Saving Our Birds

It was 100 years ago that the last Passenger P

igeon on earth, Martha, died in her cage at the Cincinnati Zoo.  What happened to her merits close attention.

The passenger pigeon was among the most famous of American birds, not because of it's beauty, or its 60-mil-an-hour-flight speed, but because  it is the largest-scale-human-caused extinction in history.  Possibly the most abundant bird ever to have existed, sometimes migrating in flocks of 3 billion.  The passenger pigeon has been extinct for the past 100 years.



Not a whole lot extinctions come close to what happened to the Passenger Pigeon.  The fate of cod fisheries in the late 1900's mirrors that of the passenger pigeon a century before.  Pacific Bluefin around the world are down 96%, and may be next in line for extinction.  There are many examples around the world, but the good news is that we still have time to do something before it is too late.

The 2014 State of the Birds report, a periodic assessment of the health of our bird population, will soon be out.  The results will tell us what we should be doing to protect at risk species.  We know that timely conservation action works.  Peregrine falcons and bald eagles, for example, demonstrated that our underregulated pesticide habits were poisoning the environment, and us.  Once we knew this, we did something about it and our environment of endangered species are vastly healthier because of it.  Had we done something in a timely manner back when the passenger pigeon was in danger, we may have been able to save the species.

Today we have The Endangered Species Act, a powerful piece of environmental legislation that is helping to keep bird species and other animals, from becoming extinct.  Birds in particular, are a barometer for the health of our lands and waters.  Very recently the toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie rendered Toledo's water supply undrinkable.  A healthy bird habitat makes for healthy human habitat.

Right now there are 230 species on the 2014 State of the Birds watch list.  We need to continue to commit and invest in maintaining existing species, and paying attention to the birds.  Had we done this in the 1800's, the passenger pigeon would still be here.