Book: The Kirtland's Warbler by William Rapai

The Story of a Bird's Flight Against Extinction and the People Who Saved It. 

No, the Kirtland's Warbler isn't Michigan's state bird, but it should be. There are a few breeding pairs in Ontario and Wisconsin but the majority nest in northern Michigan, mostly in jack pine trees of a certain age. They require this specific habitat so whatever threatens the jack pines also is alarming for the future of the Kirtland's.

As such, they have been watched and managed extensively the last half century. As of 2010, their numbers were over 1000, so it is possible they will soon be taken off the Endangered Species List. But their survival isn't guaranteed, especially as the mountain pine beetle (currently devastating foroests in the western US) is expected to reach Michigan in the not too distant future. And the effects of global warming will make for warmer winters which then allow many more mountain pine beetles to survive. And, there is also the sirex woodwasp to worry about. The woodwasp attacks living trees and has the potential to do major damage to jack pines.

"The ornithologist Charles Pease had no idea what kind of bird he had just shot in northeastern Ohio on May 13, 1851, but he knew what to do with it: give it to his father-in-law, Dr. Jared Kirtland."

It took some time to figure out where the warblers nested and where they wintered but slowly biologists, private citizens, politicians, the Michigan DNR, the USFWS and the US Forest Service prevailed and eventually the Kirtland's warbler was protected. But not without setbacks and discouragements....which is the story this book relates in a compelling way up to the present.

One fascinating bit of Kirtland's warbler history is the connection with Nathan Leopold. Living in Chicago, he and his friend, Richard Loeb, murdered Bobby Franks, thinking they had committed the perfect crime. But, "While disposing of Franks, Leopold accidentally let a  pair of glasses slip from his pocket. The glasses had an unusual hinge, and a Chicago optometrist told police that only three pair had been sold in the entire city. The optometrist provided the detective with a list of names. One of the names was Nathan Leopold's." He had done field work with the Kirtland's in 1923 before the murder. When he was released from prison in the 1960s, he visited the breeding area once again, never having lost his interest in this diminutive bird.

Kirtland's warblers winter in the Bahamas which took sleuthing and time to figure out. Of course that habitat also needs protection and is not subject to the US Endangered Species Act. All the details are in this interesting and informative account.

Greg Miller: "The stories and tales surrounding this rare and mysterious species are almost as captivating as the bird itself. Who knew that Kirtland's warbler research involved such things a murder, a disastrous forest fire, and a machete accident? This is an excellent source of current research on the Kirtland's warbler, the successes of the current programs and the perils and difficulties that still face the bird's population."

(Greg was one of the birders in The Big Year for those of you who might not recognize the name.)

So, IF making the Kirtland's warbler Michigan's state bird ever becomes a possibility, please support that.