State of western songbirds no longer sound

A visit to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge ten years ago found fewer Sandhill Cranes (about 1000), Canada Geese in the hundreds, the Snow Geese count over 35,000, many Mallards and Coots; one Blue Heron shied away from the camera. In 2017, the waterbird numbers were better. In August of 2019 warblers, swallows and flycatchers died in large numbers throughout the southern Rockies. Scientists studying them noted their emaciated conditions and reduced body fat.

Half of all migratory birds in North America move through the Patagonia, Arizona flyway along the San Pedro River. The robins that love juniper berries and the dark-eyed juncos that feed on grass seeds are at the bird bath now in Santa Fe County where they winter. Pinyon jays live here year round.

Many birds are in trouble nationwide. In October, the U.S North American Bird Conservation Initiative published its report: State Of The Birds 2022. One of the main findings is that birds are declining in almost every single habitat–sometimes as much as 67% for some species–over the last 50 years. Seventy species are at a "tipping point." That means they have already lost half or more of their breeding population since 1970 and could lose more in the next 50 years. Some habitat loss is caused by man-made issues, like construction or parking lots. That affects how birds migrate, too. There are lots of routes, as the tracker shows that three-quarters of the birds that breed in the United States and Canada are migratory. [Juncos, red-winged blackbirds and many other Mountain West birds echo 'canaries in the coal mine']

Learn more at High Country News. 

ip image: a western tanager leers at a doofus with a camera.

From Emily Burns - $95 million is what the state of #Arizona intends to spend walling off 10 miles of border, right in the heart of our wildlife study. (4/5) pic.twitter.com/PkZ5QanoBb

— Sky Island Alliance (@Sky_Islands) November 1, 2022