Tag Archives: bird your world

Hawaiian Goose or Nēnē

29Nene-caseygirard

I wanted to ensure we focused on one bird from Hawai’i and went with the state bird, the Hawaiian Goose or Nēnē. Given that Hawai’i is considered the endangered bird capitol of the world I waned to make sure to bring awareness in some way. Hawai’i has nearly a quarter of all endangered birds on the US Endangered Species list, but receives very little funding for protection or recovery efforts. Islands are sensitive and limited ranges making them easily susceptible to introduced threats.

About Them: The Nēnē is a smaller but, taller goose. It is thought to be a distant descendant of the Canada Goose from a lost migrating flock that landed on Hawai’i about half a million years ago. They have significant differences from the Canada Goose with less webbing through their toes and longer straighter legs giving them the needed advantage for walking over rough ground such as lava flows. Nēnē also have smaller wings for only flying between the Hawaiian islands. They are endemic to Hawai’i meaning they are found no where else in the world.

Their plight: These are land dwelling island birds that succumbed to all the usual human settlement consequences. They were over hunted, they fell prey to introduced species, and caught diseases from introduced insects and other vectors. These factors as well as habitat loss through development and interactions with roads and vehicles all threaten the continued survival of the Nēnē.

The introduced species of note are mongoose, rats, feral cats, and mosquitos. Mongoose and rats eat the geese and their eggs. Feral cats eat the geese, but also poison them with toxoplasmosis. There are enough feral cats that it is wide spread in the soil, this also harms humans. It’s hard to believe that mosquitos were introduced. There are 6 species of mosquito on Hawai’i now and they carry avian diseases that are fatal to the endemic birds.

What we should consider: Human intervention started the decline of the island species, but how much should we intervene now. How do we ensure that our efforts to support native species don’t have counter effects that cause more damage? It is very easy to fall into a lady-who-ate-the-fly scenario of failure when dealing with introduced species. However, I believe if there are non-impactful to the native species measures that can be taken I think it is worth an attempt.

What is being done: In the 1950’s the Nēnē population was at 30 birds. This was when a captive breeding program was started to help bring the population back to healthier numbers. There are now around 2,000 birds across a few of the islands and in 2014 a pair was seen for the first time on Oahu since, apparently, the 1700’s. More needs to be done, more elaborate feral cat capture or at least spay and neutering, a mosquito control program is being developed, but there is a need for funding to implement.

How to help: Do your best to not bring contaminates to Hawai’i upon a visit there. Clean hiking boots and other shoes. Wash all other gear so that it is as sterile as possible. Follow the regulations to the letter, they are there to protect the native species.

Continue bringing awareness. Call into state senators when legislation is being passed that could affect the continued support of policy that protects wildlife, land, and waterways. Support locally.

Support can be:

  • donating to science groups
  • helping to ensure funding to the organizations that handle breeding programs
  • being a citizen scientist through
    • land restoration projects
    • trash clean ups
    • species counts
    • bio blitzes
  • getting people you know excited about how incredible our planet’s biodiversity is.

Joining your local Audubon Society or other local conservation group is a great first step into finding activities and ways to become a citizen scientist and environmental advocate.

Further Reading, my sources:

http://damontucker.com/2016/06/03/study-finds-endangered-hawaiian-geese-at-risk-from-disease-spread-by-feral-cats/

https://www.beautyofbirds.com/hawaiiangeese.html

http://scienceviews.com/animals/nene.html

https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/nature/endangered_nene.htm

https://abcbirds.org/article/new-study-identifies-sources-of-mortality-for-iconic-hawaiian-goose/

https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/hawaii/state-bird/nene

https://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/promo.cfm?id=177175836

http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/22679929

https://greenglobaltravel.com/hawaiian-goose-facts-nene-goose/

https://honoluluzoo.org/hawaiian-goose-nene/

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/esa_works/profile_pages/HawaiianGoose.html

https://www.hawaii.com/discover/nene

http://seapics.com/feature-subject/birds/nene-pictures.html

https://www.arkive.org/nene/branta-sandvicensis/image-G1911.html

https://www.citylab.com/environment/2014/03/after-centuries-away-endangered-nene-goose-returns-oahu/8733/

https://www.audubon.org/news/hawaii-counts-meet-10-island-birds-now-eligible-your-life-list

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/bad-news-and-good-news-about-hawaiian-birds/

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/keeping-hope-alive-for-hawaiis-iiwi/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extinct_animals_of_the_Hawaiian_Islands

[This is a blog of my opinions. I speak for myself. I am a one person team and if I have misinterpreted a fact or made an error please feel free to get in touch to correct me. I will make edits and updates to post. I would appreciate corrections to be polite. I will not engage in hate.]

