A Rusty Blackbird is shown in this stock photo.

For the second year in a row, Kansas birdwatchers are rallying to spy the Rusty Blackbird as it migrates north.

The effort, called the Rusty Blackbird Blitz, is a three-year attempt to track the birds, whose population has decreased by as much as 95 percent over the past 30 years, said Valerie Arkell, volunteer coordinator for the Kansas section of the International Rusty Blackbird Working Group.

Every year between March and June, the birds head from the southeastern United States to the northern forests of Canada, Alaska and New England, Arkell said.

Blitz effort spans from the United States to the northern territories, but birdwatchers in Kansas are most likely to see the Rusty Blackbird through the month of March, Arkell said.

“We’re trying to determine the hot spots for where the birds stop in their migration pattern,” Arkell said, “which hopefully can help find where the Rusty Blackbird are stopping and what is causing their decline.”

In 2014, there were 67 Rusty Blackbird sightings in Kansas, Arkell said. But anyone interested in birdwatching can participate and increase those numbers.

“You can just go to the park or a wildlife refuge or even your yard with bird feeders and do some birdwatching using binoculars,” she said. “Once you see the birds, you can try and identify them using a bird guide or online resources.”

Any Rusty Blackbird sightings should then be submitted at www.ebird.org, where all the data is collected and catalogued for the blitz, Arkell said.