), Species Assessment (13%), and Scientific and proposal writing (9%). We have committed to helping provide this training to our Mesoamerican partners. Clearly, we have the knowledge and skills within the partnership to make all of these happen. As always, it’s a matter of finding the funding to pay for travel and facilities.

Funding Needed for PIF Mesoamerica

As shown by the previous two items, the PIF Mesoamerica Working Group continues to make progress and to be involved in important bird conservation issues. With the completion of the Tri-National Vision (see above), PIF’s attention will increasingly turn to Central America as the next frontier in PIF planning, assessment and implementation. However, we need about $10,000 a year to support the basic functions of the working group, including publication of the bilingual newsletter, La Tangara, which is the main instrument of communication. We are pleased to announce that the U.S. Forest Service International Programs will cover this expense for 2010. Further, a working group has been formed to look into a long-term solution to this particular need, and to write a 10-year plan for training and capacity building for Meso PIF.

But in the mean time, our goal is to raise $14,000 for training in San Jose in November 2010 to conduct another round of Banding Certification training – the #1 need identified by the Meso PIF Working Group (see previous item). Anyone able to help meet this year’s need should contact Terry (terry_rich@fws.gov) or the chairs of the Meso PIF Working Group, Carol Beidleman (Carol_Beidleman@nps.gov) or Jose Manuel Zolotoff Pallais (zolotoff@ibw.com.ni). A one-page summary of the 2010 training project is available upon request from any of us.

Conservation Birding
The American Bird Conservancy and its partners in 12 countries throughout the Americas have launched a new, international birdwatching tourism initiative aimed at preventing the extinction of bird species. The initiative known as Conservation Birding, will help to finance bird reserves across the Americas by developing them as birding tourism destinations with lodges, trails, and other facilities for visitors.

The partners have already created thirty-six reserves, 18 of which have visitor accommodations on site. These reserves include more than 250,000 acres of critically important bird habitat, providing refuge for more than 2,000 bird species-nearly half of the total found throughout all the Americas. Some of the world’s most endangered species are among them. These include the spectacular Lear’s Macaw, the Marvelous Spatuletail hummingbird, and the enigmatic Long-whiskered Owlet. Many of the reserves also provide key wintering habitat for migratory birds, such as the declining Cerulean Warbler, that nest in the United States.

Visitors can browse reserves online by visiting the new Conservation Birding website at http://www.conservationbirding.org. The site has been designed specifically to help visitors plan their birding trips to help conservation, by presenting detailed information on the reserves and eco-lodges established by the conservation groups. A Google Earth component adds another dimension to the site, presenting suggested routes, photographs of lodges and birds, and videos of rare and interesting species.

SEPIF Field Guide to Web Technology

The past several years have seen an explosion of new web-based tools for sharing and accessing information, creating many new opportunities for bird conservation. SEPIF held a workshop on 9 March 2010 – Web Technology for Bird Conservation – which provided a non-technical introduction to a variety of potentially useful web tools for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of bird conservation. Many of these tools you may have heard of (Blogs, Wikis, Twitter, eBird) while others may be new to you (Google Sites, Etherpad, Ning). To go along with this workshop, SEPIF produced A Field Guide to Web Technology, which is a very useful introduction to a variety of these tools. The guide should be up on the SEPIF web site soon. In the mean time, contact Rua Mordecai (rua.mordecai@gmail.com).

NABCI and AJVMB Annual Awards

The North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) and the Association of Joint Venture Management Boards (AJVMB) announced the recipients of their 4th Annual Awards at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Reception as part of the 75th Annual North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. Each year the awards go to individuals or groups who have shown unparalleled accomplishments in bird conservation as contained in the principles of NABCI and the national/international bird initiatives
This year three worthy recipients, each with a distinguished career of promoting and implementing integrated bird conservation through the JVs and other initiatives, received NABCI/AJVMB awards:

Gary Myers – During his career, Gary Myers has been at the forefront of conservation initiatives that have demonstrated his commitment to protecting our nation’s fish and wildlife, and displayed his visionary approach to accomplishing far-reaching objectives for bird conservation.

Kirk Nelson – Over the last 10 years Kirk Nelson has served as Chairman of the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture, Association of Joint Venture Management Boards, and AFWA Partners in Flight/Shorebird/Waterbird Working Group. He is also a member of the AFWA Southern Wings Leadership Team and was a member of the U.S. NABCI Committee in his role as AJVMB Chair.

