Western Forest Birds

Recent moderate declines are steepening

Over 50% of western forest birds are declining due to habitat degradation from fire suppression and industrial timber management. Forest habitats have changed since pre-settlement conditions that included a mosaic of large old-growth areas and conifer and broadleaf forests that regularly burned at mixed severities. These changes put rural communities at risk of fire and drought. Restoration efforts informed by bird habitat conservation plans now employ sustainable forest management and fire-use practices that increase watershed resilience and benefit birds and people.

Western forest birds have had an 11% decline since 1970. Of 45 species, 16 are increasing, 23 are declining, and 6 are stable.

eBird Trends for Priority Species of Obligate Western Forest Birds

Map showing trends for Western forest bird species in Bird Conservation regions, "BCR": BCR5 in mid-state California, BCR10 in western Montana, and BCR9 in southern Nevada. All three areas shows a mix if increasing and decreasing trends. Declines are marked in red, increases are marked in blue.
A composite map of eBird Trends for western forest birds shows declines that signal conservation opportunity areas in Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs).
In the Northern Pacific Rain Forest (BCR 5), broad-leafed forest restoration is needed post-disturbance to help birds such as Rufous Hummingbird, a Tipping Point species. Across the Great Basin and Northern Rockies (BCRs 9 and 10), information gaps are being filled by integrated monitoring within the Avian Knowledge Network to address management concerns for Tipping Point species such as Pinyon Jay. Oak Titmouse by Don Danko / Macaulay Library.

  • Scaling Up Conservation Investment Strategies

    The Western Working Group Forest Birds Committee is using a tri-national, full-annual-cycle conservation framework to integrate bird conservation objectives into land­scape-scaled, all-lands regional restoration partnerships.

  • Western Joint Ventures (JVs) Lead Forest Bird Conservation Efforts

    The Intermountain West JV and Pacific Birds Habitat JV are rallying long-term investments to build ecosystem and community resilience, reconnect people to forests, and integrate and advance tribal priorities.

  • Using Science to Save Hummingbirds

    The Western Hummingbird Partnership recently issued a Rufous Hummingbird report to provide decision-support tools for public and private forest managers, as part of their hemi­spheric investment planning effort.

Connecting Oaks, People, and Birds

Since time immemorial, Pacific Northwest oak ecosystems have been stewarded by Indigenous peoples. Today only 10% of historic oak woodlands and prairie remain on the landscape; much of it is degraded due to a lack of low-severity fire. Fire was an ecological process lost due to the forcible removal of Indigenous peoples and forest policies of fire suppression.

The Pacific Northwest Oak Alliance, led by the Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture, published the Prairie, Oaks, and People Investment Strategy, calling for $300 million over the next five years to protect and restore 70,000 acres. This will add to the $100 million invested in oak-prairie woodlands since 2020. Habitat gains, resulting from regional public/private/ tribal partnerships, are helping many birds, including Lewis’s Woodpecker, a Tipping Point species.

eBird Trends for 11 At-Risk Oak and Prairie Bird Species

Among eight U.S. Oak Alliance partnerships working to build ecosystem resilience in Bird Conservation Region 5, the Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network is leading the southernmost project where bird declines are among the most pronounced. Lewis’s Woodpecker by Ian Routley / Macaulay Library.
1. North Salish Sea Prairie-Oak Collaborations
2. Joint Base Lewis-McChord Sentinel Landscapes, South Puget Sound Prairie Landscape Working Group
3. Southwest Washington Prairie Oak Working Group
4. East Cascades Oak Partnership
5. Portland-Metro Oak and Prairie Partnership
6. Willamette Valley Oak and Prairie Cooperative
7. Umpqua Oak Partnership
8. Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network
List of Obligate Western Forest Species

Black Swift
Black-headed Grosbeak
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Calliope Hummingbird
Cassin’s Finch
Cassin’s Vireo
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Cordilleran & Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Western Flycatcher)
Dusky Flycatcher
Dusky Grouse
Grace’s Warbler
Gray Flycatcher
Gray Vireo
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Hepatic Tanager
Hermit Warbler
Hutton’s Vireo
Juniper Titmouse
Lazuli Bunting
Lewis’s Woodpecker
MacGillivray’s Warbler
Montezuma Quail
Mountain Chickadee
Mountain Quail
Northern Pygmy-Owl
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Oak Titmouse
Pinyon Jay
Plumbeous Vireo
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Red-naped Sapsucker
Rufous Hummingbird
Sooty Grouse
Townsend’s Solitaire
Townsend’s Warbler
Varied Thrush
Vaux’s Swift
Virginia’s Warbler
Western Bluebird
Western Tanager
Western Wood-Pewee
White-headed Woodpecker
Williamson’s Sapsucker
Yellow-billed Magpie

At-Risk Oak and Prairie Species

These are the 11 species included in the eBird Trends analysis of at-risk oak and prairie species (above).

Black-throated Gray Warbler
Common Nighthawk
Horned Lark
Lark Sparrow
Lewis’s Woodpecker
Oak Titmouse
Rufous Hummingbird
Vesper Sparrow
Western Bluebird
Western Meadowlark
White-breasted Nuthatch