There are several birds that are very picky about what kind of habitat they require, and one of the pickiest is the Kirtland’s warbler. This little bird requires very young, dense stands of jack pine for their breeding habitat. Due to the suppression of wildfires, this type of habitat became older, which resulted in the Kirtland’s Warbler not having suitable breeding habitat and almost going extinct back in the 1970’s. Due to active conservation efforts, the population has since recovered and it was removed from the endangered species list in 2019. This bird is a conservation success story to show that the Endangered Species Act works. However, the work for this warbler isn’t done yet. Since young jack pine forests naturally need fire to be kept in a young state, and humans now suppress wildfires, we need to replace that with active forest management.
Read MoreKirtland’s Warbler Habitat in the U.P.
