IP and NFWF Celebrate the Role of Sustainable Forest Management in Conserving Habitat for the Swallow-Tailed Kite and Other Feathered Friends

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 13, 2023 / International Paper Company

To mark World Migratory Bird Day, International Paper (IP) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) are celebrating how sustainable forestry provides critical habitat for birds and at the same time, delivers a sustainable, renewable source of fiber for paper products. Forestland Stewards, IP's conservation partnership with NFWF, is helping to restore and maintain habitat in working forests to benefit bird species like the swallow-tailed kite and other migratory birds.

One example of how the partnership is helping the swallow-tailed kite is in the South Lowcountry-ACE Basin, where International Paper, NFWF and other funding partners have invested more than $2 million to restore, enhance and protect longleaf pine and bottomland hardwood forest habitats in South Carolina. This landscape is home to large blocks of forest, including many privately owned working forests, which support forest industry jobs and provide habitat for swallow-tailed kites, the northernmost populations of the at-risk gopher tortoise and many other species.

Grant investments are helping partners strengthen collaboration and coordination, provide technical and financial assistance to private landowners to plant longleaf pine and treat longleaf habitat with prescribed fire, and protect working forests and sensitive habitats. These efforts will impact more than 80,000 acres of forest habitat, benefiting the swallow-tailed kite and other migratory birds, and local communities.

In addition to the Forestland Stewards partnership with NFWF, IP is also partnering with the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and the Avian Research and Conservation Institute (ARCI) to help the swallow-tailed kite. This partnership is developing bird-focused management recommendations for private forest landowners, who own about 90 percent of southern forests. The partnership also conducts field-based workshops with forest landowners and IP suppliers, and species-specific work, including capturing, tagging, and tracking swallow-tailed kites. Watch Kites in the Trees about the partnership's work.

The swallow-tailed kite is one of North America's most beautiful birds of prey. These large black-and-white birds have long narrow wings that span four feet, and a distinctive forked elongated tail. Swallow-tailed kites breed in swamps, lowland forests, and marshes of the US Southeast, mainly in South Carolina and Florida. They nest in tall trees and need open ground with small prey to feed their young. After rearing its nestlings in a treetop nest, the swallow-tailed kite migrates to wintering grounds in South America.