Launched last fall by Partners in Flight (PIF) (see Networker, Nov. '96), the WatchList is becoming a high-profile and integral part of Audubon bird conservation efforts. The strength of the WatchList lies in its proactive approach to protecting North America's bird populations. Annually calling attention to birds at conservation risk before they require federal listing, the WatchList stresses preventative action today over future last-ditch rescue attempts.

Answers to Some Common Questions About the WatchList:

What is the future of the WatchList; is there a role for chapters and state offices?

The current PIF WatchList is national in focus, but action-oriented state WatchLists developed in conjunction with and supported by chapters will drive its future. Right now, chapters and state offices can use the WatchList to lend fresh focus to chapter and citizen-science programs -- Christmas Bird Count, Project FeederWatch, Breeding Bird Survey, International Migratory Bird Day, Important Bird Areas (IBA's), local check-list programs and more. The WatchList can also provide a framework for chapter programs reducing threats to targeted species on breeding and wintering grounds. All of this is vital to WatchList accuracy, to the removal of species from the WatchList, and to the focused habitat conservation that the WatchList Program seeks.

Ultimately, state WatchLists will provide a blueprint for chapters and state work-groups to create local action plans leading to bird conservation. Audubon's Science Division will work closely with Auduboners and others in PIF to assure that state WatchLists are tenable, and based on user-friendly science. Action-plans must be based on the best-available science and strive to change the factors (threats on breeding grounds; threats on non-breeding grounds; lack of data on current trends and distributions) that put species on the WatchList.

How are birds named to the WatchList and based on what criteria?

WatchList is based on Partners in Flight's (PIF) conservation priority scoring system (database kept by the Colorado Bird Observatory), designed to conserve viable populations of birds and the biological systems on which these species depend. Each species receives a priority score, the sum of six component criteria: (1) relative abundance, (2) breeding, and (3) non-breeding distribution, conservation threats during the (4) breeding season, and (5) non-breeding season, and (6) population trend. Each criterion is scored independently from 1-5, with 5s indicating the highest conservation priority and 1s, the lowest. Overall scores can range from 6 to 30 -- the higher the score, the greater the concern. For example, the American robin has a PIF score of 6, while the whooping crane has a score of 30.

How is the WatchList currently used?

Audubon's Science Division includes WatchList species in Important Bird Area (IBA) reviews. The Audubon Refuge (NWR) Campaign and Education Division drew upon the WatchList in their joint celebration of International Migratory Bird Day (May), and many NAS staff Birdathons now include the WatchList as a fund-raising tool. The WatchList is providing an ideal rallying-point for chapters, and a foundation to chapter bird conservation initiatives. Some private landowners are also already using it as a management guide.

Last fall NAS resounded the WatchList's proactive message throughout the national and local news media, and it received widespread coverage. With such interest by the national and local media, the WatchList is helping Audubon reestablish itself as a leader in bird conservation.

How does the WatchList differ from Threatened and Endangered Species lists?

The WatchList directs attention to species at conservation risk before they decline to the costly, logistically difficult and often politically confrontational point of requiring federal listing and intervention.

Will a new WatchList be released annually?

Yes. WatchLists, national and state, are dynamic and evolving documents, revised yearly and adapted continually. Look for the latest revision of the WatchList in PIF's publication, State of Our Birds, this summer, or contact NAS (below) for a copy.

For More Info, Contact: Vincent Muehter, WatchList Program Coordinator; NAS-NY (HQ); phone: 1-888/AUDUBON (1-888/283-8266) or (212/979-3150); fax: 212/473-1633; email: <watchlist@audubon.org>; Web: <http://www.audubon.org/bird/watchlist/>.