A rare desert songbird sounds 'red alert' for endangered bird species in Arizona
Arizona's desert birds are in decline, according to a national conservation report tracking long-term bird populations, prompting one conservation group to ask the federal government to take action on behalf of a quickly disappearing, rare songbird.
The Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the Bendire's thrasher under the Endangered Species Act.
The Bendire's thrasher is one of the nation's fastest declining birds, according to the petition, losing almost 90% of its population over the past 50 years.
Over half of the species' population lives in Arizona, where threats like urban sprawl and climate change have caused significant habitat loss.
The call to list the Benshire's thrasher reflects a larger trend of bird population decline across the country.
Nationally, about a third of all bird species found in the U.S. are at risk due to small or declining populations and other threats, according to the U.S. State of the Birds Report.
The report is an assessment of the nation's bird populations compiled by scientists from several bird conservation groups. Data sources for the report include U.S. Fish and Wildlife population surveys, National Audubon Society's bird counts, U.S. Geological Survey's Breeding Bird Survey and Cornell Lab of Ornithology's eBird Status and Trends project.
Of the 31 desert-dwelling bird species tracked in the report, more than half showed declining populations in the last 50 years. None of those arid land bird species in the report showed an increasing population.
'The fact that we're seeing such a decline in the Bendire's thrasher population signals high levels of degradation in the ecosystem and declines in other species,' said Krista Kemppinen, senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity.
'The Bendire's thrasher has an ecological role, but it's also an indicator of changes that may be happening in less studied species and of changes yet to come,' said Kemppinen.
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The Bendire's thrasher was named after Charles Bendire, a U.S. Army Lieutenant and naturalist who came across the unknown bird in the 1870s.
The medium-sized desert songbird has a dusty brown plumage, bright yellow eyes and a long tail. Found in shrubby desert and grassland habitats, the thrasher spends much of its time skittering on the ground searching for its next meal with its tail cocked in the air. The term 'thrasher' is used to describe birds that forage on the ground and 'thrash' leaf litter or dirt in search of their next meal.
The Bendire's thrasher is a shy bird, except during breeding season, when the male thrashers sing a rich but jumbled song.
The U.S. State of the Birds Report categorizes the Bendire's thrasher as one of 42 red-alert tipping point species, meaning the species requires immediate conservation action to ensure recovery.
One of the biggest threats facing the species is sprawl from population centers in the state. The flat, shrubby desert land where the thrashers live is also a prime location for development projects, like the proposed Interstate 11 corridor, a 280-mile highway that would stretch from Wickenburg to Nogales.
'The reason why unchecked development into desert habitat is a concern, is because it destroys the habitat and resources that the thrasher needs for breathing, nesting and overall survival,' said Kemppinen.
'It also serves to increase the fragmentation of existing habitat into smaller and smaller patches. That ultimately become so small that they're unable to support viable populations of native species.'
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Conservationists have been tracking the thrasher's decline for over a decade.
In 2010, a diverse coalition of environmental groups and state and federal agencies formed the Desert Thrasher Working Group, a project under the Borderlands Avian Data Center, to study population trends and create management practices for the Bendire's thrasher, LeConte's thrasher and loggerhead shrike.
Initially focused on developing survey protocols for the elusive birds, in recent years, the group has begun creating best practices for solar energy projects seeking to develop thrasher habitats.
'These are attractive areas for solar. They don't have a lot of tall trees and the land's rather flat,' said Jennie MacFarland, the director of bird conservation with Tucson Bird Alliance, who is a part of the Desert Thrasher Working Group. 'It looks like this is empty desert, and it's not. It's home for birds like Bendire's and LeConte's thrashers.
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Simply having a small population doesn't mean a species meets the requirements to be listed under the Endangered Species Act. The federal law lists five factors to determine whether a species is at risk of extinction.
The Bendire's thrasher meets four of those five factors, according to the center, including destruction or threats to habitat, disease or predation, inadequacy of existing regulations, and other manmade or natural factors that threaten the species' existence.
If the Bendire's thrasher is listed under the Endangered Species Act, U.S. Fish and Wildlife will craft a recovery plan that will contain specific actions to conserve the species in the wild.
The petition is only the first step.
Now that the center's petition has been submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the federal agency will have 90 days to respond. If the agency moves forward, a multi-year scientific analysis and environmental review will be conducted before the Bendire's thrasher is officially listed under the Endangered Species Act.
In the meantime, as multiple desert bird species see population decline, MacFarland points to the public's willingness to adapt their properties to bird-friendly habitats as a positive development for conservation.
'One of the biggest bright spots is seeing how many people are interested in turning their yards, their human habitat, into suitable habitat for the species that are willing to live in more urban areas,' said MacFarland with Tucson Bird Alliance.
'Tons of people that are really interested and committed to it, and do a lot of work to make their properties and yards good for birds and wildlife.'
John Leos covers environmental issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to john.leos@arizonarepublic.com.
Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
Follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Group seeks endangered status for Bendire's thrasher, desert songbird
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