Nature Canada

A Conservation Action Plan for Bicknell’s Thrush

Bicknell’s Thrush ©T. Brant Ryder/
Vermont Center for Ecostudies

An international alliance of scientists, conservationists and governments plans to protect the Bicknell’s Thrush (Catharus bicknelli) across its entire range from Canada to the Caribbean.

With a very small breeding population limited to eastern Canada and New England states, and a wintering population dependent on the mountain forests in a handful of Caribbean countries, Nature Canada believes we have a shared responsibility for this species’ conservation.

We have already contributed, through an integrated conservation and development project, to on-the-ground conservation of Bicknell’s Thrush wintering habitat in Macaya National Park in Haiti. And we continue to look for opportunities to engage communities in protecting this at-risk species.

Bird Studies Canada, our Canadian co-partner in BirdLife International, has been a key proponent of this project in Canada.

The International Bicknell’s Thrush Conservation Group proposes to increase the global population of the species by 25% over the next 50 years, mostly by preventing further loss of its breeding and wintering habitats. The plan establishes specific conservation and research actions over the next 5 years, including:

  • Partnering with timber companies and managers of public lands in North America to develop and implement practices that enhance Bicknell’s Thrush breeding habitat, which includes high-elevation forests of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, New England and New York.
  • Conducting scientific research to monitor and predict the impacts of climate change on Bicknell’s thrush habitat.
  • Improving the protection of currently occupied winter habitat and develop management plans for key forested areas on Hispaniola, Cuba, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, including restoration of degraded habitats.
  • Strengthening links with local partners in the Caribbean and expand funding for on-the-ground conservation projects throughout the winter range.

Bicknell’s Thrush has one of the most restricted breeding ranges among the forest birds of North America. Its wintering range is likely to be equally or even more restricted. This medium-sized thrush was originally assessed in 1999 as a species of Special Concern in Canada and is now considered Threatened (COSEWIC).

The species faces range-wide habitat pressures, as it is vulnerable to ongoing and future planned management practices such as pre-commercial thinning in regenerating forests that reduces cover for nests and increases nest predation. Mountain-top wind energy projects on breeding grounds have also reduced the suitable high-elevation habitat for these birds in North America, while removal of forest on wintering grounds in the Greater Antilles has restricted the species almost exclusively to a handful of Important Bird Areas in that region.

For more information on A Conservation Action Plan for Bicknell’s Thrush, read the full press release.

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