In the summer of 2023, a lone female songbird settled into a willow thicket on a U.S. Marine Corps base in Southern California and tried, unsuccessfully, to start a family. That one event is the headline fact behind a story that's been circulating as a tidy comeback tale about invasive plants, habitat restoration, and a native bird's homecoming.
According to a 2023 annual report from the U.S. Geological Survey, one endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, a sparrow-sized, olive-gray bird with a buzzy "fitz-bew" call, showed up at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton that year, the first time since 2012 that a bird born on the base had returned to breed there. For American wildlife watchers who like their nature news with a happy note on top, it's tempting to file this under "ecosystem heals itself." The real picture, however, is far less triumphant, and arguably more interesting.
