Unique to Michigan (well mostly) A Rare Bird

Some creatures are endangered because it is politically expedient to declare them so. Some are endangered for human reasons and others are endangered because they are extremely rare to begin with.

The Kirtland's Warbler is a bird found almost exlusively in just a handful of counties in the northern part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, with one found on very rare occasions in Wisconsin or Ontario.

While the robin is our state bird, from time to time there is an effort to change it to this bird because of the fact that its summer nesting grounds is almost exclusively in Michigan.

The bird has never numbered more than a few thousand individuals on the entire planet.

Part of the problem in maintaining their numbers is that they require reasonably large stands of Jack Pines to live in, in fact this is their exclusive habitat. Local logging companies have, to their credit, taken responsible measures to make sure that there are plenty of breeding grounds for them and the state has tried, with mixed success to create more.

Their main danger is an invasive species, the Brownheaded Cowbird that is driving them from their nesting grounds.

A Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources link can be found here.

Another link specializing in birds can be found here.

A short clip of the birds singing (including audio and video) can be found here.

Or there is this from You Tube. (Excessively long.)