Charles Baxter – Charles Baxter began his career as a Fish and Wildlife Biologist with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Over the next 17 years Mr. Baxter engaged in a variety of conservation issues, most notably those associated with the Mississippi River and its tributaries. His vision and leadership was a key factor in the early development of the “all-bird” conservation concept and ultimately has led to the widespread use and acceptance of the need to integrate bird habitat conservation for all groups of birds across North America. Because Joint Ventures were originally conceived as a mechanism for waterfowl conservation, including conservation issues and habitat for other bird groups was a significant advancement. Mr. Baxter’s vision, style of leadership, and ability to work with a broad range of partners has been an inspiration and model for many colleagues across a broad swath of all sectors of the conservation community. More details are available at http://www.nabci-us.org.–Deb Hahn (dhahn@fishwildlife.org)

Pocket Guide to Sagebrush Birds

Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory has just about completed incorporating comments from our first draft of the Pocket Guide to Sagebrush Birds. Like other pocket guides, its purpose is to raise awareness about birds in a particular habitat type and to offer effective and appropriate conservation actions.—Laura Quattrini (laura.quattrini@rmbo.org)

[Editor’s note: These pocket guides have proven to be very effective with landowners. But they are all coming from the West. Let’s see some from the other regions!]

Proceedings of the Gray Vireo Symposium

Electronic copies of the following document now can be found both on the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish website (http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/ conservation/threatened_endangered_species/index.htm) and the New Mexico Ornithological Society website (http://www.nmbirds.org/?page_id=1652).

Walker, H. A., and R. H. Doster, eds. 2009. Proceedings of the Gray Vireo Symposium Co-Sponsored by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and the New Mexico Ornithological Society. 12–13 April 2008; Albuquerque, New Mexico. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The expanded abstracts in the proceedings discuss one or more of the following topics: 1) Gray Vireo population status and trends; 2) habitats used by the Gray Vireo at multiple scales; and 3) research and management needs for the Gray Vireo. It is hoped that the symposium will serve as a catalyst for future collaboration among researchers and land managers to improve our understanding of, and management actions for, the Gray Vireo in New Mexico. Hard copies can be requested from Hira Walker (hira.walker@state.nm.us).

Canadian IBA Website Launch

Co-partners Bird Studies Canada and Nature Canada have launched an informative new website for the Canadian Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program. The effort has also gained critical support from a number of regional organizations, including BC Nature, Federation of Alberta Naturalists, Nature Saskatchewan, and Nature Quebec, as well as hundreds of volunteers nationwide. TransCanada Corporation and the U.S. Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act grant provided funding for the new website.

This new, fully bilingual website provides information, tools, and mapping features to help IBA partners and volunteers more effectively monitor birds and assess conditions at key bird conservation areas. These volunteers, part of the IBA Caretaker Network, are connected to individual IBAs, assigned a lead volunteer, and assisted by other citizen scientists and helpers. There are nearly 600 Canadian IBAs, many of which are not legally or formally protected. To learn more or get involved, visit the new IBA Canada website at: http://www.ibacanada.ca/

The Desert Bird Conservation Plan

I’m happy to announce the online publication of “The Desert Bird Conservation Plan: A strategy for protecting and managing desert habitats and associated birds in the Mojave and Colorado Deserts”, a collaborative work of PRBO Conservation Science and California Partners in Flight. The plan’s homepage, which has links to focal species accounts and the plan itself is at http://www.prbo.org/calpif/htmldocs/desert.htm, or the plan can be downloaded directly from http://www.prbo.org/calpif/pdfs/desert.v-1.pdf.–Ryan DiGaudio (rdigaudio@prbo.org).

MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES

PIF Western Working Group

The WWG will hold their spring meeting at the City Library Conference Room, Salt Lake City, UT (http://www.slcpl.lib.ut.us/details.jsp?parent_id=7&page_id=5) on 5-9 April 2010. Satellite meetings (RMBO, Utah PIF) are tentatively scheduled for Monday & Friday, with the WWG meeting Tues – Fri. The agenda and logistical details can be found at http://web.me.com/adrienne_cachelin/ Western_Working_Group_PIF_spring_meet/PIF_Meeting_Overview.html.—Russell Norvell (russellnorvell@utah.gov)

