Coast birds

Last month, EDGE acquired a draft of the Government of the Northwest Territories State of the Environment Report Highlights 2016, the first report of its kind done since 2011. Although the report is still a work in progress, the picture it paints is, unsurprisingly, grim. Migratory birds are hit especially hard. “Elders in the NWT have noted for many years that migratory birds are in sharp decline. Bird monitoring has shown that most shorebirds nesting in the Arctic are declining and that many boreal birds that feed on aerial insects are declining.”

Farmland and wetland birds and seabirds in the UK have all seen significant declines in the past few years, official figures show. Populations of UK birds that live on farmland were 54 per cent down on 1970 levels in 2014, but while most of the falls occurred between the late 1970s and the early 1990s due to more intensive farming, there were also declines of 11 per cent between 2008 and 2013. Birds that feed and breed on water and wetlands saw populations fall 12 per cent in the five years from 2008, the statistics published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) showed. Seabirds have also been faring badly in recent years, with populations down by more than a quarter (27 per cent ) since 1986, with most of the decline occurring since 2003. Numbers were down 9 per cent between 2008 and 2013, the figures reveal.

By 2013, the UK breeding farmland bird index had fallen by 55 per cent to a level less than half that of 1970. Four farmland specialists (grey partridge (Perdix perdix), turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur), tree sparrow (Passer montanus) and corn bunting (Miliaria calandra)) have declined by over 85 per cent relative to 1970 levels. In 2013, the UK breeding woodland bird index was 28 per cent lower than its 1970 level. A number of woodland specialists (lesser spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor), lesser redpoll (Acanthis cabaret), spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata), tree pipit (Anthus trivialis), wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix), crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) and marsh tit (Poecile palustris)) have declined by over 70 per cent relative to 1970 levels, with willow tit (Parus montanus) and capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) down by more than 90 per cent. The index for wet grassland birds decreased by 53 per cent since 1975. Redshank (Tringa totanus), snipe (Gallinago gallinago) and yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava) have declined, by more than 60 per cent, 80 per cent and 95 per cent, respectively. Seabird populations in the UK have fallen by 24 per cent since 1986; this is the lowest level recorded. Blacklegged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) declined by 72 per cent since 1986 and Arctic skuas (Stercorarius parasiticus) declined by 82 percent.

The Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) is a robin-sized bird that was listed as threatened in 1992 under the Endangered Species Act. This bird spends most of its life on near-shore waters from northern California to Alaska. It flies inland to breed high in the canopy of old-growth forest within sixty miles of shore. The NW Forest Plan was created in 1993 to protect breeding habitat for Marbled Murrelet and Northern Spotted Owl. Without this plan there would now be no old-growth forest on state or federal lands; however, private landowners can cut any timber. This August shocking news was published on the status of Marbled Murrelet after 20 years of the NW Forest Plan. The science report said: In Washington State the Plan has not been successful--the population of Marbled Murrelet has declined 48% since 2001. At current rates of decline there will be no Marbled Murrelet in SW Washington within 15 years! If the SW Washington population disappears, the northern population of birds in Washington, Canada and Alaska will be genetically isolated from the southern population in Oregon and California. This genetic bottleneck could quickly lead to species extinction. The situation for Marbled Murrelets is critical.

Marine mammal, birds, fish and reptile populations have almost halved since 1970, according to a report which is a "wake-up call" to tackle the crisis in the world's oceans. The study by conservation group WWF and the Zoological Society of London looked at how 5,829 populations of 1,234 species of marine creatures had fared in the past 45 years and found a 49% drop in numbers. Some species people rely on for food are faring even worse, such as the Scombridae family of fish which includes tuna and mackerel have fallen by almost three quarters (74%). Sea cucumbers, which are prized as luxury food in Asia, have been significantly exploited, with a 98% decline in the Galapagos and 94% drop in the Egyptian Red Sea in just a few years. Robin Freeman, head of indicators and assessments at ZSL, said: "This is a wake-up call, but it's also an opportunity. "These are populations that are smaller than they would be, and should be. They aren't recovering." Louise Heaps, chief advisor on marine policy at WWF-UK, said: "As well as being a source of extraordinary natural beauty and wonder, healthy seas are the bedrock of a functioning global economy. We are sowing the seeds of ecological and economic catastrophe."

They’re cute, they’re knee-high, they bray like donkeys and they’re a tourist attraction near Cape Town, South Africa. But African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) — the continent’s only species of the flightless bird — are at risk of extinction. In the 1930s, South Africa’s largest colony — one of many — had a million African penguins. Now, only 100,000 of the birds remain in all of South Africa and neighboring Namibia, the only places where the species exists. Anchovies and sardines are the penguin’s primary food source. Both fisheries scientists and bird specialists agree that the decline of the penguin began around 2004 with a shift in anchovies and sardines away from the colonies. Penguins must now swim farther to catch fish, leaving adults weakened. Many have died or abandoned their chicks, with hundreds winding up in the crowded outdoor pens of a rehabilitation center run by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds.

In the late summer and early fall, western grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis) will flock to the marine waters of the West Coast, where they gather by the thousands to dine on a smorgasbord of small fishes. And for years, masses of wintering grebes were a fixture of the Salish Sea. The waters from the Strait of Georgia in Canada south to Puget Sound in the United States hosted roughly 70% of the species’ entire population. Now, though, surveys estimate that only 4% of the population continues to winter here—a decline of 95%. Why did all the grebes leave? Where did they go? And what does their disappearance say about the health of the ecosystem? A group of scientists shared their research at the 2014 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference. Research presented focused on the role of forage fish, a favorite prey item of many seabirds. Oily and calorie-rich, these fish, such as sandlance, surf smelt and Pacific herring are known for their importance to the food web. Normally an abundant source of sustenance for a wide variety of predators, they have declined significantly over the decades. “Half of all herring stocks in Puget Sound are designated as either depressed or low abundance,” says Dr. Nacho Vilchis, a former postdoctoral researcher with the SeaDoc Society, “and the same is true for British Columbia.”

Although the Everglades National Park is no longer subject to hunting, the unnatural distribution and quality of water has contributed to the decline of several bird species devaluing the park’s association with 350 different species of feathered creatures. “While a few species seem to be rebounding, others, such as the roseate spoonbill, are continuing their downward spiral,” said Larry Perez, a member of the South Florida Natural Resources Center’s Science Communications Outreach, the largest science center of the National Park Service.The most drastic and recent drop of all is that of the roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja). With the worst drop in breeding season in Florida Bay in over 40 years, the species is disappearing. Florida Bay takes up one-third of the Everglades. As wading birds, like the popular ibis of the Everglades, these animals have long legs for wading in the water to catch their fish. In the shallow water, the spoonbill lowers its partially opened bill and snaps it shut once a small fish or source of food has triggered its sensitivity. Fish are no longer concentrated in small shallow pools, leaving the spoonbills and other wading birds hungry and fending for survival.

Canada is home to billions of birds belonging to some 451 regularly occurring native species that raise their young or spend their non-breeding seasons in this vast and varied country. Increasingly, these birds face many threats here and elsewhere. On average, Canadian breeding bird populations have decreased 12% since 1970 when effective monitoring began for most species. Some groups, such as grassland birds, aerial insectivores and shorebirds, are showing major declines. Aerial insectivores—birds that catch insects in flight—are declining more steeply than any other group of birds. Some formerly very common species like the Barn Swallow and Chimney Swift have declined to less than a quarter of their 1970-level populations.