Tag Archives | American Bird Conservancy

Conservation Group Seeks Protection Of Rare Western Sparrow

By Larry Jordan on December 22, 2016 in Conservation

Vesper Sparrow with Nestlings by Suzanne Beauchesne

Calls for Oregon Vesper Sparrow to be Listed under the Endangered Species Act

(Washington, D.C., Dec. 21, 2016) American Bird Conservancy has petitioned the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to list the Oregon Vesper Sparrow as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In a letter sent to Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior, ABC describes this subspecies of the Vesper Sparrow as highly imperiled and threatened with extinction throughout its range.

The petition makes the case that the species warrants listing because of significant population declines and ongoing habitat loss and degradation, among other threats, and because it lacks adequate protection under existing regulatory mechanisms.

Without ESA listing, the sparrows’ future looks grim. The current estimated population of the Oregon Vesper Sparrow is fewer than 3,000 birds, and Breeding Bird Survey data indicates a statistically significant population decline of more than five percent every year over the last 45 years.

This migratory species has a restricted breeding range that historically included southwestern British Columbia, western Washington and Oregon, and northwestern California. Now, breeding populations have disappeared from British Columbia and California, along with numerous local breeding populations throughout the range.

The species overwinters in California west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and south of San Francisco Bay, and historically it ranged into northwestern Baja California, Mexico. But wintering populations in Baja and southern parts of California have now disappeared.

“We are deeply concerned about the future of this bird,” said Bob Altman, ABC’s Pacific Northwest Conservation Officer. “With so few birds remaining, many in small and isolated populations, the Oregon Vesper Sparrow needs the immediate protection and conservation focus made possible through ESA listing.”

Several primary threats are driving the sparrow’s decline:

The continuing loss and degradation of its grassland and savannah habitats because of development, conversion of those habitats to intensive agriculture, and the encroachment of invasive shrubs, trees, and exotic grasses;
Harmful or poorly timed land-use activities such as mowing, overgrazing, military training, and recreational use; and
The vulnerability of small, isolated breeding groups of birds.

“Every year, more populations are being lost, and we are not seeing the establishment of new populations where habitat restoration has occurred,” Altman said.

Existing regulatory mechanisms do not provide the protection needed to prevent the Oregon Vesper Sparrow from continuing on its trajectory toward extinction. There are no Federal or State programs dedicated to its conservation, and only about 20 percent of the birds’ range-wide population occurs on public lands. Without ESA listing, this vulnerable species will continue to decline and is likely to disappear forever.

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American Bird Conservancy is the Western Hemisphere’s bird conservation specialist—the only organization with a single and steadfast commitment to achieving conservation results for native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. With a focus on efficiency and working in partnership, we take on the toughest problems facing birds today, innovating and building on sound science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation.

Contact: Bob Altman, ABC’s Pacific Northwest Conservation Officer, 541-760-9520

Invasive Mammals Are Pushing Native Birds To The Brink

By Larry Jordan on December 13, 2016 in Conservation, In the News

Cats Among Biggest Threats to Global Biodiversity

(Washington, D.C., Dec. 13, 2016) Invasive mammalian predators are killing endangered species around the world at much higher rates than previously known and are “arguably the most damaging group of alien animal species for global biodiversity,” according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The findings are the latest evidence that cats and other invasive species pose a major threat to birds and other wildlife worldwide.

Non-native mammalian predators have contributed to the extinction of 87 bird, 45 mammal, and 10 reptile species, and have helped put another 596 species at risk of extinction, according to the study by Dr. Tim S. Doherty and colleagues, most of whom are researchers affiliated with Australian universities. Chief among these predators are cats, which have negatively affected 430 species of threatened or now-extinct birds, mammals, or reptiles.

The researchers estimate that cats have contributed to the extinction of 63 species, including 40 bird species—approximately double the number of extinctions previously attributed to these non-native predators. Combined with introduced rodents, such as Norway rats, “cats are major agents of extinction, collectively being listed as causal factors in 44 percent of modern bird, mammal, and reptile species extinctions,” Doherty et al. write. Both cats and rodents negatively affect the most bird species.