Attwater Prairie Chicken

28AttwaterPrairieChicke-Caseygirard

About Them: While called a chicken these are actually a grouse. They are striking birds that may at first look like a chicken until you see a male doing a full display. They are like birds of paradise in how much they have to put on a show to get a female to chose them for breeding. The males have orange orbs that inflate on either side of their neck and crest feathers that pop up like rabbit ears when they display. They also have similar wing and tail display to other game birds, both fanned out. Here is a video of them in action. They lay eggs in April and May finished before Hurricane season. The chickens feed on the native insects that roam the native grasses that make up the prairie.

Their plight: They have reached such low numbers and in recent years have received hit after hit from storms, Hurricane Harvey wiped out 80% of the 42 wild birds, to drought, to fire ant devastation. It is miraculous they are still here.

Prairie-Chicks used to range across the coastal plains of Texas to Louisiana but, widespread development has decimated all but 1% of the habitat for these birds. They now have one wild flock at the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge and are maintaining population from yearly released birds bred in captivity. The birds are successful in going from captivity to breeding in the wild and some years have seen wonderful population growth, but with such a small population each weather disaster is able to devastate them back down to almost gone.

Fire Ants have been another huge issue. Not only do they feed on the young they also consume all of the insects that live in the prairie leaving nothing for the young prairie chickens to grow up on. The Fire Ants are an invasive species that was introduced in Alabama in the 1930’s and have since populated almost all of the southern states. They are not only terrible for native wildlife they are incredibly harmful and costly to humans.

What we should consider: Getting rid of an invasive species after it has been introduced can be a troublesome undertaking. While eradicating the species you may do unforeseen harm to the existing ecosystem in other ways. Although, with the fire ants I think it is a necessary evil to take out this insect from North America. It is sometimes impossible to know the ripple effect of our actions, but with species introduction unless it is a release of an endangered species it is best to never do.

Even our domestic animals can have devastating effects on ecosystems. Humans are a big population which means the domestic animals we need or have is also a staggering population that is a significant impact.

What is being done: Attwater Prairie Chickens are in the first group of animals put on the US’s Endangered Species Protection Act before it was fully the ESA. In the 60’s the numbers of Attwater Prairie Chickens had started declining dramatically and it is guessed this is when the effects of Fire Ants really started. There is no other known significant yearly issue these birds face. The captive breeding program is wide spread between numerous facilities with a continued end goal of a sustainable wild population. After many years in a row with bad outcomes due to unprecedented storms and drought as well as not enough control on fire ant population there is hope that 2019 will be the start of the upswing. These birds evolved to breed in numbers and quickly since they are prey animals. They should, once given the right conditions, be able to rebound.

How to help: Be a part of community planning. See how having more native grasslands around your community can aid in flood relief.

Continue bringing awareness. Call into state senators when legislation is being passed that could affect the continued support of policy that protects wildlife, land,  and waterways. Support locally.

Support can be:

  • donating to science groups
  • helping to ensure funding to the organizations that creating breeding programs
  • being a citizen scientist through
    • land restoration projects
    • trash clean ups
    • species counts
    • bio blitzes
  • getting people you know excited about how incredible our planet’s biodiversity is.

Joining your local Audubon Society or other local conservation group is a great first step into finding activities and ways to become a citizen scientist and environmental advocate.

