The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) Tuesday reported that in less than 50 years western states including New Mexico, Utah and Arizona have lost almost half their bird populations.

"Right now, about a third of all bird species in the U.S. are in decline," said Steve Holmer of the ABC. It is one of the 23 organizations that cooperated in preparation of the report.

"The decline points to a very broad-scale problem where we're seeing habitat loss and a variety of threats," he said. "We're particularly concerned about the birds that live in deserts and grasslands in the West.

"These lands are being heavily used and there's a great deal of oil and gas development, so it's created a huge conservation challenge."

Shorebird species also are doing poorly, with near half of them endangered or at risk of becoming so. This includes species such as Ruddy Turnstones, Red Knots and Piping Plovers.

It's worse in Hawaii where we have done great ecological damage. including wholewale introduction of non-native species.

"Hawaii is the extinction capital of the world," said Pete Marra, director of the Smithsonian Institution's Migratory Bird Center. "We've seen about 10 extinctions in the past 40 years and all 33 species of endemic Hawaiian birds are in trouble."

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Add this to the climate problem, and, well ……

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The climate report got posted twice, I think, because the first post was inadvertently lifted word for word from The New York Times; my mistake. I thought the item came from Audubon. I should not do the blog before having morning coffee.