North American grassland birds: An unfolding conservation crisis?

The widespread and ongoing declines of North American bird populations that have affinites for grassland and grass-shrub habitats (hereafter referred to as grassland birds) are on track to become a prominent wildlife conservation crisis of the 21st century. There is no single cause responsible for the declines of grassland birds. Rather, a cumulative set of factors such as afforestation in the eastern United States, fragmentation and replacement of prairie vegetation with a modern agricultural landscape, and large-scale deterioration of western U.S. rangelands are the major causes for these declines. The North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) is a set of comprehensive and coordinated strategic actions modeled on the Joint Venture initiatives that were used to successfully implement the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. The NABCI is emerging as a potential broad-scale solution for conserving populations of grassland birds. Coordinating grassland bird conservation efforts with initiatives to stabilize and increase upland game birds that have strong affinities for grassland habitats-such as quail and prairie grouse-presents additional opportunities to leverage funding and resources that will positively impact virtually all species of North American grassland birds.