SCIENTISTS AND BIRDWATCHERS FROM CANADA TO COL0MBIA
JOIN IN URGENT CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT A SILENT SPRING
TORTUGUERO, Costa Rica January 29, 1992 -- In a dripping rainforest
on Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast, a small yellow bird with black
cheeks leaves its perch and flies directly into an almost invisible
net. Minutes later, Daniel Hernandez, a scientist from Costa
Rica's National Museum, untangles the bird from the net and gives
it a quick, gentle examination.
The bird is a Kentucky warbler, recently arrived from the U.S.
eastern seaboard. It will spend up to six months here and then
make the long journey back north, a remarkable feat of endurance
for an animal weighing no more than a quarter.
Hernandez, an ornithologist, fastens a tiny coded ring to the
bird's leg and releases it. He hopes that a fellow biologist
somewhere in the Americas will capture the bird again and contact
him, giving them shared information about its travels.
Many of the birds that nest in North America escape the
northern winter by migrating to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central
America and even the northern parts of South America. These
long-distance migrants include some of the most colorful and
melodic species -- warblers, thrushes, and orioles -- whose songs
are the essence of spring in the northern forests. But scientists
are increasingly alarmed that future springs will be silent as the
populations of many migratory songbirds seem to be in decline.
About 200 different kinds of birds, from hawks to fly-
catchers, are what biologists call "Neotropical migrants." Five
species of these pan-American travelers are on the U.S.
government's threatened and endangered species list. One recent
study showed that 44 other species are in trouble.
While birdwatchers have long been concerned about dwindling
songbird numbers, an organized international effort to confront the
problem was only recently begun. In 1990, an agency created by
Congress, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, launched a
program called "Partners in Flight." According to project director
Peter Stangel, the objective is to create "the first integrated
federal, state and private program for research, monitoring and
habitat management for migratory songbirds.
The campaign began in the United States by involving federal
land-management agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service and the
Bureau of Land Management. These agencies, Stangel reports, made
a "strong early commitment" to the program. The Park Service, for
example, initiated a "migratory bird watch" in the parks, and the
Forest Service enlivened its tropical forestry program. Congress
pitched in by authorizing more than $3 million for songbird
conservation in FY 1991.
With the U.S. component in place, the program is now
connecting with agencies and conservation groups in the tropics.
"Since these birds are global citizens," Stangel says, "Our efforts
have to cross political boundaries."
In Costa Rica, Daniel Hernandez has begun a program to train
a cadre of local migrant watchers to gather information on the
birds. "Ninety percent of the studies done on these birds are from
the breeding areas in the States or Canada," Hernandez says. "We
need research in the tropics so we can determine which habitat
areas must be saved."
There are only four working Costa Rican ornithologists,
Hernandez claims, and, because birdwatching is not a common pastime
here, Costa Rica does not have the vast army of amateur experts
that contributes so much to bird studies in North America. For
example, more than 100,000 volunteers help the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service collect information on nesting songbirds.
The need for more data is urgent because scientists are not
sure how fast the birds are disappearing or what can be done about
it. They do know what's causing the problem. A tour around the
edges of the park where Hernandez is conducting his study reveals
the most obvious culprit: the rainforest is rapidly disappearing
under waves of small farms, cattle ranches and banana plantations.
It's no secret that Latin America and Caribbean forests are going
up in smoke.
The amount of forest cover in the United States is also
declining, but far less rapidly. However, scientists say that the
northern forest is increasingly "fragmented" by roads, suburbs and
other development. This fragmentation reduces breeding habitat and
makes it easier for predators to find nests.
So the songbirds face difficulties in both their winter and
summer residences. Conservationists are frustrated by a lack of
scientific studies, especially in the tropics, and the continued
loss of wildlands everywhere. Environmental groups in the tropics
are trying to do everything at once; research, education and
conservation. Examples:
* A citizen's group in Chiapas, Mexico, called Pronatura is
developing educational materials to promote forest conservation in
rural villages.
* A group called ANCON, in Panama, is studying the effects of
different agricultural techniques on migratory songbirds.
* A consortium of conservation and research groups in Costa
Rica is buying essential rainforest habitat.
* A team from the U.S. National Zoological Park is monitoring
songbird populations in southern Mexico.
* The World Wildlife Fund is developing management strategies
for songbird habitat in Belize.
Many scientists, including Daniel Hernandez in Costa Rica,
divide their time between research and conservation efforts.
Graciela de la Garza, director general of Mexico's natural
resources agency, says, "Conditions [for songbirds] are so urgent
that we can't plan. Usually, you do the studies first and then
conservation programs. We have to reverse the process."
SOME BIRDS AT RISK: Here are some of the 200 species of birds that
nest in North America and spend six months or so in the tropics.
Mississippi Kite Chestnut-sided Warbler
Broad-winged Hawk Bay-breasted Warbler
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Blackpoll Warbler
Great Crested Flycatcher Ovenbird
Wood Thrush Northern Waterthrush
Gray-cheeked Thrush Kentucky Warbler
Veery Hooded Warbler
Black-capped Vireo American Redstart
Red-eyed Vireo Northern Oriole
Black-and-white Warbler Western Tanager
Golden-cheeked Warbler Scarlet Tanager
Tennessee Warbler Black-headed Grosbeak
Northern Parula Eastern Wood-pewee
Black-throated Green Warbler Whippoorwill
Cerulean Warbler Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
* * *
Note to readers: This article may be used as is or altered, with
or without credit to the Tropical Conservation Newsbureau. For more
information, contact: Peter Stangel, National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation, 202/857-0166. Daniel Hernandez, Museo Nacional de Costa
Rica, 506/57-1433. Fax: 506/33-7427.