Reconciliation ecology in urban environments takes advantage of the popularity of birds

Background/Question/Methods

Reconciliation ecology is the science of modifying human impacted habitats so that they also support designated wild species. Without it, the losses owing to the current mass extinction will far exceed the usual estimates. Although the places where people actually live cover far less area than the places we use for farming, pastoralism and silviculture, the impact of reconciling them cannot be overestimated. Whatever we do in them will be experienced on a regular basis by the vast majority of humanity. They will supply the political will needed to deploy reconciliation ecology in more sparsely settled habitats like forests. Every reconciliation ecology project focuses on a restricted number of species and birds can engage large numbers of people in reconciliation work. The first step is good census work. It discovers what species of birds live in what urban habitats. So we set up a community-wide, volunteer-staffed urban/suburban bird census called the Tucson Bird Count. Census takers, using bird sounds, patrol over 1000 pre-designated routes spread across Tucson and its surroundings (using stratified random assignment of sites). Each route consists of 10 to 12 census points. We analyze the data for pattern and scale by referring them to satellite and aerial images.

Results/Conclusions

We have now completed 14 breeding seasons as well as 14 years of supplementary data taken quarterly in Tucson's parks. Each year about 100 volunteers train and do at least one of the routes. So far, more than 250 volunteers have taken part. Results are posted publicly at tucsonbirds.org. TBC's database has yielded suggestions for new reconciled habitat designs to help people make their neighborhoods available to wild species ranging from Gambel's quail to Costa's hummingbird. The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson's local newspaper, has run prominent illustrated stories of the volunteers at work. Volunteers have come to presentations at which the importance of the TBC work is explained in the global context. This year, TBC, a project of the University of Arizona's Tumamoc: People & Habitats, entered into a partnership with the Tucson Audubon Society, which will ensure that the TBC continue well into the future.