Editors' Page

Notice anything different about the Birdscapes cover? Perhaps the bird we’ve featured is one you’ve never seen before? And maybe you’re wondering why the Birdscapes nameplate is at the bottom of the cover rather than the top. Believe it or not, we planned it that way.

You probably have read us saying this in a number of different ways: What is happening to the landscapes in Latin America and the Caribbean is effecting our hoped for conservation results in North America. To repeat ourselves in yet another way, we’ve featured a Latin American bird on the cover. Placing the nameplate at the “south end” created a visual metaphor. In this issue of Birdscapes you can read about conservation projects in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas; shorebird research in Mexico; the discovery of an avian species in Colombia thought extinct; the advent of shade grown cacao in Belize; an update on the status of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act grants program; books highlighting the Patanal wetlands in Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay and the Laguna Madre of Mexico and Texas; and a profile of a species at risk that migrates between the Canadian Arctic and South America.

And there’s more. We challenge you to identify the bird on the front cover of this issue. If you are the 10th person from your geographic area to contact us with the correct scientific name of that bird, you will win a prize. The contest closes February 15, 2003. If you live in Canada, e-mail Barbara Robinson (barbara.robinson@ec.gc.ca) with your answer. If you live in Latin America or the Caribbean, e-mail your answer to Meredith Gutowski (meredith_gutowski@fws.gov). If you live in the United States or in countries other than Canada or those in Latin American and the Caribbean, e-mail Dee Butler (dee_butler@fws.gov) your answer. Only one submission per person, please. In addition to the bird’s correct scientific name, include your name and mailing address. We will send one copy of Flyways: Pioneering Waterfowl Management in North America to the winner in each of the following geographic areas: Canada, the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Other Countries. Winners will be posted on our Web site birdhabitat.fws.gov/news.htm in February 2003.

We hope you enjoy your virtual trip to the southern half of our hemisphere.