The State of the Birds

The State of the Birds report is out and available to the public. This report can help educate land use managers and voters about the condition of birds throughout different habitats such as grasslands, forests, cities, and arid landscapes. The 35-page report is a reader friendly analysis helping bridge the gap between science and the public and is available online at www.stateofthebirds.org.  KBO’s executive director, John Alexander as well as Southern Oregon University’s  Stewart Janes and Ornithologist Barbara Massey were interviewed by the Mail Tribune for the article “The State of the Birds”. Janes states that the report is straightforward, “Birds are declining. We’ve done a great job of preventing extinction, but not as well with maintaining healthy populations.”

Though many species are declining some such as the Whooping Crane, whose population was once down to 16 individuals is now up to 540, are starting to increase credited partially to the Endangered Species Act. Bird hunters have also made an impact to conservation through funding from sales tax on guns and ammunition.

Alexander explains that birds are indicators of how well ecological systems are doing and land managers should consider the health of the birds when assessing management practices.

Not only do land managers and scientist make an impact in bird conservation but all levels of birders can as well. Imputing sightings into ebird, www.ebird.org/klamath-siskiyou, and participating in Christmas and breeding bird counts provide valuable information to help decipher the health of the birds. Looking over the report Alexander states “(It’s) a scary picture, but there’s optimism. Birds are resilient, as are our ecosystems.” Click here to read the full article in the Mail Tribune.