Central to maintaining a healthy avifauna is stewardship—caring for species where they are most abundant, even if populations are not yet highly threatened or declining. Partners in Flight assigns stewardship responsibility to geographic areas with a high proportion of a species’ global population or range. Because such species are characteristic of the areas with stewardship responsibility, they merit special attention to ensure their numbers are retained at levels that enable continued ecological function. The status of these species can indicate the health of habitats, or even broader geographies, and targeting the conservation of these focal species may achieve the habitat goals that support many landbird species.

For each focal species, there are habitat and population objectives. Prairie, Oak, and Riparian refer to the PIF plan “Population and habitat objectives for landbirds in prairie, oak, and riparian habitats of western Oregon and Washington”. Coniferous Forests refer to the PIF plan “Habitat conservation for landbirds in coniferous forests of western Oregon and Washington”.