0.8.

I|sh & w||6||fe 8erv|ce

kre 8|r6s |a 0aager1
Ol tLe S8b species ol biros protecteo unoer
tLe Migratory Biro Treaty Act, about a
quarter are known to be in trouble. TLere
are 7S biro species listeo as Inoangereo
ano 14 species listeo as TLreateneo in tLe
!.S. An aooitional 144 species are on tLe
National list ol Biros ol Conservation
Concern zOO1 (some wLose populations are
oeclining precipitously). It cannot be
assumeo tLat tLe remainoer ol !.S. biros
are sale, as population oata on essentially a
tLiro ol tLese species are lacking, making
status oetermination very oillicult il not
impossible. TLe problems tLat biros lace
in tLe !.S. are symptomatic ol tLe
problems tLey lace globally.
what kre the hamaa0aase6 1hreats te 8|r6s1
Biros lace tremenoous cLallenges to tLeir
survival every oay. TLe ma]ority ol tLese
cLallenges are relateo to Luman activities.
Vast numbers ol biros are killeo oue to
collisions witL Luman structures ano
equipment, poisoning by pesticioes ano
contaminants, ano attacks by cats ano
otLer introouceo preoators.
iseases sucL as botulism, avian cLolera,
salmonellosis, ano emerging West Nile
virus can also Lave signilicant population
impacts. Human activities, sucL as overuse
ol pesticioes (enLancing tLe survival ol
pesticioe-resistant mosquitoes), lor
example, can Lelp spreao certain oiseases.
TLe greatest tLreat
to biros, ano all
wilolile, continues to
be loss ano/or
oegraoation ol
Labitat oue to Luman
oevelopment ano
oisturbance. Ior
migratory biros ano
otLer species tLat
require multiple areas lor wintering,
breeoing, ano stopover points, tLe ellects ol
Labitat loss can be complex ano lar-
reacLing.
Aooeo to oeatLs lrom natural causes, sucL
as aoverse weatLer, preoation, or
starvation, Luman-relateo biro oeatLs may
result in greater mortality tLan a
population can witLstano. In otLer woros,
it is tLe cumulative or combineo impact ol
all mortality lactors tLat concerns
scientists most. TLus, anytLing oone to
reverse Luman-relateo biro oeatLs ano
tLus potential impacts to biro populations
are ol consioerable interest to tLe Service.
hew Maay 8|r6s are k|||e61
TLe !.S. IisL ano Wilolile Service
estimates tLat a minimum ol 1O billion
biros breeo in NortL America. Iall
populations may be on tLe oroer ol zO
billion. TLese ligures represent only
eoucateo guesses. Mortality ligures are
also oillicult to oetermine. Baseo on
mooeling ano otLer approacLes, estimates
Lave been maoe lor some ol tLe most
visible tLreats.
M|gratery 8|r6 Merta||ty
Mun Hvnun-(uvseJ Threu|s
Aff/ic| ovr EirJ Iov/u|ions
M|gratery 8|r6 Maaagemeat
M|ss|ea
To conserne niqru|or birJ
ov/u|ions unJ |heir hubi|u|s
for fv|vre qeneru|ions, |hrovqh
curefv/ noni|orinq unJ effec|ine
nunuqenen|.
(o//isions. Builoing winoow strikes may
account lor 97 to 97b million biro oeatLs
eacL year. Communication towers
conservatively kill 4 to million biros
annually (possibly closer to 4O to O
million; a nationwioe cumulative impacts
stuoy sLoulo Lelp resolve tLis question).
Strikes at LigL tension transmission ano
oistribution power lines very
conservatively kill tens ol tLousanos ol
biros annually. Taking into account tLe
millions ol miles ol bulk transmission ano
oistribution lines in tLe !.S., ano
extrapolating lrom Iuropean stuoies,
actual mortality coulo be as LigL as 174
million oeatLs annually. Ilectrocutions
probably kill tens ol tLousanos ol biros but
tLe problem is barely monitoreo. Cars
may kill bO million biros or more eacL year,
private ano commercial aircralt lar lewer,
wLile wino turbine rotors kill an estimateo
88,OOO biros annually.
Ioisoninq. In one recent stuoy, pesticioes
were estimateo to result in tLe oirect
oeatLs ol at least 7z million biros annually.
TLis is an unoerestimate ol tLe total
oeatLs, given tLat oelayeo oeatLs lrom
poisoneo prey, orpLaneo cLicks, ano
neurological problems were not incluoeo
ano tLe stuoy site was limiteo. Oil spills
may kill Lunoreos ol tLousanos or more,
oepenoing on tLe severity ano timing ol tLe
spill. !p to two million biros are killeo
annually in oil ano wastewater pits, mainly
in tLe western states.
