As a birder and Michigander, William Rapai knew all about the Kirtland’s warbler, so he decided to tell the story of the rare species in his new book, The Kirtland’s Warbler: The Story of a Bird’s Fight Against Extinction and the People Who Saved It.
It wasn’t always easy, he said.
“I started four years ago, and there were some bumps in the road,” Rapai said. “My wife had cancer and had surgery, but we got through that.
The Kirtland’s warbler has overcome many obstacles to stay alive. Mostly thanks to humans that appreciate its song and look. Photo: U.S. Forest Service.
“I have gone to Thailand, Iceland and Cuba to go bird watching,” he said. “I had never really considered writing a book, and now I have one. It is pretty amazing.”
Rapai said he paid attention to the Kirtland’s warbler during his life as a bird-watcher. He said it is a good looking bird with a beautiful song, and people like it because it’s rare.
Because of its specific nesting habits, on sandy soil underneath young Jack pine trees, Rapai said it is a conservation reliant species, meaning it will always need human assistance to survive. In 1971 the population of singing males dwindled to 201 and in 2011 it was nearly 2,000.
“There is not a lot of demand for cutting down Jack pines once they are allowed to mature,” he said. “The warbler took a nose dive because there wasn’t enough young Jack pine.”
Rapai said now conservationists working with state officials chop down Jack pines after they mature to allow for warbler nesting areas.
“Anything that is rare is valuable,” he said. “Because it is Michigan’s bird and a rare bird, people said we were going to do whatever we can.”
Rapai said since the bird is on the federal endangered species list, it is the job of professional biologists working with the state to protect the bird. But there has been a long line of people who worked hard to keep the bird alive throughout the years.
“All of those little stories, you can’t write a book about one of them. But all of them plus some others begins to build a narrative,” he said. “It tells a story about these people who would not allow the Kirtland’s warbler to go extinct. There was very little ego involved, people were doing whatever they could to benefit the bird without demanding credit.”
A dentist from Battle Creek, Mich., named Lawrence Walkinshaw was the first person to follow the bird around to research its nesting habits in 1932, Rapai said. It was this dentist who discovered the birds’ needed protection from the Brown-headed Cowbird, which was key in conserving the population, he said.
The Cowbird is a nest parasite that is now controlled in all Kirtland’s warbler habitat areas, he said.
Rapai said the bird could definitely go into another population tailspin.
“It will be taken off the endangered species list eventually,” he said. “There are issues with that … if the protections are withdrawn, what happens to the Kirtland’s warbler?”
Those committed to conserving the species plan on creating a Friends of the Warbler endowment to continue raising money for conservation after federal money is withdrawn, he said.
“One of the things that has always impressed me about the people dedicated to the warbler is they have a vision,” he said. “They see issues and deal them.”