Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative

"Working together to conserve and restore bird populations and their habitats.”

The Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative (MoBCI) is a new initiative with a broad vision – to develop a diverse partnership dedicated to the conservation of all wild bird species. After two organizational meetings an interim board has been appointed to communicate with all groups with bird conservation as a primary purpose and to invite them to join MoBCI. We are looking for groups that support the purpose of MoBCI as a broad-based initiative, and will commit tangibly to this effort.

Interim Board Members: Denny Donnell (Columbia Audubon Society), Scott Manley (Ducks Unlimited), Steve Heying (Missouri Falconry Association), Roger Still (Audubon Missouri), Jerry Wade (Audubon Society of Missouri), Dianne Benjamin (Webster Groves Nature Study Society), Charles Scott (US Fish &Wildlife Service), Dave Erickson (MO Dept. of Conservation), Mike Currier (MO Dept. of Natural Resources).

MoBCI contact:

MoBCI
2620 Forum Blvd., Suite C-1
Columbia, MO 65203
(573) 447-2249

Consider the following:

• In Missouri, 26 % of bird species exhibited significant declining trends from 1980 to 2000. This is an increase of 9% over the 1966-1979 time period. (Source: Patuxent Wildlife Research Center – Analysis of Breeding Bird Survey data).
  
• Abundance indices for important Missouri game birds--northern bobwhite, mourning dove, and American woodcock—have declined sharply along Breeding Bird Survey routes from 1966-2000. Meanwhile, indices of ruffed grouse abundance in Missouri dating to 1960 reached record lows in 2000.
  
• 52 birds are listed on the Missouri Species of Conservation Concern Checklist. Species listed include: American bittern, Marsh wren, Swainson’s warbler, King rail, Cerulean warbler, Greater prairie-chicken, Northern harrier, Henslow’s sparrow, Bachman’s sparrow, and Interior least tern.
  
• Missouri is located at the confluence of the nation’s largest river systems. These rivers and their associated wetlands provide critical migration stopovers and breeding and wintering habitat for many species of birds. However, over 90% of the wetlands once present in Missouri have been destroyed. Their loss has had profound, but largely unquantified, impacts on these species.