Forested Wetland Birds (SECAS Goal Trends)

<p style='margin:12pt 0in 4pt;'><strong>Yearly trend</strong></p><p style='margin:0in;'>When averaged across all points with trends, forest wetland bird abundance increased by 2.85% per year from 2012-2022. <span style='background-attachment:initial; background-clip:initial; background-image:initial; background-origin:initial; background-position:initial; background-repeat:initial; background-size:initial;'>Species used were prothonotary warbler, Swainson's warbler, swallow-tailed kite, and yellow-throated warbler. These species are</span> Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need for states in the Southeast, primarily occur in this ecosystem, and have sufficient data for trend analysis in eBird Status and Trends. Most points across the SECAS region were increasing. Declines were mostly in areas experiencing major impacts from sea-level rise. Individual species trends also followed this pattern. Breeding Bird Survey trends, which cover more coarse areas, also show similar patterns.</p><p style='margin:12pt 0in 4pt;'><strong>On track to meet SECAS goal</strong></p><p style='margin:0in;'>Yes. The increase of about 11.4% every 4 years is greater than the SECAS goal of a 1% increase every 4 years.</p><p style='margin:12pt 0in 4pt;'><strong>Data source</strong></p><p style='margin:0in;'><a href='https://science.ebird.org/en/status-and-trends' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'><span style='background-attachment:initial; background-clip:initial; background-image:initial; background-origin:initial; background-position:initial; background-repeat:initial; background-size:initial;'>eBird Status and Trends</span></a><span style='background-attachment:initial; background-clip:initial; background-image:initial; background-origin:initial; background-position:initial; background-repeat:initial; background-size:initial;'></span></p><p style='margin:12pt 0in 4pt;'><strong>Confidence in trend</strong></p><p style='margin:0in;'><span style='background-attachment:initial; background-clip:initial; background-image:initial; background-origin:initial; background-position:initial; background-repeat:initial; background-size:initial;'>Medium. Most of the points (57%) that were on track for the goal were statistically significant.</span></p><p style='margin:12pt 0in 4pt;'><strong>Interpretation</strong></p><p style='margin:0in;'>This is an indicator of both local and landscape conditions across the forested wetland ecosystem. While there are some declines, especially in areas impacted by sea-level rise, overall, forested wetland birds appear to be on track to meet the SECAS goal. This may be due to the extensive conservation investments in forested wetlands, policies restricting wetland development, and growing interest from urban communities in protecting water supply and reducing flood risks.</p><p style='margin:12pt 0in 4pt;'><strong>Other information available</strong></p><p style='margin:0in;'><span style='background-attachment:initial; background-clip:initial; background-image:initial; background-origin:initial; background-position:initial; background-repeat:initial; background-size:initial;'>A table of state-level summaries for each species, a map by Bird Conservation Region (BCR), and tabular data associated with the chart above are available in Appendix I</span> of the pdf report: <a href='https://secassoutheast.org/pdf/SECAS-goal-report-2024.pdf' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>https://secassoutheast.org/pdf/SECAS-goal-report-2024.pdf</a>.</p>