The state of the birds 2013 report on private lands

Abstract

This fourth State of the Birds report highlights the enormous contributions private landowners make to bird and habitat conservation, and opportunities for increased contributions. Roughly 60% of the land area in the United States (1.43 billion acres) is privately owned by millions of individuals, families, organizations, and corporations, including 2 million ranchers and farmers and about 10 million woodland owners. More than 100 species have 50% or more of their U.S. breeding distributions on private lands. Birds are important indicators of the health of our environment. To assess bird populations and conservation opportunities on private lands across the nation, we combined the latest eBird distribution data with land ownership data from the Protected Areas Database of the U.S. As in past reports, we focused on species dependent on a single primary habitat, or habitat obligates.

Citation

North American Bird Conservation Initiative, U.S. Committee. 2013. The state of the birds 2013 report on private lands. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Interior. 48 p.