Interior Dept. Study Shows 1/3 Of All US Bird Species Endangered, Threatened Or In Serious Decline

[hatrack]

Researchers were shocked when they counted breeding tufted puffins along the Oregon coast last summer. The numbers showed the charismatic seabird with the comical mask had become alarmingly scarce. From 6,560 tufted puffins in 1979 to a rough count of 142 found on Oregon's cliffsides and rock islands last year.

The decline mirrored some of the grim news in a report released today by the Interior Department showing that almost a third of the 800 bird species in the United States are endangered or in decline from habitat loss, invasive species and climate change. The State of the Birds report, a sweeping compilation of 40 years of survey data, found a 40 percent decline in grassland birds, a 30 percent loss of birds in arid lands, and a 30 percent decline in species dependent on U.S. oceans.

Two of Oregon's threatened bird species -- the snowy plover and the marbled murrelet -- are coastal birds whose numbers have plummeted because of lost breeding habitat. The decline of the northern spotted owl, the state's third threatened bird, followed the loss of the old growth forests where it built its nests.

The puffin isn't endangered. The stout seabird, which nests in burrows, is plentiful north to Alaska. But people come from throughout the country to visit Haystack Rock just to see the birds. Its decline in Oregon is worrisome. "I can't tell you why the puffins have declined," said Roy Lowe, project leader for the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex, home to more than 1 million seabirds. "I don't think it's necessarily breeding habitat. I think it might be the ocean and the changing habitat there. "But we don't know. They're just gone."

EDIT

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/03/almost_a_third_of_the.html

[eppur_se_muova]

1. More at BBC: US birds in 'widespread decline'

Almost one third of the 800 species of birds found in the US are "endangered, threatened or in significant decline", a report has concluded.

Described as the most comprehensive assessment of its kind, the study listed habitat loss and invasive species as being the main threats.

But where conservation measures had been taken, some bird populations had shown signs of recovery, it added.

The US State of Birds report was commissioned by President Bush in 2007.

It was compiled by a partnership of organisations, including the US Geological Survey and the American Bird Conservancy, from three long-running bird censuses stretching back 40 years.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7955085.stm

[Taitertots]

2. How can this be stopped?

The answer is what no one wants to hear and no one is willing to do. Depopulation, strict resource limitations, and strict land protection would be a modest start.

[XemaSab]

3. I read the article

I got schooled.