​C2S2 Songbird Initiative
​

Conservation Centers for Species Survival seeks to assure a future for songbirds through the C2S2 Songbird Initiative. C2S2 works with partners with expertise in conservation breeding and management, songbird ecology, and habitat stewardship gathered to create a One Plan Approach (OPA) for North American songbirds through linked in situ and ex situ programs. The Initiative focuses on establishing proactive reintroduction models for common songbirds in decline that are featured in The Songbird Portfolio. These models can also be applied to endangered songbirds of a similar species in the short-term.​

​​The Songbird Portfolio

Loggerhead Shrike

Baltimore Oriole

Eastern Meadowlark

Grasshopper Sparrow

​Loggerhead Shrike: The First Model Species
​

​The loggerhead shrike is a passerine songbird that has experienced one of the most drastic declines among North American songbirds since the inception of the Breeding Bird Survey in the mid-1960s. This quirky bird (commonly known as the ‘butcher bird’ in reference to its unique impaling behavior) is the model for a larger songbird initiative currently in development. C2S2 is collaborating with the Loggerhead Shrike Working Group to implement a range-wide recovery plan, with priority activities identified for both the wild population and conservation breeding, including research objectives, additional potential partners, coordination needs, and funding sources.

Grow Network
​Connectivity

​Since C2S2 joined the Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Team, the number of states participating in the species' recovery has more than doubled.​

Optimize Conservation Efficacy

​C2S2-member organizations are developing husbandry and reproductive protocols to propagate other native songbirds ex situ, while linking strategies to conservation in the wild.​

Return Balance
to Ecosystems

​Returning native songbirds, like the loggerhead shrike, to nature helps restore ecosystems and the promise of a healthy planet.​

​​Partnering Organizations:

​African Lion Safari, Austin Savanna, Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, the Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Team, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, Nashville Zoo, San Diego Zoo Global (SDZG), Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), Wildlife Preservation Canada, and The Wilds.