Save an endangered southwest willow flycatcher

Dear friend,

I am excited to share that our field work is underway at three locations in Western Nicaragua. The really good news is that at all three of our research sites (Loso Pozos de Cosiguina, Mateare, and Laguna del Tisma) we are encountering willow flycatchers and also documenting the great diversity of birds that also rely on this rich interface between wetland and farmland. 

I am sending you some photos of these sweet little birds and our team at work thanks to your support. 

Happy Holidays and thanks again for your support for our efforts to study and protect the wintering willow flycatcher.

With appreciation,

Sarah

Hello again friends and supporters of the sweet little migratory willow flycatchers!

We are so grateful for your past support and so would like to keep you updated about our program. 

• It's winter here in North America and that means that the little willow flycatchers that we care so much about are making their way to Central America. We have visited two of the three monitoring sites and the first, and furthest south, was flooded and so it was difficult to find birds. But we were able to locate three willow flycathers at our second site and next week we will be at the third and furthest north site. We are elated each time a bird arrives. Thank you for helping us to document the survival of this endangered bird. 

• In the 2022-2023 season, we completed our monitoring transects at three sites from November to March. We encountered many WIFL across sites, but we had fewer observations of them at one site where the habitat has been degraded due to cattle ranching. We were excited to find one WIFL that had been banded by collaborators from the Southern Sierra Research Station when they visited in spring 2019. 

• We scouted out locations across eastern El Salvador with potential willow flycather habitat. We found these birds at twelve of the eighty-seven sites visited; all WIFL encountered were found in dry tropical forest habitats bordering wetlands or rivers.

• Willow flycatchers are indicative of quality bird habitat. At the twelve sites where WIFL were observed in El Salvador, seventy-five other bird species identified including the following eleven species on state watch lists:  American redstart, barn swallow, brown-crested flycatcher, common yellowthroat, dickcissel, dusky-capped flycatcher, northern beardless-Tyrannulet, rose-throated becard, sulphur-bellied flycatcher, summer tanager, and western tanager.

• In El Salvador, sand extraction from rivers and road and housing construction were all significant disturbances to habitats and in Nicaragua, habitat conversion (wetland draining or removal of scrub vegetation) to expand peanut plantations or pastures were a major threat.

We are grateful to continue our long term willow flycatcher monitoring in Nicaragua in partnership with the Southern Sierra Research Station. We are also thrilled to be able to work on the Willow Flycatcher in El Salvador with Arizona Game and Fish Department through the Southern Wings program and the Pacific Flyway Council. None of this work would be possible without input and support from local communities and without the financial support from donors like you.

Thank you again for helping us to continue this work on this precious bird. Please consider donating again to help us continue this valuable research and conservation program. 

With gratitude,

Sarah Otterstrom

Executive Director

Links:

• eBird list from one of the monitoring sites November 2023