Winged Messengers: The Decline of Birds

Worldwatch Live Online Discussion

Howard Youth

March 14, 2003 - 1:00pm EDT

Prominent scientists consider the world to be in the midst of the biggest wave of animal extinctions since the dinosaurs disappeared 65 million years ago. This phenomenon is clearly reflected in the extinction of birds, which is now topping 50 times the natural rate of loss.

In Winged Messengers: The Decline of Birds Howard Youth explains how these disappearances mark not only the loss of unique species, but also the unraveling of delicate natural balances. Besides providing invaluable goods and services within their habitats, birds serve as valuable indicators of environmental change as well. The decline in their populations often reflect environmental degradation.

To find out more about Winged Messengers: The Decline of Birds, or to purchase a copy, go to: www.worldwatch.org/pubs/paper/165/

Steve Conklin, Worldwatch Institute: Good afternoon and welcome to this week's on-line discussion at Worldwatch.org. Today I would like to welcome State of the World 2003 co-author and Winged messengers: The Decline of Birds author, Howard Youth. Welcome, Howard.

Howard Youth: Nice to be "here." Any questions over the transom?

Cos Cob, CT: What actions can the average person take that will make the biggest difference to stop or reverse this decline? What attitudes get in the way of reversing this trend?

Howard Youth: Good questions. The buzzword flying around conservationists' offices these days is "community." An individual can make the most difference by involving her or his community--that is, sharing environmental information or concerns with neighbors, joining a bird club and volunteering for conservation-oriented activities, and setting up a backyard or enhancing a local park (with authorities' permission) to attract wild birds. Attracting wild birds, by the way, is best done by planting native plants that provide nest sites and food for migrant birds. The birds visiting backyard feeders are mostly species already adapted to the "humanized" landscape.

Attitudes that get in the way...well, the one that pops to mind is giving priority to an economic bottom-line over the interests of preserving biodiversity, bird diversity. Most people are inspired by birds to some degree but only through dedicated action, local and regional and national and international, can we improve the situation.

Seattle, WA: Listening to the dawn chorus absent many migrants is a daily, depressing event for knowledgeable birders, but a complete mystery to the average person. Education from childhood is the key approach to that issue. But incorporating environmental concerns into economic decision making is perhaps achievable in the intermediate term. How to get business and government to factor in env. degradation into economic calculations as opposed to leaving them as 'externalities'?

Howard Youth: This is truly a great challenge. It all starts with education, as you've mentioned, and I'm heartened that over the past decade or so, many schools have incorporated a strong environmental focus into their curricula. Perhaps this will help nurture a more environmentally aware political base. Environmental concerns need to rate on the same level as economic concerns. Quantifying how much a spruce budworm-destroying evening grosbeak is worth is the kind of thing that a growing field of environmental economists will hopefully tackle. Hard numbers will not always be available, but if environmentally focused laws are put in place--and followed--both economic and environmental needs can balance. I'm currently living in Spain. In a nearby Important Bird Area (mentioned in the paper) a roadway was approved through the southern edge of the IBA but the contractor has to pay compensation to offset expected damage to part of the great bustard population residing there. The contractor hired a team of biologists who have studied bustards in the area for more than a decade. Funds are being put to use planting crops that feed the birds elsewhere in the IBA and other activities that will hopefully offset the damage done. We cannot stop expansion, but we can direct it to less environmentally sensitive areas. In some cases, such as the bustard case mentioned above, compensation might offset losses. But the priority on conservation interests must be there and laws must be followed and not fudged.

Orono, Maine: The reference of birds as 'messenger' seems to be an idea that has stayed with us through many generations. In what ways do you see birds as being 'messengers' trying to alert us of impending problems in our world today?

Howard Youth: Due to such factors as their habitat needs, bird population dips and peaks show as the footprint we're leaving as we modify the natural world around us. A North American example would be the wood thrush and the American robin. As housing developments continue to expand outward from the edges of our large cities, woodlands are carved into patchworks. A signature bird of eastern woodlands, the wood thrush suffers when habitat is fragmented. Brown-headed cowbirds infiltrate and lay their eggs in wood thrush nests, to the detriment of thrush young. Predators of nests and young birds, such as blue jays and raccoons, become more plentiful in fragmented forests. Yet as wood thrush populations dip, American robin populations remain steady or grow. American robins are adapted to habitats such as suburban yards and open and fragmented woods. So, these birds are signatures of what's going on in their habitats. By monitoring their population trends, biologists and volunteer birders help us get a clearer picture of change. Bird populations also are sending "messages" about how chemicals such as pesticides and spilled oil affect ecosystems, how climate warming seems to be changing natural processes, among other things.

