Many of state's most common birds at risk

By Ian Ith
Seattle Times staff reporter


PAINTING BY JOHN JAMES AUDUBON
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It's long been known that the spotted owl, the marbled murrelet and the snowy plover could become the next dodos.
But even birds as taken for granted as the friendly rufous hummingbird, that tiny, orange backyard visitor, and the yellow warbler, the enemy of garden pests across the state, are vulnerable to rapid decline because of urban sprawl and other human destruction of habitat.

At least, that's the conclusion of a new report to be released today by the Audubon Society of Washington, which says nearly one-third of all bird species common to the state are at risk of sliding toward extinction.

The "State of the Birds" report urges government officials, land managers and individual homeowners alike to take "immediate and focused conservation measures" to protect bird habitat.

The study is also a model for studies the Audubon Society says it wants to do in every state.

The report online


The Audubon Society's "State of the Birds" report will be available online at wa.audubon.org.
About the Audubon Society


The first Audubon chapter began in 1896 in Massachusetts to encourage bird watching and protect birds from the hat industry. It was named for famed wildlife painter John James Audubon (1785-1851). The national organization formed in 1905. Today there are 450,000 members nationally and about 22,000 members among 25 chapters in Washington, with a mission to conserve and restore natural ecosystems and habitats.




"Some of these are birds you would see in your own back yard," said John Flicker, president of the National Audubon Society, who came to Seattle this week to publicize the report.

"We want to raise a red flag that these birds are in trouble, and we can do something together to keep them off the endangered-species list."

The study started with all 447 species of birds that have been documented in Washington, then cut the list to 317 birds that occur commonly enough to warrant review.

Audubon used other published studies, government listings, bird counts and other sources to figure out which birds need the most attention. Then it gathered panels of state and federal government scientists and Audubon experts to prioritize the list.

It identified 93 of the 317 species as having "heightened conservation concern." Of those, 14 species and two subspecies were labeled as being of "immediate concern." Another 14 were called "species of high concern." And the rest were called "early warning species."

Many of the birds on the lists include obvious candidates that are already listed by the state as endangered, threatened or otherwise troubled.

But some species listed by the state as endangered, such as the brown pelican, are only listed as "early warning" species by the Audubon Society.


PAINTING BY JOHN JAMES AUDUBON
Burrowing owl


That's because the state may list a bird as endangered because its population is in trouble nationally. But some species, like the brown pelican, may actually be doing better in Washington, said Tim Cullinan, the director of science and conservation for Audubon Washington.

On the flip side, some birds on the federal endangered-species lists, such as the upland sandpiper, weren't even considered by Audubon because they already have vanished from Washington, Cullinan said.

And some, like the olive-sided flycatcher, are on Audubon's "immediate concern" list but not on any state list. "Maybe we'll see some changes to the state list," Cullinan said.

The report blames a range of factors that influence bird species, but the proliferation of humans is the common theme.

Coastal wetlands have largely disappeared in many places. A third of Washington's inland wetlands are gone, too. Most of the state's riverside habitat is lost or altered. Forests are being replaced by advancing housing developments. The vast majority of the state's sage-dappled steppe and grassy savannas have been replaced by farms or invasive plants that humans introduced.

"We really need to think of our impact as a species on the rest of the world," said Derek Stinson, a state Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist who helped Audubon prioritize its list.

"And if we value these things, we are going to have to start making some sacrifices."

For example, the sharp-tailed grouse used to number in the millions on the prairies of Eastern Washington, Stinson said. Agriculture, herbicides and brush burning have reduced the population to fewer than 1,000 birds in seven isolated pockets of habitat. The grouse is now listed as threatened by the state and of "immediate concern" by Audubon.

Even some common backyard birds face huge population declines as urban sprawl cuts the places for them to nest, feed and thrive, said Cullinan. The rufous hummingbird's population has dropped by half in recent decades, despite the affection people have for it.

The yellow warbler, common and familiar in gardens near streams and rivers, is listed because it has suffered rapid declines recently in other Western states, Cullinan said.

Audubon's report doesn't come with major proposals for changes in environmental law.

But the members said they hope it might be used by governments and large land owners as a guide to change the way the land is used, or abused.

"What ties this all together is these are manmade problems, and if people caused them, people can solve them," said Flicker, Audubon's national president.

Even locally, he said, people can do things as simple as using less pesticide, keeping cats indoors and supporting parks and open spaces.

"All of this adds up to solving the big problem that sometimes seems too big to deal with."

Ian Ith: 206-464-2109 or iith@seattletimes.com