>From today's Seattle PI--you can read the same article online here:

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/environment/archives/116685.asp


Bye-bye birdies nationwide

The National Audubon Society is releasing a study of decades of bird
sighting data, and the results are nothing to crow about. Turns out that not
only are our rare and finnicky feathered friends in decline, but also birds
common to backyard feeders and beaches.

In Washington, common birds whose numbers have dropped the most in 40 years
are:

* Evening Grosbeak: down 97 percent, possibly because of competition with
non-native house finches, or the spread of disease
* Bonaparte's Gull: down 97 percent, due to declining food sources, such as
Puget Sound herring
* Purple Finch: down 87 percent, greatest drop seen in urban areas where
they compete with house finches, recently hit by salmonella infections
spread at feeders
* Yellow-headed Blackbird: down 72 percent, because of farming techniques
that leave few vacant strips of land or wetlands, pollution and the
introduction of exotic fishes
* Western Meadowlark: down 60 percent, loss of grasslands to agricultural
row crops -- a trend that could worsen with push for corn for biofuels

How to save the birds? This thought from Nina Carter, executive
director of Audubon
Washington, from a press release:

"Here in Washington, the biggest problem comes from cutting up our
landscapes into smaller and smaller disconnected pieces. We should keep our
landscapes intact and connected for future generations of farmers and
foresters. Doing so will keep our common birds in good shape too."

On the national level, species on Audubon's list of "20 Common Birds in
Decline" have dropped at least 54 percent since 1967.

The data for the study come the Audubon's annual and century-old Christmas
Bird Count in which bird watchers nationwide tally and report bird numbers,
in combination with the U.S. Geological Survey's annual Breeding Bird
Survey.