Many of North America’s most rapidly declining avifauna breed in the boreal and alpine ecosystems of Alaska. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) located in Anchorage, Alaska, provides critical nesting habitat for five avian Species of Special Concern (SOSC): Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria, Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes, Olive-sided Flycatcher Contopus cooperi, Rusty Blackbird Euphagus carolinus and Blackpoll Warbler Setophaga striata. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson derived the Species of Special Concern list from the Birds of Conservation Concern (USFWS 2008) and the Department of Defense Mission-Sensitive Priority Bird Species (DoD PIF 2015) lists. Department of Defense Partners in Flight recognizes both Olive-sided Flycatcher and Rusty Blackbirds as species of concern, while Solitary Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs and Blackpoll Warblers are listed as species of high conservation need. Additionally, Surfbird Calidris virgate, a montane-breeding shorebird, breeds almost exclusively in Alaska and is known to nest at the upper elevations of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. During 2016-2019, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Department of Defense (DoD) initiated a collaborative effort to fill knowledge gaps of Species of Special Concern and montane breeders on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Primary objectives include: (1) develop and implement a survey program to determine relative abundance, distribution, and habitat associations of Species of Special Concern and montane breeders; (2) capture, individually mark, and monitor Species of Special Concern to estimate annual adult survival and breeding site fidelity; and (3) deploy tracking devices on Species of Special Concern to identify migratory routes and important stopover and wintering locations. We deployed tracking devices on Solitary Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Rusty Blackbird, and Tree Swallow, which are documented as individual projects. The success of all JBER projects compliment multiple-state and continent-wide efforts to investigate factors contributing to long-term Species of Special Concern population declines. Species abundance estimates and information collected on important habitats and nesting sites will assist with: (1) inter-service and international readiness training while meeting the natural resource management goals of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, (2) informing the Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard Program to improve the U.S. Bird Avoidance Model for the safety of both military and civilian aircraft, (3) habitat and species recovery programs throughout the U.S. and Canada, (4) international efforts to understand the limiting factors driving population declines, and (5) modeling physical and genetic linkages between breeding and non-breeding sites to identify connectivity of breeding avian populations on DoD lands in Alaska to non-breeding populations on DoD installations elsewhere.
