One in 3 U.S. Birds Is Imperiled

Two adult red knots in Delaware Bay: emaciated new arrival (left) and fattened adult ready for departure (right). Red knots rely on abundant horseshoe crab eggs in the Delaware Bay to fatten up on their long migration. Overharvesting of horseshoe crabs for bait has imperiled red knots.

Photo: New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

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The statement may not be new, but the person making it is.

For several years, groups like the National Audubon Society, the American Bird Conservancy and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have been raising alarms about the declines in North American bird populations, based on broad surveys and longterm observations by scientists and citizen scientists.

Thursday, the U.S. government added its voice to the chorus.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar released the first ever comprehensive report on bird populations in the United States, showing 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.

There are two pieces of good news in the report. One is that Americans are engaged in the process of assessing bird populations, through citizen science programs like the Christmas Bird Count and the Great Backyard Bird Count. The other is that people have effectively reversed the declines in several species, signaling that there is hope for those now suffering.

But the threats facing birds are complex and diverse: Everything from habitat loss to global warming, and the migratory nature of many species makes conservation an international affair. Take the case of the red knot, a shorebird that migrates all the way from Tiera del Fuego to the Arctic and back each season, stopping along the U.S. mid Atlantic coast to fatten up for the rest of its flight. They feast on horseshoe crab eggs more than anything, leading to a longterm political squabble as conservationists have tried (with success, recently in Maryland to limit commercial fishing of horseshoe crabs.

Or, there's Hawaii, where travel has only in the past several decades brought new threats to species that had evolved isolated on remote islands. Hawaii has more endangered birds than anywhere else in the U.S., but stopping their decline is a real challenge, given the ease with which new species are transferred between islands.

With gardening season upon us (or nearly upon us), it's a good time to take action to help the birds. The National Audubon Society and The Daily Green teamed up this month to provide 25 bird conservation tips anyone can do, including 15 tips for making your garden friendly to birds and other wildlife.

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