Hi - Today marked the release of a new U.S. 'State of the Birds' report, which I thought subscribers to this list might find edifying. Although various incarnations of this type of report have been published in the past (including an edition in 2004 by NAS and a subsequent update in 2007, if memory serves), this is the first report to integrate findings from a broad coalition of organizations. To check the new website, visit here: http://www.stateofthebirds.org/. Or to download the glossy report, check this link: http://www.stateofthebirds.org/pdf_files/State_of_the_Birds_2009.pdf <http://www.stateofthebirds.org/pdf_files/State_of_the_Birds_2009.pdf> . The U.S. 'State of the Birds' report is modeled after similar reports done regularly in the United Kingdom (developed by the British Trust for Ornithology and other partners) and for the world, developed by BirdLife International. The report is technically a product of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, but the authors of the report represent nearly every major bird conservation organization in the country, as well as the as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey. And the U.S. team intends to repeat this work at regular intervals (probably every 3-5 years) to provide a continual and easy to use way of tracking bird populations for the public, agencies, and conservationists of all kinds. Sorry to be off-topic, but I hope this of interest to most readers. Good birding, James Cole Lucas County Please consider the environment before printing this email ________________________________ James Cole Ohio Bird Conservation Program Manager [log in to unmask] (419) 867-4025 (Phone) (419) 377-9708 (Mobile) (419) 867-8049 (Fax) nature.org <http://nature.org/> The Nature Conservancy Oak Openings Project Office Kitty Todd Nature Preserve 10420 Old State Line Rd. Swanton, OH 43558 ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]