Cos Cob, CT: I work as a land care professional. I have heard that the spread of invasive plants such as winged euonymus has translated into loss of food sources for migrating birds, because the berries have a much lower fat content. Is this part of the problem? Also, what is the best way to research this sort of information? I want to make informed decisions about what I plant and where I plant it, and understand how I may be helping or hurting the earth.

Howard Youth: I don't have a ready answer regarding the plant you mention, but re: getting informed recommendations about "responsible" plantings, I'd start with a native plant society. Maryland and Virginia each have one, for example. I'd imagine Connecticut would too. If not, states nearby. Many nursuries still sell some invasive exotics, such as the autumn olive and purple loosestrife. Native species are often the best for birds. Some universities also have programs involved in planting native species on corporate lands and an increasing number of small nursuries focus on propagating and selling native plants that benefit local wildlife.

Cos Cob, CT: I participate in a lot of online gardeners' forums and have found it not uncommon to see pretty vehement comments against those hysterical tree huggers (best way I can describe it). I don't think we've done a good job of finding a way to be in dialogue with the community about the far-reaching effects of various kinds of environmental degradation. Many people are quite unplugged from the environment, those who live in cities with perhaps less opportunity to see what's happening and make any cause/effect connection. Leslie Sauer talks about this in her book, The Once and Future Forest -- about how the damage we do to our land is partly due to our disconnection and lack of understanding of it, and partly due to our disconnection from each other, if I can liberally interpret and paraphrase. I am comiing to believe that people garden because they feel hope, and it is so difficult to listen to the bad news without having hope extinguished. How can we design a way for people to share a vision toward a world that is mending itself, and see their part in it?

Howard Youth: I find it very promising that gardening is one of the nation's most popular outdoor activities. True, most people are not concerned about exotic vs. native species. But by gardening, people create their own attachment to nature. Birdwatching provides a similar start for people, who first marvel in the beauty of birds and later come upon the realization that something must be done to protect the diversity of life. My first recommendation would be to celebrate the widespread interest in gardening and focus from there on interesting people in native species, non-invasive exotics and native species that attract native wildlife. From there, people may soon find themselves volunteering to clear exotic vines from local parks or spearheading native plant societies where they currently do not exist.

Salt Lake City, UT: Pollutants seem to be a large factor in bird decline. Do large scale human caused disasters (such as the recent oil spill off the coast of Spain) contribute widely to the extinction of bird species, or do they just cause a temporary hit to the population?

Howard Youth: It's been more than a decade since the Exxon Valdez spill and scientists are still puzzling and debating the effects this disaster had on wildlife populations. There is no simple answer to your question, which is a good one, by the way. Here in Spain, conservationists will find out this spring if the Prestige spill finished off the country's already struggling population of a seabird called the common murre. Murres turned up among the spill's casualties, but the birds winter and migrate off the Galician coast, and only a handful nested there as of last year. It can be easily said that oil spills and other chemical contaminations can finish off endangered bird populations. Conservationists have worried about this with the wild whooping crane population, which winters only in and around Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, near boat traffic that includes tankers. The introduced Florida satellite population is hoped to be a hedge against such an extinction threat. Oil spills occur around the world and each leaves its own devastation. Many bird populations will be able to rebound over time from spills. Others are more sensitive. We'll have to wait and see about Spain's murres.

: Just digesting your earlier comment about short-term economic decisions getting in the way of preserving diversity. In the computer world, there is a concept called total cost of ownership -- the machine, software, training, migration from the old to new system, and so on. The idea is that it's not just the price of the computer, but the whole process of using it that must be examined to make an informed decision. In terms of the TCO of our decisions to use pesticides, destroy environments through urban sprawl, widen highways, use fossil fuels, etc., maybe what we need is a total cost of ownership approach to talking about our decisions and their long term consequences. Maybe better said, it would be "total implications of ownership" or decisions.

Howard Youth: I definitely believe that part of human nature is short-sightedness. We're often distracted by deadlines, getting things done during terms in office, annual budgets, etc. These limits serve valuable purposes but don't always lean us toward steady implementation of long-term goals. Infrastructure, energy resources, etc. need to be analyzed for their impacts on the environment. We have a long way to go in this regard. I'm hopeful that our long-term vision will improve. Your "TIO" idea sounds good to me!

Steve Conklin, Worldwatch Institute: Thank you Howard for joining us today, and thanks to all our visitors and contributors to the discussion. For more information on Winged Messengers: The Decline of Birds visit http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/paper/165/

Howard Youth: It's been a pleasure. Thanks for the questions and for the interest.