Rusty Blackbird Blitz, January 30 - February 15, 2010.

There's still time to participate in this year's Rusty Blackbird Blitz!

From the website:

Rusty blackbird populations have fallen steeply, with estimates of an 85-99% population drop over the past 40 years. Although no one knows the cause for this alarming decline, winter habitat loss and degradation are likely candidates. Rusties are getting scarce and patchy in their winter distribution, making it difficult to focus the research and management we need to save the species.

Collaborating with Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's and National Audubon Society's e-Bird project, we are enlisting the power of the birding public (you!) to help locate local, but predictable wintering concentrations of rusty blackbirds. We are mobilizing an all-out "blitz" to locate rusty blackbirds and create a map of wintering rusty blackbird hotspots that will help focus research, monitoring and conservation attention.

For more info:

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/MigratoryBirds/Research/Rusty_Blackbird/blitz.cfm