“This comprehensive study confirms yet again just how dramatic an impact cats and other invasive predators are having on bird and other wildlife populations,” said Grant Sizemore, Director of Invasive Species Programs at American Bird Conservancy. “Its findings are striking evidence that the problem is even bigger than previously recognized.”

ABC remains dedicated to confronting the challenge of outdoor cats. “Cats are popular pets, and many of us at ABC have pet cats. Once introduced into the environment by people, however, these cats cause extensive negative impacts,” Sizemore said. “Native species are ill-equipped to defend against such effective predators.” Not only do these cats kill birds and other native species, they also spread diseases such as rabies and toxoplasmosis that put human and wildlife health directly at risk. “The only realistic long-term solution is to contain cats, which simultaneously protects cats, wildlife, and people,” said Sizemore.

Learn more about ABC’s commitment to combating the threat of invasive species and our campaign to keep cats indoors. A recent Q&A on ABC’s Bird Calls blog has more on why cats represent such a serious threat to our irreplaceable wildlife.

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Contact: Grant Sizemore, 202-888-7480

Feral Cats Drive Songbird Decline

By Dan Greaney on February 2, 2016 in BirdWords

Feral Cat Feeding Station

Cats can be great pets, low maintenance purring machines. Unfortunately, they are also active and effective predators.

There are many ways for birds to die. Among the human causes in the US, window collisions may kill a billion birds a year. Cars kill a fraction as many, some 200 million. Pesticides, power line and cell tower collisions, wind turbines, hunting, and oil spills may kill another 200 million.

But the big killer in the US is cats. It is estimated that outdoor cats kill 2.4 billion birds a year in our country. With the exception of habitat loss, this number dwarfs all other current human-caused bird mortality combined.

Many of the studies are small, but they reveal a grim pattern. Cats kill nearly 50% of suburban songbird fledglings. Pet cats average one wildlife kill per fifty-six hours outdoors. They eat or abandon most of their kills at the kill site, not on the owner’s doorstep – belying many owners’ hopes that their pet is too domesticated to follow its instincts. A University of Nebraska study pins thirty-three bird extinctions on cat predation worldwide.

Feral cats number between 30 to 80 million in the US, according to World Animal Foundation estimates. If their kill rate equals that of pet cats, simple arithmetic indicates kills of small animals – birds, lizards, voles, etc. – of nearly 8 billion per year.

Despite being an invasive species, domestic cats are often maintained in the wild. Well-meaning people develop feeding stations that create unnaturally dense colonies. These colonies turn city parks and neighborhoods into native species kill zones, contributing hugely to the declines of American songbirds.

Further, these feral cat concentrations create sinks for the spread of disease and suffering, Feline leukemia and panleukopenia are highly contagious, disabling diseases of outdoor cats. FIV – the cat version of the AIDS virus – spreads mostly through saliva in cat-fight bites.

People, too, are at risk from cat-spread disease. Rabies is found in three times as many cats as dogs, possibly because of their greater involvement with wild animals and the lack of vaccination.

The toxoplasmosis parasite, famous for warnings to pregnant women against cleaning cat litter, can infect any warm-blooded being but only reproduces in cats. Over 70% of cats are expected to carry the parasite at some point in their lives, and they release hundreds of millions of oocytes that can deliver the disease for years through gardens and parks where they defecate. In people, our immune system usually prevents symptoms. But the parasite attacks the brain and is associated with deafness, eye lesions, and a wide range of behavior disorders including Alzheimer’s, autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia.

Some solutions to these bird kill and public health problems are easy. Pet owners who keep their cats indoors will protect both wildlife and their cats.

Feral cat problems are tougher to tackle. Trap-Neuter-Release programs have been shown to be ineffective. Neutered cats still kill birds and spread disease, and neutering efforts do not keep pace with the influx of new cats. A single breeding pair can produce 400,000 offspring over seven years.

US governments spend over $50 million a year to reduce the problems posed by feral and stray animals. In Redding, city land is being used to support feral cat colonies.