Guest guest Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 At 05:13 PM 7/2/07, you wrote: >Philadelphia Inquirer, Jun. 15, 2007 >[Printer-friendly version] > >THE DISAPPEARING BIRDS > >Audubon report says even common species are having trouble > >By Sandy Bauers, Inquirer Staff Writer > >Get National Audubon Society's full report > >When he was a boy in the '60s, Schuylkill Haven nature writer Scott >Weidensaul considered the eastern meadowlark a sound track of summer. >Ask any New Jersey farmers, and they will wistfully recall the >whistles of the bobwhite. > >Yesterday, the National Audubon Society quantified what birders and >other outdoors people have known for years: Many of America's most >common bird populations have plummeted over the last 40 years, the >bobwhite, the biggest loser, by 82 percent. > >The message, Weidensaul said, is that " no species is safe " from >sweeping landscape changes such as development, loss of wetlands, and >pollution from industry. > > " If even the commonest, most widespread birds are having trouble >thriving, it's a pretty clear warning that we need to take action, " >Weidensaul said during a teleconference with reporters. > >The study's author, Greg Butcher, the Audubon Society's national >bird conservation director, was quick to point out that while none of >the birds was in danger of becoming extinct, the declines indicated >serious problems that should -- and can -- be addressed. > >Butcher drew up a top-20 list that includes the northern pintail, >several sparrows, the whip-poor-will, the eastern meadowlark, and the >ruffed grouse, Pennsylvania's state bird, all of which he said had >declined more than 50 percent. > > " These are not rare or exotic birds we're talking about, " said Carol >Browner, the Audubon Society's chair and the head of the Environmental >Protection Agency in the Clinton administration. " These are birds that >visit our feeders and congregate at nearby lakes and seashores, and >yet they are disappearing day by day. " > >Nate Rice, ornithology collection manager at Philadelphia's Academy of >Natural Sciences, said he was not surprised at the analysis, based on >four decades of citizen counts, a bulwark of bird science. > > " I can totally believe it, " Rice said. " If this isn't the biggest red >flag one can raise, I don't know what is. " > >For years, ornithologists have been particularly concerned about >migrants such as warblers that wing up from the tropics every year. > " It just goes to show you it's no longer one group, " Rice said. " It's >becoming systemic for all birds. " > >For the study, the Audubon Society came up with a list of several >hundred " common " birds, defining them as those with populations >numbering at least 500,000 in North America, with ranges of a million >square miles or more. The statistical analysis looked at decades worth >of two national counts -- the Audubon Christmas bird counts and the >U.S. Geological Survey's Breeding Bird Survey. > >Butcher said that while the report had not been peer-reviewed, the >techniques used " have been extensively peer-reviewed. " > >The main reason for the decline, he said, is habitat loss -- reduction >in grasslands because of intensive farming, a loss of forests due to >suburban sprawl, and loss of wetlands because of industrialization. > >Echoing other studies, however, he said climate change exacerbated >habitat loss. > >Species that must shift their range north because of rising >temperatures might be unable to find habitat bridges or pathways to >get there, said Eric Stiles, vice president for conservation and >stewardship at New Jersey Audubon, which is independent of the >national group. > > " Because we've sliced and diced the landscape, " he said, " they're >stuck on these islands. It's kind of a Berlin Wall for ecology. " > >In Pennsylvania, where the ruffed-grouse population has declined 22 >percent, " a big part of the problem is that they're sharing the forest >with a lot of very hungry white-tailed deer, " Weidensaul said. > > " The understory that the birds need for cover from predators and the >insects they depend on just aren't there anymore, " he said. > >Likewise for the wood thrush, said Tim Schaeffer, executive director >of the National Audubon Society's Pennsylvania chapter. Almost 10 >percent of the world's wood thrushes nest here, he said. > > " These are are common birds for which Pennsylvania has a worldwide >responsibility for maintaining their habitat. " > >In New Jersey, bobwhites used to proliferate as far north as Hunterdon >County but now remain in only a few spots in Cape May and Ocean >Counties. " They're extremely uncommon, " said New Jersey Audubon's >director of conservation, Troy Ettel. > >Common terns, whose numbers are down 70 percent nationally, have been >booted from their nesting habitat on barrier-island beaches by houses >or eaten by cats and other predators that come with the people who >live there. > >A lot is happening in both states to help the birds. > >The Pennsylvania Audubon chapter, for instance, is working with groups >like the Willistown Conservation Trust in Chester County to delay >mowing their fields until after July 15, when grass-nesters such as >the eastern meadowlark have fledged their young. > >The Friends of the Wissahickon is promoting an Audubon backyard >program emphasizing native plants that will benefit native birds. > >New Jersey wildlife officials have been mapping the remaining bobwhite >habitat to devise a conservation plan. > >Birding organizations have long relied on common citizens for both >science and action. Audubon is urging people to to replant their yards >with native species, support reforms to farming and logging practices, >and fight global warming through their lifestyles and support of >legislation. > >The new report, Weidensaul said, " is an early warning. We have the >time to turn things around. We have the tools to turn things around. >What we really need is the will and the determination to do it. " > >Listen to vocalizations of the top 20 declining bird species via ht >tp://go.philly.com/earth > >Contact staff writer Sandy Bauers at 215-854-5147 or >sbauers. > >How to Create a Backyard habitat for Birds. ****** Kraig and Shirley Carroll ... in the woods of SE Kentucky http://www.thehavens.com/ thehavens 606-376-3363 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.859 / Virus Database: 585 - Release 2/14/05 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.