We see birds every single day and when we stop seeing those birds, there’s trouble afoot. Birds are the tell all of a healthy ecosystem. When their numbers start failing, most likely other species’ numbers will start failing. Years ago, coal miners took birds into the mines to test the air quality. If there were deadly gases the birds died and the miners got out. DDT killed off thousands of birds and pushed species, the bald eagle, to the brink. Due to many environmental constraints, birds are being pushed to the brink yet again.
The US State of the Birds was released earlier this year by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. This was the first ever report on the state of the birds in the United States. There were many well-known partners that participated in the study for the report including the American Bird Conservancy, the National Audubon Society, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The results of the report are sobering.
There are about 800 bird species in the US and about a third of those are endangered or threatened or declining. Many more species are of conservation concern due to a small distribution, higher threats, and smaller populations. Even common birds are declining in numbers.
There are bright spots in the report, though. Many species are resilient, especially wetland species. Birds are also very responsive to conservation programs. Waterfowl has responded very well to habitat restoration programs. Even though some birds respond well to habitat restoration, it is very difficult to restore habitat out in the ocean. It’s very hard to monitor fisherman and the commercial fishing industry, which is a major reason ocean birds are declining.
Grassland birds have very high pressures on them. Much of the natural grassland in the United States is now gone due to row crops. There have been farm conservation programs that help grassland bird species, but with the advent of crops for biofuels many farmers may turn to cash crops. Grassland birds are also one of the fastest declining species set, the report says.
Many of the environments around the U.S. are not healthy. Conservation programs need to step up their effort in informing people of the problem. I think education of the issue is really a major step in reversing species and habitat loss. If people don’t know, they won’t do anything about it.
Pictured: California least tern, which is federally listed as endangered. Picture credit to wolfpix on Flickr.
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