MIXED BAG: We have some good news and some bad news for all our
citizen scientists out there participating in one of the ongoing
bird monitoring programs.

First of all, these monitoring efforts are crucial to
conservation efforts which have been shown to be effective in
maintaining populations of wild birds. So, kudos!

The bad news, though, is that nearly a third of the nation’s 800
bird species are endangered, threatened or in significant decline
due to habitat loss, invasive species, and other threats.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has just released results
of the first ever comprehensive report on bird populations in the
United States, and the news was grim.

“Just as they were when Rachel Carson published Silent Spring
nearly 50 years ago, birds today are a bellwether of the health of
land, water and ecosystems,” Salazar said.

“From shorebirds in New England to warblers in Michigan to
songbirds in Hawaii, we are seeing disturbing downward population
trends that should set off environmental alarm bells. We must work
together now to ensure we never hear the deafening silence in our
forests, fields and backyards that Rachel Carson warned us
about.”

The report, The U.S. State of the Birds, synthesizes data from
three long-running bird censuses conducted by thousands of citizen
scientists and professional biologists.

The report indicates a 40 percent decline in grassland birds
over the past 40 years, a 30 percent decline in birds of aridlands,
and high concern for many coastal shorebirds. Furthermore, 39
percent of species dependent on U.S. oceans have declined.

However, the report also reveals convincing evidence that birds
can respond quickly and positively to conservation action. The data
show dramatic increases in many wetland birds such as pelicans,
herons, egrets, osprey, and ducks, a testament to numerous
cooperative conservation partnerships that have resulted in
protection, enhancement and management of more than 30 million
wetland acres.

“These results emphasize that investment in wetlands
conservation has paid huge dividends,” said Kenneth Rosenberg,
director of Conservation Science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
“Now we need to invest similarly in other neglected habitats where
birds are undergoing the steepest declines.”