This American sparrow could be gone in 50 years, say conservationists

The saltmarsh sparrow could be extinct as soon as 50 years from now, becoming the first bird to go extinct in the Lower 48 since 1931, according to the Connecticut Audubon Society.

|
Wolfang Wander/Audubon Society
Saltmarsh Sharp Sparrow.

The saltmarsh sparrow could soon become the first bird to go extinct in the continental United States in more than eighty years, according to a new report from the Connecticut Audubon Society.

The population of saltmarsh sparrows, which reside on the East Coast from Maine to Virginia during the breeding season and migrate south in the winter, has dropped about 9 percent annually since 1998, researchers say. They attribute the waning population to rising sea levels and structures such as roads and railways, both of which have led to a loss of nesting areas for the half-ounce birds. 

If nothing is done, scientists warn, the saltmarsh sparrow could be extinct in 50 years.

"It would be the first avian extinction in the continental US since the Heath Hen in 1931," wrote Milan Bull, the Connecticut Audubon Society's senior director of science and conservation, in the annual Connecticut State of Birds Report. "There's no way to characterize that as anything but a disaster." 

While scientists have been able to identify the roots of the problem, finding a solution has proven more difficult, as Audubon magazine reported in August: 

Millions of dollars have been spent rebuilding tens of thousands of acres of coastal wetlands, but research shows these efforts have done nothing to boost the sparrow’s populations. A study authored by [Chris Elphick, a conservation biologist at the University of Connecticut] last year found that many restoration efforts, particularly those in low-lying marshes, have failed to create more suitable nesting habitats. This is partly because the projects focus on conserving vegetation, not the sparrows. [...]

One way to build up the marshes’ resilience may be to manipulate manmade barriers without removing them completely. Elphick imagines having a controlled tidal system during the breeding season—one that keeps water from rushing in during the highest monthly tides, but allows sediment to build up naturally. That sort of project would be difficult to enact, Elphick admits: Scientists, agency officials, and eventually the public would all have to buy into it. 

In the most recent report, the Connecticut Audubon Society calls on state officials to take steps to protect the endangered birds, such as setting aside funds to deal with the rising sea levels. It recommends that the state's Department of Environmental Protection be given enough funding to plan for landscapes that will allow the migration of tidal marshes inland. 

Additionally, the group is urging land-use officials, private landowners, and conservation groups to find ways to maintain or expand appropriate nesting environments within existing forests or newly created or restored habitats.

Other recommendations include a collaboration between the Connecticut Audubon Society, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Audubon Connecticut group, the Connecticut Ornithological Association, and academic ornithologists to plan and fund a statewide survey of where birds breed. 

Not all birds in Connecticut are struggling, according to the report. A regional effort to create and expand habitat for the New England cottontail rabbit has also benefited birds living in the same area. 

But, Mr. Bull notes, "Despite some improvements, most of the trends aren't good."

And, researchers say, the plight of the saltmarsh sparrow could likely signal trouble for other species living in similar habitats.

"It acts kind of like the proverbial canary in the coal mine in that it’s an indicator of what’s gonna happen to the rest of the system, all of the other species," Ephrick, of the University of Connecticut, told NPR affiliate WSHU. 

This report includes material from the Associated Press.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to This American sparrow could be gone in 50 years, say conservationists
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/1128/This-American-sparrow-could-be-gone-in-50-years-say-conservationists
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe