The tricolored blackbird is pretty rare — populations have rebounded since they were first classified as endangered, but there are still fewer than 250,000 of them on the planet (up from 35,000 in the ’90s). Which means it’s really, really serious that a flock of 50,000 tricolored blackbirds is under imminent threat. That’s 20 percent of the extant population.
The birds are nesting in a private field, which is due to be harvested tomorrow to feed dairy cattle. (Agriculture encroaching on their habitat constitutes the biggest threat to tricolored blackbirds.) Luckily, you can help them. The Audubon Society is trying to raise enough funds by tomorrow to remove the birds from danger, and you can sponsor a bird for a dollar — or five birds for $5, or four-and-twenty blackbirds for four-and-twenty dollars, or 100 tacos for $100. Wait, not that last one.
If I were the Audubon Society I’d offer some kind of bulk discount, like maybe $1 per bird or $3 for five. Or maybe you could get letters from your bird, or naming rights! But I’ll let it slide because they’re working on a deadline. Donate now — the faster the better — to help save a full fifth of the tricolored blackbirds on Earth.
