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PREFACE in The system used this volume to rank the have been struck by how limited our collective conservation needs of at-risk birds-Bird Species of Special Concern-in California is new for the state but builds on an impressive foundation of prior ranking schemes developed elsewhere in North America and the world. The diversity of such systems reflects not only the varying needs and scales for which they were devised but also the difficulty of crafting a system that will be universally accepted for any particular purpose. Just as gut-level impressions of what constitutes an at-risk bird in need of immediate conservation action can vary widely among knowledgeable biologists, so too can opinions of what elements are desirable in an objective ranking scheme meant to reduce the biases inherent in a purely subjective assessment of conservation need and priority. The present system, unlike most, supports the rankings by the inclusion of thorough species accounts for all birds on the ranked special concern list. Although the decision to include these accounts greatly lengthened the time required to prepare this document, we judge the extra effort well worth it, both to document the state of, and limits to, current knowledge relevant to the conservation of at-risk birds and to provide guidance in management, research, and monitoring that will enable effective actions beneficial to these birds and their habitats.

Serving as the technical editors of this volume has been a humbling experience on many levels. The knowledge contributed to this process by a technical advisory committee of our peers, dedicated managers and technical experts at California …