A category to hold content for species of concern widgets
General Updates New ACJV Video! Healing the Salt Marsh We are excited to share a new video, Restoring Salt Marsh Ecosystems in the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture. This was produced in partnership with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and showcases a variety of salt marsh restoration work across the Northeast. The video focuses on [...]
Coastal Marsh Restoration: An Ecosystem approach for the Mid-Atlantic In 2024 we co-authored a document with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and partners within the US Fish and Wildlife Service to address and highlight shared goals for ecosystem restoration to benefit coastal marsh organisms including (but not limited to) our flagship species. [...]
NAWCA Grants Benefit Black Duck American Black Duck benefits greatly–perhaps more than any other species–from our partners’ NAWCA grant projects in the ACJV. Maine, which contains high-quality breeding habitat as well as staging and wintering habitat (along the coast) has seen tremendous NAWCA-related accomplishments in recent years. The latest projects approved in Maine will [...]
Black Rail Adaptive Management Project The ACJV and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with support from East Carolina University, are engaged with partners in a multi-year collaborative project to develop an adaptive management framework to evaluate two approaches to habitat management for Black Rails. The first approach involves assessing the relative effects of fire and [...]
Recommendations for Monitoring Saltmarsh Sparrows on Salt Marsh Restoration Projects Saltmarsh Sparrow Restoration Monitoring Guidance This year the ACJV worked with the Saltmarsh Habitat and Avian Research Program, the USFWS Coastal and Migratory Bird Programs, and Ducks Unlimited to develop guidance for monitoring Saltmarsh Sparrows at restoration sites. This document includes suggestions [...]
Assessing Microtopography with Drones Understanding the microtopography of Black Rail habitat is critical to the design and creation of new habitat for the species; a difference in just a few centimeters of water can determine whether a Black Rail will use a certain area or avoid it completely. Field work to characterize microtopography and [...]
Homepage of the Black Duck Decision Support Tool Black Duck Decision Support Tool is Done! At long last, the American Black Duck Decision Support Tool (created by our partners at Ducks Unlimited) is up and running and available on our website here! This tool prioritizes areas for conservation and restoration to support [...]
American Oystercatcher is a noticeable shorebird if you are lucky enough to see one along the Atlantic Coast. It’s a boldly colored bird that uses it’s bright orange beak to feed on oysters. Many can be found year-round in the mid and south Atlantic but when they migrate they travel to the Caribbean. ACJV staff [...]
Black Duck were once the most abundant species in eastern North America. Often mistaken for a female Mallard, their once hearty populations declined steeply between the 1950’s and mid-1980’s. Habitat loss and degradation along the Atlantic Coast, acid rain, and competition with introduced Mallards have been major concerns, though restrictions on hunting in the 1980s [...]
The Painted Bunting is like a flying rainbow. A fairly common finch in coastal and south-central U.S., their bright colors make them attractive for illegal trade in their wintering grounds of south Florida, the Caribbean and, Mexico. This illegal activity puts tremendous pressure on their population. A recent rangewide survey of this bunting indicates that [...]
