Hello, everyone. My name is Mary Machowski and I'm the executive director for Altagal Bon society, which is the local chapter of the National Audubon Society. Welcome to the Endangered Species Fair. Today I thought I would talk about the Threaten and Endangered Species of birds in inland northern California, which include the species listed here. I'll talk about each of these species in more detail throughout the presentation. These birds are protected by several laws, first and foremost, being the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which is one of the oldest wildlife protection laws on the books and is one of National Audubon societies, first major victories. This law has saved millions, if not billions of birds. In 2017, the Trump administration attempted to weaken the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by changing the original intent of the law by stating that incidental take was no longer to be considered a violation of the law. Despite the new interpretation of this law being struck down by a federal court, this change went into effect in early January of 2021. However, the first day in office Biden in issued an executive order declaring that the changes would need to go another review process. So it's on hold at the moment. These birds are also protected by the 1973 Endangered Species Act. And most recently, California passed the Migratory Bird Protection Act in 2018 to enable birds of California to be protected from incidental take, even if the Trump changes were put in place. The Bald Eagle became Endangered due to DDT, which made the egg shells very thin and successful to you breaking before the eggs would hatch. Although DDT was banned in 1972, it breaks down to a compound called DDE, which can still be found in our environment today. The Bald Eagle is a success story and was downlisted to threatened in 1995 and D-listed in 2007. However, it's still listed as state threatened in California. Bald Eagles are also protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940. The Banks Wallow was listed as threatened in California in 1989. One of the main problems facing Banks Wallows is declining habitat due to rip wrapping the banks of rivers and major streams. This involves placing large brock along the banks to prevent erosion. However, Banks Wallows like to nist and sandy banks along rivers and streams. In California, the Nature Conservancy, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and other organizations, as well as landowners, are trying to mitigate by buying land along the Sacramento River and attempting to create places where the river can be and or naturally. This could help increase nesting areas for the Banks Wallows. The Black Rail is a very secretive marsh bird and is pretty uncommon in Buick County. You're more likely to hear them rather than see them. While I've heard quite a few Black rails, I've never actually seen one in person, even when they sounded like they were only about 10 feet away from me. In my opinion, they might qualify as a bird, which is usually described as a cute or roundish looking bird. The Greater Sand Hill Crane is one of the oldest living bird species on earth, having existed in their present form for about 2.5 million years. They have very primitive call, which you can hear in the Central Valley while they are wintering here. You can find them foraging in the rice fields, especially around Yanosaco, and it is fun to watch their courting dances. The Great Grey Owls are extremely uncommon in Northern California. However, I personally know a couple of people who have actually heard and seen them in Buick County, but that was back in the mid 1990s. There is the largest owl we have in California, and there is a healthy population in and around Yosemite. The Northern Spotted Owls is listed as threatened by the state of California and federally. The range in California is mostly in the Cascade range, north, and then over to the coast and down towards Marin. The California Spotted Owl is the owl we have in Buick, Yuba, and Plumas counties, and has not been listed under either the state or federal endangered species X. These owls are threatened by habitat loss through timber harvest and forest fires, especially recently. They are more recently being pushed out of their territories by the larger and more opportunistic barred owl. They are also being affected by illegal pesticide use on marijuana plantations on our national forests. I'm a little biased, but the Spotted Owl is one of my favorite birds. The Perron Falcons is another success story after being protected under the endangered species X. They have recovered after DDT was banned, and they were delisted in 1999. They are still fully protected in California. The Swinton's Hawk is a state threatened bird and seems to be increasing in the northern central valley. You can see hundreds of these hawks traveling together in migration because they fly to South America in the fall or as they are returning in the spring. The dark more for the Swinton's Hawk is more common in the nesting birds of our region. They have a very diagnostic pattern on their underwings, which you can see on flight, and is very white at the front edge of the wings underneath and very dark on the trailing edge of the wings. The Southwestern Willow Fly Catcher is the one that's listed, but we still survey for Willow Fly Catchers in the Montaine Meadows of the Sierra Nevada. They are not part of the Southwestern subspecies, however we are monitoring their numbers. They belong to a group of birds called the Impidanaks Fly Catchers, which can be notoriously hard to identify unless you hear them sing. The Yellowbilled Cucco is another secretive bird that lives in riparian areas. The Nature Conservancy and River Partners, along with US Fish and Wildlife Service, other organizations and agencies, are purchasing lands along the Sacramento River to help restore riparian vegetation and to allow the river to meander a little more naturally. The tri-colored Blackbird was only listed as state threatened in 2019. These birds have been in decline for decades, mostly because of Loss of Habitat. They miss in colonies which can be dozens, hundreds, thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of birds. Since they have had such a Loss of Habitat, they now will sometimes nest in farm fields, and an entire colony can be wiped out during harvest. This video, which I'm not going to try and play here, you can see the link shows a short disturbing video of a colony of tri-colored Blackbirds being destroyed by a combine harvester during harvest of the crop. This can wipe out an entire colony very quickly. A couple of things we can do to help the tri-colored Blackbirds include the Syledge by Out program, which allows agencies and organizations such as Audubon to purchase crops from the farmers to protect a colony. Another effective program is the Harvest Delay program, which is when agencies or organizations can work with farmers to delay harvesting their crops until the young have fledged. Another way is to help support Habitat preservation and creation. These three programs can really help the tri-colored Blackbird populations. So if you're looking for a way to help birds with your wallet or your checkbook, please support Audubon California for other organizations that work to save colonies with the Syledge by Out program. Another important way you can help birds is to call your representative and ask that he or she support HR 5552, the Migratory Bird Protection Act. This act would define what incidental take means and make it unlawful. It is a law that will help support the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Out of the Cal Audubon's mission is to promote the awareness, appreciation, and protection of native birds and their habitats through education, research, and environmental activities. And this is a list of Out of the Cal's Board of Directors and major volunteers. Email any questions to me at directoraltecal.org. Thank you.