Rare Bird

Photo by David Kenyon, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment

Visitors heading north this summer have a new reason to stop at the Michigan Department of Transportation Rest Area just north of the I-75/US-127 junction—a Michigan Historical Marker celebrating the decades-long work of conservationists to save the Kirtland’s warbler.

“One of the World’s Rarest Birds”

The Kirtland’s warbler is one of the world’s rarest birds. It lives in Michigan during the summer months and flies south to the Bahamas for the winter. It was named after Dr. Jared Kirtland, whose Ohio farm provided the first identified specimen in 1851. The small blue-gray bird has a bright yellow breast and a black streak on its back. It only nests in the grass at the bottom of young jack pine trees; this specific type of habitat is found in Michigan’s northeastern Lower Peninsula, making it a popular spot for the endangered bird. The population has rebounded from just 167 known nesting pairs in 1974 to more than 1,700 pairs as of 2007.

Michigan Historical Markers

The marker was a collaborative effort between the Michigan Historical Commission and the Michigan Environmental Council. The Commission and Council are partnering to create the Michigan Conservation Trail with startup funding from the Americana Foundation. The Kirtland’s warbler marker is the second in what is envisioned to be a series of linked historic sites and associated educational materials. The first in the series—the Detroit River marker—recognizes the work of conservationists and sportsmen’s groups to demand tougher state water pollution laws. The marker was placed at the headquarters of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge in Trenton in 2007.

The Michigan Historical Commission has been the public arm of state history programs since 1913. It advises the director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment and approves Michigan Historical Markers. The Michigan Environmental Council, a charitable organization, is a coalition of more than seventy organizations created in 1980 to lead Michigan’s environmental movement in achieving positive change through the political process.

The partnership designated June 2, 2010, as the dedication day for the unusual marker, which includes an illustration of the warbler.

The Kirtland Warbler Marker (Photo by Rob Berg, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment)