[Birdtalk] Common backyard birds becoming less common

Sun Jun 17 15:50:20 MDT 2007

I've been in the field a lot lately, and so haven't followed this 
thread too closely, but I have read the articles about  bird declines, 
and it's not really news - many of our bird species have been in 
decline for decades, and more than the twenty species mentioned. All 
birders should be very concerned. In fact, if you enjoy birding and 
wish to continue birding for years to come, now may be time to panic. 
Panic would even have been appropriate years ago.

  Dave is exactly right about backyard bird feeding - it may not help 
birds at all, and can in same cases cause harm, as Dave mentions - 
there's a disease problem in Washington state right now that caused the 
state wildlife agency to recommend that everyone cease feeding birds 
for a few weeks or all summer, or at least clean and disinfect the 
feeders and bird baths frequently.

The bottom line is that the decline in bird numbers has nothing to do 
with feeders and everything to do with loss of habitat and general 
environmental degradation. You will not help the birds by putting out 
more feeders. You'd do better to kill your lawn and replace it with 
native vegetation.

I'm in the process of killing the last of my lawn, and I'm surprised 
that my neighbors haven't complained (to me) about the unkempt 
collection of sagebrush, rabbitbrush, bitterbrush, snowberry, river 
hawthorn, chokecherry, wild rose, red osier dogwood, and various 
wildflowers and native grasses that now occupy my property. But guess 
where the birds are in my neighborhood - even though I'm not the best 
at keeping my feeders full.

Nor does the problem lie beyond our borders. We are great at saying 
"save the rain forests" and calling for greater conservation in 
far-away places, but the real damage is occurring right here. Many, if 
not most, of the birds on the list of declining species don't migrate 
beyond our borders. Those that do often have less exacting habitat 
requirements on their wintering grounds than here where they breed. 
Often they can tolerate loss of habitat there better than here, where 
they need to nest and reproduce.

Don't get me wrong, I fully support efforts to preserve rain forests 
and other valuable natural habitats south of our border. I have spent 
years helping various projects promoting conservation and the spread of 
an environmental ethic through my many Latin American friends. But the 
amount of habitat loss and environmental degradation that is happening 
in the developing countries to our south pales in comparison to what 
has occurred and continues in our own country. About half of the Amazon 
Rain Forest has been destroyed. We have cut over 90% of ours and 
continue to argue over how much of the remainder to save. The real 
problem is here, and it's our fault, not somebody else's.

All birders and people who care about birds should pay close attention 
to how they're living, and the decisions they make. It's long past time 
to start "living green," and to learn what that means. Besides "going 
native" in our yards, we all need to pay close attention to the 
consequences and environmental impact of all of our actions.

We might smile at the thought of global warming leading to Elegant 
Trogons nesting at Lytle Ranch, but imagine how dull birding the 
Antelope Island Causeway will be when all those shorebirds have lost 
their arctic breeding habitat. Or a winter without Rough-legged Hawks. 
Or a world without Snowy Owls. We should all try to reduce our energy 
usage at home, and what we use in transportation. Next time you go 
birding, invite a friend - carpooling works for birding, too. Consider 
increasing the amount of your birding time you spend on organized 
trips, where many people share the energy used.

Pay attention to the what food you eat, from where it comes and how it 
was produced. In addition to the energy used to transport food great 
distances (the average plate of food in the U.S. has travelled about 
1400 miles), agricultural practices have a profound affect on bird 
habitat. One of the factors implicated in the decline of many birds 
species is the increase in the size of fields, and the loss of 
fence-row habitat. I've seen more forests in the tropics succumb to 
banana and mango production than anything else in recent years. Eat 
fewer bananas and drink more shade-grown coffee. Learn about how what 
you eat and buy affects bird habitat.

Make your voice heard. Like it or not, the actions of our government, 
from our local municipalities to the federal level, have a greater 
affect on the world our birds encounter than anything each of us can do 
individually. For example, when Salt Lake City wants to spent millions 
of our dollars to built a complex of soccer fields on 300 acres of 
prime bird habitat along the Jordan River, maybe we should speak up. We 
say plenty about preserving access to great birding areas - maybe we 
should say more about saving and rehabilitating important bird habitat. 
We should insist that those who ask for our votes respect our values 
and practice green governance. No birder should ever vote for a 
candidate that does not count conservation among their core values, and 
we should demand that they show that this is so in their actions.

We have many examples of successes in wildlife conservation to inspire 
us as we try to reverse the downward trend in the populations of many 
of our favorite birds. Together we can ensure a future for the birds, 
and for our favorite pastime, and for the generations of birders yet to 
come. But the time for action is now, or rather was yesterday. Get 
busy.

Good birding, hopefully for a long time to come.