Climate Change in the Great Basin & Mojave Desert

The USFWS, USGS, National Park Service, and Environmental Protection Agency are sponsoring a workshop on natural resource research, adaptation, and mitigation needs related to climate change in the Great Basin and Mojave Desert. The workshop will be held 20-22 April 2010 at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Workshop objectives include:
Increase understanding of climate change processes and their effects on the physical systems and biota of the Great Basin and Mojave Desert
Provide the “best available” scientific information for adapting to change
Examine research and management needs
Evaluate management constraints and determine potential solutions
Develop effective research and management collaborations for addressing climate change into the future For more information, please visit: http://www.wr.usgs.gov/workshops/.–Sean P. Finn (sfinn@usgs.gov)

AFWA Annual Meeting and Next PIF National Committee Meetings

The 100th (!!) Annual Meeting of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies will be held 26-29 September 2010 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, MI. Watch http://www.fishwildlife.org/index.html for details. The PIF Implementation Committee will meet for two days prior to this conference. Watch the PIF listservs for details as they develop.

25th International Ornithological Congress 2010

The 25th International Ornithological Congress will also be held in Campos do Jordão, Brazil, 22-28 August 2010. PIF will have papers in the NMBCA and on the Tri-National Vision. See http://www.acquaviva.com.br/sisconev/ index.asp?Codigo=26 for details.
The Wildlife Society

The TWS annual conference (http://joomla.wildlife.org/) will be held in Snowbird, UT, on 3-7 October 2010. PIF is contributing to two proposed symposia. The first is from the National Phenology Network and is entitled Recent Shifts in Phenology, Temporal Mismatches, and Their Role in Management Decisions. The second is from the USDA-NRCS Agricultural Wildlife Conservation Center and is entitled Wildlife Conservation Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring at Multiple Scales. If you are interested in contributing to the PIF paper in either symposium, contact Terry (terry_rich@fws.gov).

2010 Watchable Wildlife Conference

The 2010 Watchable Wildlife Conference will be held in Kearney, Nebraska 5-7 October 2010 at the Holiday Inn & Conference Center. This year’s conference will present in-depth sessions concentrating on how local communities, businesses and private land owners can profit from the continuing growth in Wildlife/Nature Tourism. Meet and talk with leading wildlife managers, business owners, authors and tourism marketing professionals in the field of wildlife/nature tourism. Sessions on Using Social Media, Marketing & Promotion, Risk Management & Assessment and Prairie Restoration are just a few of the other topics being planned. The new Digital Bridge to Nature Teacher Workshops and workbook publication will also be previewed. http://www.watchablewildlife.org/

North American Pollinator Protection Campaign

The 10th Anniversary of the NAPPC International Conference will be hosted at the U.S. Department of Agriculture 14th and Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250 on 20-22 October 2010. See http://www.nappc.org/ for details.

XIV Congreso de la SMBC – Costa Rica
The 2010 congress of the Meoamerican Society for Conservation and Biology will be held 8-12 November in San Jose, Costa Rica. See items above about our involvement with this society and funding needs for training during this conference. Details can be found at: http://www.sociedadmesoamericana.org/ congresos/proximo-congreso.php.

71st Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference

The subject conference will be held 12-15 December 2010 at the Hyatt Regency in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Midwest is the premier fish and wildlife conference in the central U.S. with more than 1000 attendees at past conferences. We are expecting tremendous interest in the 2010 conference due to the location, the excellent plenary speakers, and the content of the workshops and breakout sessions. We encourage you to browse our website and to contact us with any questions. PIF has proposed a day-long symposium that will cover all components in the SHC flowchart. Watch http://www.midwest2010.org/ for details.

IXth Neotropical Ornithological Congress
The Neotropical Ornithological Society (NOS) and the Peruvian Ornithological Union (UNOP) are pleased to announce the The IXth Neotropical Ornithological Congress and VIIIth National Ornithological Congress to be held in Cusco, Peru, on 8-14 November 2011. The scientific program will include plenary lectures, symposia sessions, oral and poster presentations, and round table discussions. The congress officers are: the Secretary General, Grace P. Servat (grace.servat@gmail.com) and the Chair of Local Committee, Constantino Aucca (caucca@ecoanperu.org), in cooperation with the NOS and UNOP. Further information will be announced at http://www.neotropicalornithology.org.

Other Ornithological Society Meetings

Details on the annual conferences of other major ornithological societies in North America can be found at http://www.osnabirds.org/.
——————————————————————-

The next newsletter will be issued on 1 July 2010. Items are due 15 June 2010 to Terry Rich (terry_rich@fws.gov).