Tweeters,



I would like to add my comments on the list of Washington "State Candidate"
species listed by Scott Downes and commented on by Gene Hunn.



First of all: the Pileated Woodpecker, in my professional opinion, has
absolutely no business being on such a list. I cite as evidence data from
Breeding Bird Survey population trends, as shown on the BBS website
(http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/specl07.html ) . For Washington, a
quick glance at the data might suggest that concern is warranted; the table
indicates an average decline in WA of 3.1% per year (1966 to 2007). However,
this trend is based on very low numbers (about 0.5 woodpeckers per BBS
route), and is NOT statistically significant. Moreover, the population trend
in the last 30 years (1980 to 2007) is positive, with an increase of 1.7%
per year; this is offset by an apparent decrease in the early years of the
BBS.



More important, however, are population trends in areas adjacent to
Washington. Both BC and Oregon show a long-term INCREASING trend: 3.1% per
year in BC, and 1.6% per year in Oregon. This trend is statistically
significant in BC, although not in Oregon.



Furthermore, looking at the trends for other states, provinces, and regions,
many of them show statistically significant increases, and NOT ONE OF THEM
shows a statistically significant decrease. For all of North America (USA
and Canada combined), Pileated Woodpeckers show an average increase of 1.8%
per year, which is highly significant statistically.



In short: the Washington trend for Pileated Woodpecker appears to be a
spurious trend based on a small sample size in the early years of the BBS.
Pileated Woodpecker is a species which is INCREASING everywhere, not
decreasing. We should be more concerned about Northern Flickers, which
although still commoner than Pileateds, show significant DECREASING trends
in many areas.



As for the other species mentioned by Scott as "State Candidate" species--
nearly all of them are on similar lists in adjacent provinces and states,
based on known population declines or habitat losses. The sole exception
may be Black-backed Woodpecker, which is too scarce in the Northwest to be
reliably sampled by the BBS. Key habitat for this species is forests killed
by wildfires or insect outbreaks, and populations are somewhat cyclic
depending on availability of habitat, but I don't think there is evidence of
a long-term decline.



All of the other species (besides the two above) listed by Scott have some
kind of special status in BC-- either listed federally in Canada as
endangered or threatened, or blue-listed in BC, which is the equivalent of
"special concern" status. (The exceptions are Loggerhead Shrike and Sage
Sparrow, which do not breed in BC.) The latter status applies to Flammulated
Owl, which has definitely lost some habitat because of logging of old-growth
Douglas-fir forests, but is in better shape in both BC and Washington than
the beleaguered Spotted Owl.





Population trends from the BBS are important data which should always be
considered in determining whether a species deserves some kind of special
conservation status, although some bird species are too scarce within the
area of concern, or have too specialized a habitat, for BBS trends too be
meaningful. It appears that the people who put the Pileated Woodpecker on
the "State Candidate" list in WA either overlooked or misinterpreted the BBS
data for that species.



Wayne C. Weber

Delta, BC

contopus at telus.net

(Retired biologist, BC Ministry of Environment)













From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Eugene and
Nancy Hunn
Sent: November-29-10 2:14 PM
To: 'Scott Downes'; tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: RE: [Tweeters] re: Ipods/ABA code of ethics



Hello tweets,



Nancy and I are settling into our rental house here in Sonoma, California,
amongst live and black oaks. The weather is fine. Thanks to all for your
parting thoughts. We'll miss you all but plan the occasional return visit.



I've been following this discussion from afar and would just like to comment
on the list Scott posted of "Species of Concern in Washington." I often have
this reaction when I see lists such as these, puzzling over why certain
species are included and others not and who compiles the list and by what
criteria. For example, in my experience Pileated Woodpeckers are common and
highly adaptable to all sorts of habitats. Why they should be of "concern"
is beyond me. Several of the other species listed appear to be "of concern"
due to habitat loss, which does not suggest to me that disturbance by eager
observers is likely to contribute to whatever threats they may face, e.g.,
Black-backed, Lewis's, and White-headed Woodpeckers; Sage Sparrows, Sage
Thrashers, and Loggerhead Shrikes; as for Flammulated Owls, I wonder why
they should be in this list, as they are now probably as uncommon as they
have always been.



My two centavos.



Gene Hunn

17353 Buena Vista Ave.

Sonoma, CA 95476

enhunn323 at comcast.net



From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Scott
Downes
Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 10:16 AM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] re: Ipods/ABA code of ethics



One more from me on this subject. I have seen posts talking about the ABA
code of ethics and stating its super clear. I wanted to provide some food
for thought.



ABA code of ethics says:

"To avoid stressing birds or exposing them to danger, exercise restraint and
caution during observation, photography, sound recording, or filming."

"Limit the use of recordings and other methods of attracting birds, and
never use such methods in heavily birded areas, or for attracting any
species that is Threatened, Endangered, or of Special Concern, or is rare in
your local area."



As many posters have said, it is difficult to define what "limiting" or what
the exact levels of stress is . Some people also take the notion that since
we can't define it, better to avoid any use. That's one approach, but
drastic and would mean some major alterations in some areas of birding.
Without playback of calls (and it's the same if you happen to do it yourself
and not use a e-device) would mean few nocturnal owls would be detected
outside of mating season when they often call on their own. As we come up on
the CBC season, most counts have owlers that go out and call for owls. I
don't know what the levels are for disturbance and likely varies by each
situation and species. As posts have shown it's not an easy question.



Two other things to think about are:



1. Pishing is also meant to elicit a response from a bird, probably causes
some stress. Most birders use it in some form (I use it frequently). It
should probably also fall in this same discussion, not just playback
devices.



2.ABA says "or for attracting any species that is Threatened, Endangered, or
of Special Concern, or is rare in your local area". We know what Threatened
and Endangered species are. However, species of special concern or rare is
harder to define. Since most of us live in Washington, for the sake of
argument, I'm going to use WDFW definitions for species of concern. WDFW
defines species of concern as:

"Species of Concern in Washington include those species listed as State
Endangered, State Threatened, State Sensitive, or State Candidate, as well
as species listed or proposed for listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service."

We all know about the spotted owl being endangered, but here is a list of
species that qualify under that definition that people might use Ipods to
call them in. Does this mean we should not use playback for these species? I
don't know if we should or should not, but do want people to be aware of
information when we start talking about this. In general, I don't think
we'll ever come to a conclusion on this. Many will police themselves and for
others that don't, managers on public lands will need to make rules for
their lands that they think fit the welfare of birds the best.

Black-backed woodpecker-State Candidate

Flammulated Owl-State Candidate

Lewis's Woodpecker-State Candidate

Loggerhead Shrike-State Candidate

Oregon Vesper Sparrow(Westside prairies form)-State Candidate

Pileated Woodpecker-State Candidate

Sage Sparrow-State Candidate

Sage Thrasher-State Candidate

White-headed woodpecker-State Candidate



Scott Downes

downess at charter.net

Yakima WA