Mark Stackhouse
mark at westwings.com
801-487-9453 (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
011-52-323-285-1243 (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico)

On Jun 16, 2007, at 10:01 PM, Dave Slager wrote:

> Brenda and others,
>
> I also feed birds in my backyard and enjoy watching them.  But there
> are some reasons to believe that bird feeding might not always be
> beneficial for avian health.  First, most bird species undergoing
> population declines are not regular visitors to backyard feeders.
> Second, bird feeding likely benefits non-native or otherwise common
> bird species that certainly don't need our supplemental food at all.
> Third, bird feeding tends to concentrate birds into one place, which
> is convenient for viewing them but may increase the spreading and
> prevalence of parasites and disease.  And finally, bird feeding will
> not help any bird species unless food is indeed a limiting factor for
> that species' population.  For most of our declining birds, habitat
> loss or other factors are at the root of the problem, not food
> availability.
>
> This doesn't mean bird feeding always harms birds overall, but I
> certainly believe it's possible.
>
> With that said, I still put out my bird feeder for my own enjoyment,
> but I don't believe I am necessarily "helping" the birds.  Under
> normal circumstances, they're perfectly capable of fending for
> themselves in the wild, which is why they have flourished in our
> absense for millions of years.
>
> Dave Slager
>
>
>
>
> On 6/15/07, Brenda Kidman <bkidman at gmail.com> wrote:
>> This article shows the value of the CBC and talks about the importance
>> of backyard birders for bird health.  Someone told me once (when I was
>> talking about how I would feel badly if I went away without making
>> provisions for the backyard birds) that they would get along fine
>> without me and what I was doing was nice but really didn't have an
>> affect in the long term.  This makes me feel like I could really be
>> making a difference.
>>
>>
>>
>> Audubon: Common backyard birds becoming less common
>> Story Highlights• 20 common birds have lost more than half their
>> populations in the past 40 years
>>  • Birds in decline: Northern bobwhite, field sparrow and boreal 
>> chickadee
>>  • Factors: Agriculture, habitat loss, pesticides, invasive species,
>> global warming
>>  • Health of a bird population often a harbinger of health of other
>> wildlife, humans
>> By Marsha Walton
>>  CNN
>>
>>
>> (CNN) -- Some of the most common birds seen and heard in American back
>> yards are becoming a less frequent sight and sound in much of the
>> United States, according to a study released by the National Audubon
>> Society.
>>
>> Twenty common birds -- including the northern bobwhite, the field
>> sparrow and the boreal chickadee -- have lost more than half their
>> populations in the past 40 years, according to the society's research.
>>
>> "These populations are not yet on the endangered species list, but it
>> is noteworthy, and we need to take steps to protect their habitat,"
>> said Carol Browner, Audubon chair and former Environmental Protection
>> Agency administrator.
>>
>> And like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, the health of a
>> region's bird population is often a harbinger of the health of other
>> wildlife and of human populations as well.
>>
>> "The focus isn't really on what's happening to these 20 birds, but
>> what's happening to their environment," said Greg Butcher, the
>> society's conservation director.
>>
>> The researchers say many factors play into the decline in bird
>> numbers, including intensification of agriculture, other loss of
>> habitat, pesticides, invasive species, and global warming.
>>
>> Scott Weidensaul, an author and expert on bird migration, said he
>> remembers waking up to whistles of bobwhite quail, and falling asleep
>> listening to whippoorwills.
>>
>> "Today you can't find a bobwhite in Pennsylvania, and hearing a
>> whippoorwill is a red letter day," he said at an Audubon news
>> conference Thursday morning.
>>
>> The report shows the current northern bobwhite quail population is 5.5
>> million, down from 31 million in 1967. That's a decline of 82 percent
>> in the past four decades. There are currently about 1.2 million
>> whippoorwills now, down from 2.8 million 40 years ago, a 57 percent
>> decline.
>>
>> The Audubon Society created its list of "common birds in decline" by
>> analyzing annual sighting data from the Audubon Society's century-old
>> Christmas Bird Count program, and results of the annual Breeding Bird
>> Survey conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey. The data will also be
>> submitted for scientific peer review.
>>
>> Changes in farming practices have created distress for some bird
>> species. Some farmers are now using land once set aside for
>> conservation to plant more corn for use as ethanol. And the
>> disappearance of smaller family farms in favor of larger corporate
>> farms has led to the disappearance of hedgerows -- fences of trees or
>> bushes that reduce erosion and lessen the force of the wind on crops,
>> and at the same time serve as protection and nesting areas for many
>> grassland birds.
>>
>> Other farms have simply disappeared and been replaced by housing and
>> commercial development, further reducing bird habitat.
>>
>> The Audubon Society, incorporated in 1905, lists five priorities for
>> Congress to consider to slow the decline of these bird species: reduce
>> global warming, support wetlands, fund ecosystem restoration, ensure
>> biofuels are eco-friendly, and improve conservation programs in the
>> next farm bill.
>>
>> While federal legislation is an important part of protecting bird
>> habitat, Butcher said individuals can also make a dramatic impact on
>> bird health.
>>
>> "You don't have to have a lot of land, just a corner of your back yard
>> for native plants," he said.
>>
>> The berries on native dogwoods, for example, provide a food source for
>> migratory birds. And he suggested that bird lovers not cut down
>> flowers in the fall, instead leaving them up as groundcover for birds
>> in the winter and as a source of seeds. Introducing just a few native
>> plants to perfectly manicured, sterile back yards can make a huge
>> difference, Butcher said.
>>
>> Other household names on the list of diminishing bird populations are
>> the common tern, ruffed grouse, common grackle and rufous hummingbird.
>>
>>
>>
>>                 Find this article at:
>>         http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/06/14/bird.decline
>>
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>
>
> -- 
> David L. Slager
> University of Utah
> Department of Biology
> 257 South 1400 East
> Salt Lake City, UT 84112
> (801)-585-9742
> slager at biology.utah.edu
> dave.slager at utah.edu
> dave.slager at gmail.com (all forwarded to same address)
>
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