A quarter of all US bird species are at risk, according to a new analysis by conservation groups. The 2007 ‘WatchList’ from the National Audubon Society and the America Bird Conservancy say 178 species in the continental US and 39 in Hawaii need “immediate conservation help”. We had a look at the numbers…
“We call this a ‘WatchList’ but it is really a call to action, because the alternative is to watch these species slip ever closer to oblivion,” says Greg Butcher, co-author of the new list (press release, report home page, report PDF).
The list was last produced in 2002. Since then it has grown 10%, as noted in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Reuters quotes Butcher thus: “Unfortunately we’ve been seven years in an administration that really doesn’t believe in the Endangered Species Act, so they’ve sort of been looking for excuses not to list species that should be added to the act.”
This does lead to us asking the question of how endangered these species actually are. On the one hand the Bush administration may not have been as rigorous as it could have been over endangered species*. But the report’s other author, David Pashley, says “Adoption of this list as the ‘industry standard’ will help to ensure that conservation resources are allocated to the most important conservation needs.”
This could be problematic as there is a gold standard conservation list already – the IUCN Red List. Helpfully the Audubon report includes a comparison to the IUCN, saving me the trouble. So how do they match up? In a word – badly…
Of the 59 species the new report puts at ‘Red’ status, 17 are listed by the IUCN as Least Concern, its lowest risk level which includes “widespread and abundant taxa”. Only five of the 59 are IUCN Critically Endangered species. Things get worse at Audubon’s ‘Yellow – Declining’ status where 36 out of 49 are IUCN ‘Least Concern’.
Of course the IUCN list is global, not just about the US. However, commendable as it is to highlight at risk species, we do need to acknowledge that conservation resources are limited. Maybe America should focus on birds that are really, globally endangered, rather than getting on quite well elsewhere.
While this report gives nice headlines, I’m going to keep the faith with the IUCN for now.
Keeping it local:
Many imperiled birds spend time in Florida – News Press
Local birds face decline – Tallahassee.com
Report lists threatened Montana birds – Billings Gazette
Oregon birds on the brink of extinction – The Oregonian
Bird groups say 56 species are threatened in N.C. – News & Observer (North Carolina)
* See for example the recent overturning of seven wildlife decisions (Houston Chronicle)
Image: Prairie-chicken, lesser / USFWS