The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, Davis and
Audubon California have released final 2012 results on the
status of the rare Tricolored Blackbird, a California Bird
Species of Special Concern, found in California's Central
Valley. Results show the species is having a good year, thanks
in large part to four farmers who have agreed to partner with
the conservation agencies. Together the farmers and biologists
protected 60,000 breeding birds – one-fifth of the species'
entire global population – after farmers agreed to delay their
harvest schedule and allow the birds to fledge safely. "I have
never seen so many Tricolored Blackbirds as I have this year,"
says Rick Gorzeman, a dairy farmer in Tulare County. "At first
we didn't know what to do but then I heard of a sign up program
with the NRCS. This allowed me to let my wheat grow in the field
longer while the birds' eggs hatched." The program Gorzeman is
referring to, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program,
provided technical and financial as