Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be the home away from home for Pablo Elizondo over the next 3 months. Elizondo will be working with Park researchers, sharing his time and skills while learning new skills, all in the name of better international bird conservation. Elizondo is the Costa Rican coordinator of the Partners in Flight international bird conservation initiative and will be part of the Partners in Flight annual International Migratory Bird Day celebration in the Park in May.
To highlight International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD), the Park will hold two days of public events. Starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 5, at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in North Carolina, and on Monday, May 7, at the Sugarlands Visitor Center in Tennessee, Park Biologist Paul Super will set up mist nets to demonstrate to participants how the nets are used to carefully capture birds, measure, and band them for release at research stations. There will also be short guided bird walks and Park Intern Elizondo will also give presentations on bird conservation and Costa Rica efforts. Students from the Pi Beta Phi Elementary School in Gatlinburg will participate as well on May 7. Both days are weather dependent with no plans to reschedule if events get rained out.
The 2007 IMBD theme is "Birds in a Changing Climate". The reactions of birds to weather have long been noted. For hundreds of years, farmers have used the arrivals of migratory birds to make decisions about planting crops. Changes in the movements of some species are just one indicator of the warming of the Earth's atmosphere. Today, as the rate of warming increases, scientists are exploring how climate change will affect birds and how we can reduce our impact.
The IMBD is the hallmark annual event sponsored by Partners In Flight. Since 1993, IMBD has celebrated the return of millions of migratory birds from their non-breeding grounds in South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and the southern U.S., to their North American nesting habitats. Although most migratory birds are still abundant, many species are at risk due to the loss of habitat throughout the Western Hemisphere. The purpose of the event is to motivate people to learn about birds and the habitats that they need, to discover ways that they can become involved in improving conditions for birds, and to enjoy watching birds.
"Many of the bird species that breed in the Smokies spend their winters in Costa Rica or other Latin American or Caribbean countries," said Paul Super, Park Biologist, Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center. "To protect populations of these Neotropical migrants, there needs to be an international cooperation and sharing of expertise and resources," he continued.
The National Park Service's cooperative Park Flight Migratory Program is part of the international effort that works to protect shared migratory bird species and their habitats in U.S., Canadian, Latin American, and Caribbean national parks and protected areas through developing bird conservation and education projects and creating opportunities for technical exchange and cooperation.
The Smokies has benefited in the past from two project grants from Park Flight to study Golden-winged and Cerulean Warblers in the Park and their habitat needs. Park staff members have also participated in two international workshops sponsored by Park Flight to exchange technical expertise on monitoring and education of Neotropical migrant birds. This will be the first time that the Smokies has been chosen to receive an intern from Latin America through this program.
Park Flight is a partnership between NPS, the National Park Foundation, American Airlines, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the University of Arizona. The program is made possible through the generous support of American Airlines, the NPS Natural Resource Challenge, and the Park Flight partners. Elizondo comes to the Smokies through the NPS Flight Program and his internship has also been made possible with support from the Tennessee Ornithological Society and the Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Partners In Flight (PIF)/ Compañeros en Vuelo / Partenaires d'Envol was launched in 1990 in response to growing concerns about declines in the populations of many land bird species, and in order to emphasize the conservation of birds not covered by existing conservation initiatives.
PIF is a cooperative effort involving partnerships among federal, state and local government agencies, philanthropic foundations, professional organizations, conservation groups, industry, the academic community, and private individuals. For more information on IMBD and PIF, go to www.birdday.org and www.partnersinfight.org.
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