Audubon Society: Bird Population Drop is an Environmental Alarm

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published June 14, 2007 at 12:12 PM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

An analysis by the National Audubon Society shows that some of the country's most familiar bird populations have taken a nosedive over the past forty years -- some by as much as 80 percent. In Califor

Audubon Society: Bird Population Drop is an Environmental Alarm

(Right: Five birds in California are on the Audubon Society's list of common birds in decline. The Northern Pintail, pictured, is one of the species disappearing in California. Photo: Howard B. Eskin .)

An analysis by the National Audubon Society shows that some of the country's most familiar bird populations have taken a nosedive over the past forty years -- some by as much as 80 percent. In California, several common bird species are in decline. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more.

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The Audubon Society says common birds are becoming not quite so common. The group says the decline in bird species is linked to the loss of habitat -- grasslands, healthy forests and wetlands.

While the birds are not in immediate danger of extinction, the threats of global warming and development pressures could hasten their decline.

Gary Langham is the Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon California .

Langham : When birds from so many different kinds of habitat you know not just Southern California but also the Sierra and far Northern California and the Central Valley. When all the species relying on different sorts of habitat are declining then that should serve as a wake-up call to all of us.

In California, the Northern Pintail and Horned Lark topped the list with declines between 96 and 75 percent. Other common species in the state with declining numbers include House Finches, Killdeer and Lark Sparrow.

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Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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