MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Though its natural habitat is shrinking in the Caribbean, a brownish-gray songbird twice discovered on top of Vermont's highest mountain is giving scientists hope.
Just weeks ago, researchers identified a Bicknell's Thrush on Mount Mansfield that had been banded in the Dominican Republic while wintering there in 2010. It was the second time since 2010 that the bird had been captured on the mountaintop as part of research.
"The chances of that are amazingly small and to have that happen is not only just remarkable and very cool ... it's really compelling because it shows you that we have to pay attention to both ends of this bird's range if we're going to conserve it," said Chris Rimmer, executive director of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies.
The vulnerable species has an estimated population of 100,000 worldwide. The migratory birds nest and breed in coniferous forests in northern New England, the Adirondacks and eastern Canada, then fly south to winter in the Caribbean.
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