CKAS has embarked on a community art project we're calling "314," named for the number of North American bird species that National Audubon identified as "in trouble" in its 2014 report "Birds and Climate Change." Of the 588 bird species the report studied, 314 species will likely lose significant climatic range. If global warming continues at its current pace, 188 species are expected to lose more than 50% of their current range by 2080; these species are classified as climate threatened. Another 126 species are projected to lose over 50% of their current range by as soon as 2050 and so these species are classified as climate endangered. Some species may be able to find new suitable habitat, but some species may be lost entirely. Audubon's report sends a clear message about the dangers birds face in a warming world. Protecting them will require both curbing greenhouse emissions and redoubling conservation efforts.

CKAS will be asking people to "draw a bird" up to and throughout the upcoming 3rd Annual Bluegrass Birding Festival in May. If you would like to contribute your artistic efforts to the cause, drop by our table at Reforest the Bluegrass or Party for the Planet. We'll have 4x4 squares and various art supplies. Help us get the word out about climate change's effects on our native birds. We would love to have 314 or more total bird squares on the finished product!

The recent Kentucky Audubon Council meeting led to some promising decisions, the biggest being the collective's united interest in establishing the first Motus Mobile Wildlife Tracking Station in Kentucky. Motus, managed by Bird Studies Canada, is a coordinated hemispheric tracking system for all migratory bird species, arguably the world's most ambitious bird tracking initiative. The project's goal is to understand the connections between breeding, migrating, and wintering locations for every North American bird species which ever enters Canada, and to do so by 2030. Motus enables researchers to track the movements of birds, bats, and other flying animals at local and regional scales, and over vast distances. This project is providing critical new details about the exact breeding and wintering habitats and the migration routes of birds in the Western Hemisphere. This information will help identify priority habitats to target for protection.

Motus technology is the first of its kind in the world, and involves a combination of miniaturized radio transmitters and a new, expansive network of receivers. Initially, the KAC will apply for grants to establish one, then maybe a few more Motus towers at locations dictated by the Bird Studies Canada experts; but we hope to eventually get involved with actual species capture and nano-tagging of local Kentucky birds. We see this as an important step in finding out where our birds come from, how long they stay, and where they go when they leave Kentucky. Knowing all this will help us understand which local species need our attention most and how best to help them.

To get an idea of the sort of data that Motus is generating, click the play button on this link to Gray-Cheeked and Swainson's Thrushes. Keep your fingers crossed that the Bird Studies experts think having a tower at UK's EREC (where we sponsored the Hitnes Mural Talk & Class) would be a good idea; we'd love to have one right in our central Kentucky backyard.