This week's featured bird, the yellow-rumped warbler, is the most common winter warbler in North America, and its bright colors and cheery song often remind us of spring even when snow is still falling. The latest warbler to migrate in the fall and the first to return in the spring, these "butter-butts" are long term visitors to many suburban and rural habitats, and they can frequently be found in gardens and parks.

Have you spotted your first yellow-rumped warblers of spring? Share your sightings in the comments!

Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Photo © Joan Gellatly

Volunteers in Riverview, Florida were shelling out to create a new habitat for birds during a recent volunteer day. According to Tampa Bay Online, Audubon of Florida Gulf Coast Ecosystem and Tampa Bay Watch have teamed up to rebuild 200 feet of reef near Green Key in Tampa Bay, and volunteers have been filling mesh bags with oyster shells to form an "oyster bar" as the base of the reef.

The area under reconstruction is critical for nesting birds, but much of the suitable habitat has been lost to erosion. Birds such as the roseate spoonbill, reddish egret and American oystercatcher were forced to relocate for nesting, but it is hoped that rebuilding the reef will provide a new foraging area. The project is funded by Restore America's Estuaries, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Restoration Center and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, but it is the volunteers who are doing the heavy labor to make the new reef a reality.

For more information or to learn how to get involved in similar projects, visit Tampa Bay Watch.

Reddish Egret
Photo © New Jersey Birds

Birders may not run along trails for fear of missing that next new lifer, but runners can have some feathered fun with the Running of the Birds 5K Run and Waddle on March 20 in Point Breeze, New York, part of a spring migration celebration. According to the Daily News Online, participants are encouraged to dress up in bird costumes and prizes will be awarded not only for the runners, but also for the best costume. Registration is $10 until March 13 and $15 up to the morning of the race. Proceeds will go to benefit the People for Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) of Orleans.

Whether this benefit race would be your first or your fiftieth, visit About.com Running and Jogging for tips on how to safely prepare for a great run.

Runners
Photo © Erik Abderhalden

The Interior Department has decided that the greater sage grouse does not qualify for the protected status of endangered species, according to the New York Times. The fate of the bird has been fiercely debated on both sides, with conservationists wanting the strictest protections while landowners and industrialists prefer less urgency so the birds' sagebrush habitat could be used for development for mines, windmills, power lines and other uses.

The final decision granted the greater sage grouse "warranted but precluded" status as a compromise, while giving endangered protection to other species with more imminent threats of extinction. The status of the greater sage grouse will be reviewed annually.

In the past century, it is estimated that greater sage grouse numbers have declined more than 90 percent and more than 50 percent of the birds' necessary sagebrush habitat has been destroyed. With this new status classification, states will be required to take stronger steps to preserve the birds' habitat.

Do you think "warranted but precluded" status is enough protection for the greater sage grouse? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Sagebrush Habitat
Photo © Robert Ashworth