Further Reading, my sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGSWi_vgu9A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mSVV91sOos

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/08/news-attwater-prairie-chicken-murder-mystery-endangered-species/

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Attwater_Prairie_Chicken/multimedia/Videos.html

http://www.attwater.org/

https://www.audubon.org/news/boom-or-bust-last-stand-attwaters-prairie-chicken

https://www.audubon.org/news/a-rare-encounter-even-rarer-bird

https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/did-hurricane-harvey-signal-last-dance-attwaters-prairie-chickens

https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/attwaters-prairie-chicken-dances-face-destruction

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Attwater_Prairie_Chicken/wildlife/fire_ants.html

https://www.houstonzoo.org/saving-wildlife/texas-conservation/attwaters-prairie-chicken/

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Save-the-Attwater-prairie-chicken-save-Houston-12856980.php#photo-12891446

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/gardening/article/Festival-celebrates-Attwater-s-prairie-chickens-12810480.php

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Holst-WWJD-about-the-lesser-prairie-chicken-7968987.php

https://medium.com/@USFWS/invasive-fire-ants-make-problems-for-attwaters-prairie-chicken-c055dd2e02f8

https://www.nfwf.org/attwater/Pages/home.aspx

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/apc/

[This is a blog of my opinions. I speak for myself. I am a one person team and if I have misinterpreted a fact or made an error please feel free to get in touch to correct me. I will make edits and updates to post. I would appreciate corrections to be polite. I will not engage in hate.]

Whooping Crane

25-whoopingcranecaseygirard

Photo reference from Donna Pomeroy 

About Them: Whooping Cranes are the largest birds in North America standing 5 feet tall with a 7 foot wing span. They are a rare bird to see, unless you go to specific locations in Texas or Florida. It is also possible to see a couple mixed in with groups of Sandhill Crane. This species got down to under 20 birds in the 1940’s. Once strict protections were set up the species began a slow recovery. There are now over 700 Whooping Cranes.

Their plight: Historically these birds were hunted for their plumage and their habitat was routinely damaged. That damage was human development; filling in ‘swamps’ goes back far, George Washington made his slaves work through winter moving dirt to fill in the swamp on his land. Wetlands are also the lowest land therefore, prone to pollution from run off or dumping.

Now, these problems still persist, they are still shot illegally sometimes and wetland destruction is still prevalent. Additionally coming back from so few birds their genetic diversity is low making them highly susceptible to a mass death from disease. They also run into power lines during migration unless they are properly marked. There is concern that given their limited habitat with all the cranes in one place, one bad storm could devastate the population.

What we should consider: There seems to be a sudden trend of species seeing a ‘considered success’ by upper government. I think decisions to de-list or step back from recovery efforts are being made in haste. Funding should not be removed from this species for continued recovery efforts. This is a good example of why I began this blog project, the Endangered Species Act is under attack in subtle ways like this. We have to say as a group, we want our money to go to these programs and see our government fund job growth in healthful environmental research. If they are taking this out of our hands federally we have to focus locally with state government. It may seem like a lot of money to help a bird, but these species that suffer under environmental strain are like the age old canary in a coal mine, they are letting us know our habitat is unstable. If we are making is safe for the plants and animals we will be safe too.

Why do we fill in wetlands? This happens across our country. Once a wetland is filled in even if you build it up with structures, these areas are more prone to flooding or if the area is built up enough will cause water to flood surrounding areas. If the land is turned to farming, as they have done in the Central Valley more efforts could be made to make rice be grown where it was wetland. Farmers aid migratory birds by flooding fields to make suitable space for the over wintering birds.   

What is being done: The Whooping Crane remains on the Endangered Species List as it is still one of the most rare birds in North America. There are still breeding programs through zoos and protections for their habitat. The concern is felt for the plight of this bird as it is striking, bringing widespread interest. 

How to help: Vote for representatives that have priorities towards tackling climate change and keeping our environments healthy.

Continue bringing awareness. Call into state senators when legislation is being passed that could affect the continued support of policy that protects wildlife, land, and waterways. Support locally.

Support can be:

  • donating to science groups
  • helping to ensure funding to the organizations that creating breeding programs
  • being a citizen scientist through
    • land restoration project
    • trash clean ups
    • species counts
    • bio blitzes
  • getting people you know excited about how incredible our planet’s biodiversity is.

Joining your local Audubon Society or other local conservation group is a great first step into finding activities and ways to become a citizen scientist and environmental advocate.

