Finding Common Ground to Reverse the Decline of Grassland Birds Across a Working Landscape
Zoe Warner, PhD and Claudia Winters
The Grassland Bird Collaboration (GBC) is a program designed to address issues affecting grassland birds by creating a “working conservation landscape” among Chester County’s agricultural lands and nature preserves. The GBC partners with farmers, landowners, and conservation organizations to achieve conservation outcomes for grassland bird populations and associated species while minimizing disruption to agricultural production. The success of the program lies in its commitment to balancing conservation and agricultural needs while highlighting the benefits of agricultural working lands for grassland bird survival. This talk features the work of the GBC and Natural Lands to support grassland bird populations through beneficial land management practices, research, education, and community engagement.
Zoë Warner is the program manager for the Grassland Bird Collaboration, a program of Willistown Conservation Trust that partners with farmers and landowners to support grassland bird populations that rely agricultural lands for breeding. Zoë has been researching grassland birds in southern Chester County since 2014.
Claudia Winters is the Bird Conservation Program Manager for Natural Lands. She oversees all their bird-related volunteer monitoring and surveying and banding programs. She coordinates with stewardship staff on BMPs for sensitive avian species and collaborates with partner organizations on bird conservation initiatives. While she has been with Natural Lands for five years, her position is newly created as of October 2025
