Possible Comeback

Possible Comeback

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Wildlife biologist Dr. Bruce Stein has been investigating the shocking reduction in bird populations since 1970 across North America, which includes Canada and the United States. While his research is ominous, Dr. Stein says there is a little bit of good news embedded in this story, particularly for outdoorsmen.

Although there's been this massive declines in that time, there's actually been some bird groups that have increased and done well. That includes waterfowl, where we've really focused a lot of conservation effort and investments in wetlands protection and restoration and waterfowl management. It includes eagles and raptors and the like that were threatened in the 1960s by pesticides like DDT. Well, with the banning of DDT and other conservation actions, we've really been able to turn that around. So the bad news is that these declines are broad based, particularly for grassland birds, which are declining the most rapidly. But the good news is that when we identify what's threatening these things, what's causing the declines. And when we have sufficient resources to invest, we can turn the picture around. Corny but rather apt cliche, I guess you'd say, Dr. Stein, the canary in the coal mine. It’s very much like the canary in the coal mine, because it's not just birds that are declining. We're seeing declines across many other wildlife groups.

One of the great conservation efforts, Ducks Unlimited waterfowl are in great shape.

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