Further Reading, my sources:

https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/whooping_crane

https://youtu.be/Ye4Swf3-yDM

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/whooping-crane

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/10/world-s-biggest-whooping-crane-breeding-program-winds-down

http://myfwc.com/research/wildlife/birds/whooping-crane/faq/

https://www.fws.gov/northflorida/whoopingcrane/whoopingcrane-fact-2001.htm

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/w/whooping-crane/?user.testname=lazyloading:c

https://www.savingcranes.org/species-field-guide/whooping-crane/

https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/whocra/introduction

http://operationmigration.org/the-whooping-crane.asp

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/09/18/a-50-year-effort-to-raise-endangered-whooping-cranes-comes-to-an-end/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.477760e71b83

https://www.savingcranes.org/species-field-guide/whooping-crane/

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/magazine/22cranes-t.html

https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/whooping-cranes-texas/

https://www.aza.org/SAFE-whooping-crane

https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=B003

[This is a blog of my opinions. I speak for myself. I am a one person team and if I have misinterpreted a fact or made an error please feel free to get in touch to correct me. I will make edits and updates to post. I would appreciate corrections to be polite. I will not engage in hate.]

Roseate Tern

17 roseatetern-caseygirard

Referenced from a photo by Faraaz Abdool 

About Them: This is a medium sized tern that bears much in common via look with the Common Tern, Arctic Tern, and Forster’s Tern. They all have full black caps during breeding, black bills that turn orange black for breeding, and similar flight look. They are rather passive terns. They chose to breed amongst Common and Arctic Terns because they are more aggressive in nest defense. They also manage nest protection by finding breeding locations that offer some cover for their nests. Even with these protections they still have many predators. These are tropical birds that have populations across the world, but have significantly declined in their North Eastern Atlantic population.

Their plight: For reasons rather unknown Roseate Terns are declining in their North Eastern Atlantic populations. While there is research around breeding in their breeding locations, there isn’t much information about where they winter because a large portion of the birds are generally out to sea. The birds have lost some habitat, they used to range for breeding all along the East Coast of the US, but are now only in the New England/New York area and the tip of Florida and the Bahamas. Gull populations have increased, taking over breeding habitat and causing predation of tern young. Late summer hurricanes are also very damaging to fledgling terns. The fledglings aren’t necessarily capable yet of handling such weather and storms have risen in their intensity since the 1930’s.

Historically these birds were hunted for their plumage. After the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was put in place the terns did rebound somewhat in population, but never as much as the other local terns.

What we should consider: How interesting to have a species that is only struggling to maintain population on our continent verses the rest of the world. What a difference it is to have not the concern of world extinction, but local extinction. Although, could this trend continue to the rest of the population if we aren’t able to find answers for their decline? It gives an insight into how we are maybe affecting our environments and wildlife differently than the rest of the world.

What is being done: Where they have breeding colonies there is a great deal of management including boxes that offer nest protection, banding studies, and attention to nesting pairs to research productivity and success rates of young to adult. More research needs to be done to find how to rescue this species in this location.

How to help: Continue bringing awareness. Call into state senators when legislation is being passed that could affect the continued support of policy that protects wildlife and waterways. Support locally.

Support can be:

  • donating to science groups
  • helping to ensure funding to the organizations that creating breeding programs
  • being a citizen scientist through
    • land restoration project
    • trash clean ups
    • species counts
    • bio blitzes
  • getting people you know excited about how incredible our planet’s biodiversity is.

Joining your local Audubon Society or other local conservation group is a great first step into finding activities and ways to become a citizen scientist and environmental advocate.

Further Reading, my sources:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Roseate_Tern/overview

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/roseate-tern

https://www.audubon.org/news/falkner-island-connecticut-roseate-tern-webcam

https://www.audubon.org/news/us-house-passes-harmful-fisheries-bill

https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=B07O

https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/roster/introduction

http://www.nhptv.org/wild/roseatetern.asp

https://abcbirds.org/bird/roseate-tern/

https://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/mbr/tern2.htm

http://www.planetofbirds.com/charadriiformes-laridae-roseate-tern-sterna-dougallii

http://www.hww.ca/en/wildlife/birds/roseate-tern.html

https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/roster/overview

https://identify.whatbird.com/obj/1039/_/Roseate_Tern.aspx

[This is a blog of my opinions. I speak for myself. I am a one person team and if I have misinterpreted a fact or made an error please feel free to get in touch to correct me. I will make edits and updates to post. I would appreciate corrections to be polite. I will not engage in hate.]