California Projects

Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership

Our Goals
Protect, restore, and enhance critical migratory bird habitat in California to support healthy bird populations along the Pacific Flyway.
What We’re Doing
Working with partners to improve wetlands, enhance agricultural lands, secure water resources, and advance policies that benefit migratory birds.

California’s migratory birds are a vital part of the state’s natural identity. Each year, millions of birds stop over on the Pacific Flyway—a superhighway for birds migrating between Alaska and Patagonia—making California one of the most important areas for migratory birds on the west coast of the Americas.

Coming together to protect migratory birds
Audubon California is part of an innovative partnership that combines the experience and expertise of three leaders in bird conservation—Audubon California, Point Blue Conservation Science, and The Nature Conservancy—to create a better California home for migratory birds. This Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership (MBCP) seeks to protect, restore, and enhance lands that support bird populations in California. This partnership is working to:

  • Enhance the value of agricultural lands and managed wetlands as migratory bird habitat.

  • Encourage alternative public and private land management to meet the habitat needs of a greater diversity of species.

  • Secure reliable water for wetlands.

  • Apply the best science to our efforts.

  • Promote policy solutions that will help bolster migratory bird populations and protect and restore their habitat.

MBCP Central Valley Regions
San Joaquin Valley

The recent San Joaquin River settlement offers an unprecedented opportunity to help migratory birds in this 32,000-square-mile habitat area. We’re working with farmers and wetland managers to protect and restore bird habitat while maintaining the area’s agricultural productivity.

Sacramento Valley

This 27,000-square-mile area supports millions of shorebirds and waterfowl each year. The flooding of more than 300,000 acres of rice lands and tens of thousands of acres of managed wetlands offers many benefits for these birds, and we’re working with growers and land managers to maximize the conservation value of these lands.

Klamath Basin and Modoc Plateau

As we seek policy changes to pave the way for massive river restoration in the Klamath Basin, we are conserving birds by working with private landowners to employ compatible agricultural practices and through conservation easements.

“A Fighting Chance” is a short film (produced by the MBCP) exploring the importance of wetland conservation and restoration, what we can learn from the birds that depend on them, and how local communities can contribute to the solution.