Welcome . . .
. . . to the Kirtland's Warbler LibGuide.
Our school, Kirtland Community College, was named in honor of the endangered Kirtland's warbler by its first board of trustees back in 1966 because the original campus sat in the middle of the tiny songbird's nesting area.
And today, 50-plus years later, the college library houses the Kirtland's Warbler Recovery Archive that was compiled through the Kirtland's Warbler Legacy Project. The archive, which extends as far back as 1904, includes personal and public documents from many people and agencies that were instrumental in the recovery efforts of the Kirtland's warbler.
The library staff welcomes you to visit us if you are looking for additional specific and detailed information on the Kirtland's warbler. We are located at 4800 West Four-Mile Road, Grayling, MI, 49738.
And within this LibGuide you'll find relevant links, books and articles on the Kirtland's warbler, which has been saved from extinction.
Contact Us
Hours: 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Monday - Friday
Grayling Campus
Phone: 989-275-5000, x 246
Email: library@kirtland.edu
Please allow 24-48 hours for a response.
For answers to Library questions,
check our Library FAQs.
Kirtland's Warbler Festival
- Facebook
Kirtland's Warbler
(Photo by Ron Austing. Used with permission of Phil Huber, USFS Huron-Manistee National Forests)
According to the Michigan DNR, Kirtland's warblers build nests on the ground principally in large, young, dense stands of jack pine on loose, sandy soil throughout an area of about 500 square miles in the northeastern portion of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. (In the fall, the birds migrate to The Bahamas for the winter.) At their low in 1987, only 167 singing male Kirtland's warblers were counted.
However, after years of cooperative efforts among state and federal agencies and conservation groups to conserve and expand suitable jack pine habitat and control brown-headed cowbirds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in October 2019 that the Kirtland’s warbler (one of the first species to receive protection under the 1973 Endangered Species Act) was to be officially delisted because the species had been exceeding its recovery goal for nearly two decades and had reached a population size of greater than double that goal.
The warbler numbers continue to grow, and as of 2021, the population had increased to 2,365 singing males.
Books
The Kirtland's Warbler by Call Number: QL 696 .P2438 R37 2012ISBN: 9780472118038Publication Date: 2012-02-08
Atlas of Rare Birds by Call Number: QL676.7 .C68 2010ISBN: 9780262015172Publication Date: 2010-08-13
A Field Guide to Warblers of North America by Call Number: QL 696 .P2438 D86 1997ISBN: 0395783216Publication Date: 1997-09-24
Kirtland's Warbler by Call Number: QL696 .P2438 W35 1983 c. 2ISBN: 0877370354Publication Date: 1983-12-01
The Warbler Guide by Call Number: QL 696 .P2438 S74 2013ISBN: 9780691154824Publication Date: 2013-07-07
The Kirtland's Warbler in the Jack Pine EcosystemCall Number: QL696 .P2438 K57 1990Publication Date: 2012Video recording
Subject Guide
Websites
- The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: All About BirdsThis site includes identification information, a range map, life history and the warbler's song.
- The Kirtland's Warbler AllianceThis volunteer organization was created in 2013 to support Kirtland's warbler conservation efforts.
- Kirtland's Warbler Conservation TeamThe KWCT is a collaborative network of public and private partners working to ensure the long‐term sustainability of the Kirtland’s warbler and its breeding, wintering and migratory habitats.
- Kirtland's Warbler InitiativeThe Kirtland's Warbler Initiative's Facebook site has information on the bird and on the group's current activities.
- United States Fish & Wildlife ServiceThis site contains a wealth of information and many relevant links.
- United States Forest ServiceType "Kirtland's warbler" in the search box to get a page with relevant links.
Articles
- Kirtland's Warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii)A brief and informative summary from The Birds Channel.
- A Legacy of SuccessAn article on the American Forest website about the KW being the first American songbird delisted from the Endangered Species List.
- Kirtland's warbler census shows once-endangered songbird continues to thriveA news release issued jointly by the Michigan DNR, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service on October 25, 2021.
- Charting a course for recovery: the Kirtland's warbler in MichiganA 2021 article by Karen Cleveland, Michigan DNR.
You Tube Videos
- The Kirtland's Warbler In the Jack Pine EcosystemA 15-minute video produced by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in 2018.
- Back from the Brink: A New Model for Kirtland’s Warbler ConservationAn 80-minute webinar sponsored by Audubon Great Lakes in 2022.
- SongHear the sound of the Kirtland's warbler taped by the American Bird Conservancy.