This is Bird Note.

This glorious song rings out every spring from tracks of Sagebrush throughout the West.

A male Sage Thrasher is proclaiming his territory.

Sagebrush was once so widespread in the Great Basin region

that you'd never be out of earshot of one of these sandy, brown, long-tailed songsters.

But miles of drab, gray-green sagebrush don't inspire the love that redwood forests or alpine lakes evoke in us.

The dry land that sagebrush inhabits proves to be superb for agriculture, if water, that magical ingredient is added.

When irrigation became available through the Bureau of Reclamation,

huge areas of sagebrush were turned into alfalfa and potato farms.

Drive through much of this area now, and you'll hear only sprinklers.

Sagebrush is a rich habitat, home to many birds and mammals found nowhere else, and it badly

needs advocacy. A worldwide effort called the Important Bird Areas Program works to identify

and protect key places that provide essential habitat for birds. Discover ways you can connect with the program

and the sage thrasher

when you come to birdnote.org.

I'm Mary McCann.