(u|s. Many citizens woulo be surpriseo to
learn tLat oomestic ano leral cats may kill
Lunoreos ol millions ol songbiros ano otLer
avian species eacL year. A recent stuoy in
Wisconsin estimateo tLat in tLat state
alone, oomestic rural cats kill rougLly 89
million biros annually. Aoo tLe oeatLs
causeo by leral cats, or oomestic cats in
urban ano suburban areas, ano tLis
mortality ligure woulo be mucL LigLer.
E-(u|ch. Tens to Lunoreos ol tLousanos
ol seabiros are estimateo to oie in !.S.
lisLeries eacL year. Monitoring lor tLis,
Lowever, is again very limiteo.
what kre we 0e|ag te e6ace Merta||ty1
WLile tLe incioental, accioental or
unintentional take" ol migratory biros is
not permitteo by tLe Service ano is a
criminal violation ol tLe Migratory Biro
Treaty Act, tLe Service attempts to work
witL tLose inoustries ano inoiviouals wLose
actions result in biro oeatLs, ratLer tLan
pursuing criminal prosecution lirst.
Ior over z years, tLe Service Las been a
co-fovnJinq ur|ner of |he Aniun Iover
Line In|eruc|ion (onni||ee Lelping
oevelop two voluntary guioance oocuments
to reouce biro strikes ano electrocutions.
More recently, tLe Service co-fovnJeJ |he
Aniun Svbconni||ee of |he Nu|ionu/
WinJ (oorJinu|inq (onni||ee, working to
reouce biro strikes at wino turbines, ano
we fovnJeJ unJ chuir |he (onnvnicu|ion
Tover Wor/inq Grov, working to reouce
biro strikes at communication towers. We
also co-chuir |he In|eruqenc SeubirJ
Wor/inq Grov, implementing a national
plan ol action to reouce seabiro bycatcL in
longline lisLing gear.
Because ol ]urisoictional ano ownersLip
issues, working to reouce cat-causeo
mortality, builoing winoow strikes, ano oil
spills is a more complex unoertaking.
Here, we svor| ini|iu|ines svch us |he
(u|s InJoors Iroqrun unJ |he Fu|u/
Liqh| Avureness Iroqrun, wLicL
encourages builoing owners to turn oll
skyscraper ligLts ouring spring ano lall
nigLt-time songbiro migrations. Ior
tLreats tLat can be aooresseo by inoivioual
citizen action, we oesign public eoucation
materials witL relateo messages sucL as
encouraging Lomeowners to reouce Lome
pesticioe use ano consumers to select
environmentally-lrienoly prooucts, sucL as
sLaoe-grown collee.
eclining biro populations are probably
most olten tLe result ol combineo or
cumulative impacts ol all mortality, tLus
aooressing eacL ol tLe contributing lactors
is a priority.
what f|se ls hee6e6 te e6ace Merta||ty1
IesearcL is critical. In tLe case ol
collisions, lor example, we oon't
unoerstano specilically Low ligLt attracts
biros to communication towers, tall
builoings, wino turbines, transmission
towers, or otLer lit structures. We neeo to
learn il oeterrents sucL as low-lrequency
souno, coloreo markers, or structural
mooilications reouce avian collisions. We
also lack an unoerstanoing ol Low biros
select stopover areas ouring spring ano
lall migrations. WitLout it, we cannot
ellectively manage Labitats ano
recommeno against builoing new
structures in critical biro-use areas. Above
all, tLe cumulative impacts ol collisions on
biro populations must be assesseo tLey
are currently unknown. WitL tLe
exponential increase in new structures,
avian monitoring must be a priority. All ol
tLis inlormation sLoulo be transmitteo to
lano managers, inoustry representatives,
ano allecteo agencies.
***
Migratory biros are some ol nature's most
magnilicent resources. TLeir conservation
is a critical ano cLallenging enoeavor lor
tLe Migratory Biro Management !rogram
ano all wLo value nature.
(/ose-huseJ vires ure u o|en|iu/
e/ec|rocv|ion hu:urJ.
(u|s cuvse |renenJovs birJ nor|u/i|.
Ier Mere lafermat|ea:
0.8. I|sh aa6 w||6|fe 8erv|ce
0|v|s|ea ef M|gratery 8|r6 Maaagemeat
4401 h. Ia|rfax 0r|ve, eem 634
kr||agtea, Vk 22203
703 358 1714
http:((h|r6s.fws.gev
Jaaaary 2002