The Nature Conservancy's Wings of the Americas program, which is made possible by funding from Canon U.S.A., Inc., protects birds at risk by taking a comprehensive approach to protecting the lands that support them throughout North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. We formalized this support in 1990 under the Clean Earth Campaign, which funds conservation programs that make a real and positive difference to the environment. Certainly Wings of the Americas exemplifies that standard. Of the 4,500 bird species that breed in the Americas, over a thousand are now in decline or dangerously scarce. The Raptor Center, out of the University of Minnesota, is a partner of the Conservancy's in the effort to study the issues and establish solutions.
Loss of habitat is perhaps the most serious threat to the birds.
Farming, timber and industrial interests, among others, are altering the landscape, making formerly natural areas incompatible with wildlife. On Saturday, June 27th at Mashomack Preserve, Mark Martell of the Raptor Center and Ornithologist David Mehlman of the Conservancy will visit one of the five active osprey nests on the island. Using a netting technique that is harmless to the bird, one individual, probably a female, will be caught for tagging. They'll carefully attach a specially constructed satellite transmitter with a harness to the hawk's back, then immediately release the bird to return to its nest. From that point forward, the osprey's locations will be recorded, including the long journey south in the fall.