[mou] Fwd: "Loving" Birds To Death

[Jim Williams]

These are interesting comments that should concern us all.
Jim Williams
Wayzata

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Ted Lee Eubanks" <eubanks@io.com>
Date: June 7, 2005 7:18:26 AM CDT
To: <Conservationthroughbirding@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: RE: [Conservationthroughbirding] "Loving" Birds To Death

The recent note (included at end of this message) from Sheri reporting 
the demise of the Arizona Slate-throated Redstart is, unfortunately, 
hardly surprising or unexpected. Perhaps birders had a fatal impact, 
perhaps not. But the lesson to be learned is the same. A growing (and 
visible) segment of birding has become increasingly single-species 
focused, placing concerns for habitat and biodiversity in subordinate 
positions.

I spent this past weekend in Ithaca, attending various Cornell Lab board
meetings. On Friday the staff briefed us (exhaustively) about the
rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. While a marvel of scientific
research and application (although the rediscovery came about by 
chance, the
steps taken to confirm that discovery and secure the birds protection 
are
the products of deliberate effort), the wild card in this deck is the 
way in
which the recreational public will react to the news. In Tim 
Gallagher's new
book, The Grail Bird, he quotes George Lowery as follows about an 
earlier
rediscovery:

"I have told no one where the observation and photographs were 
made...you
know what would happen if the information became general knowledge. 
There would be two hundred amateur bird watchers on planes from all 
corners of the United States descending on the area tomorrow. And I 
think that would be the worst possible development so far as the birds 
themselves are concerned."

For the past year we have been working with the World Birding Center in
South Texas, and we have faced a number of the issues related to the
discovery of rare birds (particularly this past winter). The closing of
Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park to vehicular traffic is a classic example 
of
steps that needed to be taken to protect the resource from the 
recreation.
Even today there are birders who remain steamed that they actually might
have to walk to see the birds in their natural habitat (rather than 
drive to
a feeder). The Valley has become a testing ground for finding ways to
immerse recreationists in the resource without placing that resource at
risk. In my opinion, this is still a work in progress.

Birders (or at least a certain segment of birding) have become fixated 
on
the single bird at the expense of the many. "Drive-by birding" has 
become an
accepted (even preferred) practice. Birding has no version of "Fair 
Chase."
In birding, anything goes.

The fear expressed by Rob and others related to a fundamental 
disconnection between the recreation and the resource is well founded. 
For the past year Bob Ditton, John Stoll, David Scott, and I have 
published a series of papers on the recreation of birding. For the most 
part these papers have been carried by middle-tier journals, since the 
human dimension of wildlife conservation has always been considered of 
marginal value (not
"on-the-ground" conservation). The final paper is in press at this 
time, and
addresses this very topic.

In Nebraska we surveyed a broad population of wildlife viewers who were
attracted to the Platte River by the massing of Sandhill Cranes in the
spring. The survey included a contingent valuation model. We asked 
viewers
about their willingness to pay for conservation of Sandhill Cranes, as 
well
as their interest in paying for the conservation of Platte River
biodiversity. Here is a quote from that paper - "While it is well-known 
that
biodiversity is integral to ecosystem stability and health (Wilson 
1992), it
is clear from these estimates that our respondents were most interested 
in
the abundance of Sandhill Cranes and had little interest in species
diversity."

In addition to this disconnection between recreation and resource, we 
also
found differences between avidity levels in birding. We found that
self-determined skill level is contraindicative of willingness to pay. 
The
more skilled the birder (at least self-determined skill) the less 
willing
they were to pay for conservation.

David B. Klenosky, a professor at Purdue University, recently published 
a
paper titled "The Impact of Negative Environmental Factors on Recreation
Choice Behavior." Klenosky compared two recreations: golf and birding. 
In
his research Klenosky found that "in particular, as one's birding 
ability
increased, the importance of the other environmental factors became
secondary to the quality of birding in area." In other words, as long 
as the
rarities are present the environment becomes wall paper.

Remember the avid birders who opposed Teaming with Wildlife?

Birding needs to mature, to grow up. The time has arrived for birding to
shoulder its social responsibilities. Given Sheri's latest report, I 
see we
still have a long, long way to go.

Ted Eubanks
Writing from Slate Run, Pennsylvania

=========

Message from Sheri Williamson:

The Slate-throated Redstart that has been the subject of much 
excitement here in southeastern Arizona since its discovery on May 26 
was found dead this morning. The following is the report from the 
Arizona-New Mexico listserv (BIRDWG05):

> Jay Hand just called to report that he and Shawneen Finnnegan found
> the Slate-throated Redstart this morning, unfortunately it was
> dead. They found it about 200 yards downstream from where the wet
> stream crosses the trail. They guessed it died sometime in the last
> 24 hours. The cause of death was not determinable as the bird
> seemed in good condition with no marks or signs that it had been
> attacked by anything. The specimen will be sent to the U of A.
> Bill Scott Tucson AZ genmon@cox.net

Prophetically, this message was sent to BIRDWG05 yesterday evening:

> Fellow Birders, I have been following this story of the Slate-Throated 
> Redstart for some time now, and quite frankly it's getting a bit 
> bizarre.  Reports now of 50 birders scrambling about,
>  actually running down the Comfort Springs Trail, which is no trail
>  to be running down, and near traffic jams on Carr Canyon Road, a road 
> that can be dangerous even when there is no traffic!  I think
>  at times we love these poor critters to death, or in this case
> will certainly love it right out of Carr Canyon and back to
> wherever it came from.  I enjoy sighting a rare or uncommon bird as
> much as anyone, but I am coming to the opinion that WE ARE ALL A
> BIT NUTS! I would really like some feedback and opinions of others
> who subscribe to this service concerning how we are interacting
> with the critters we are supposedly devoted to, and the habitats
> that they depend on.
> Pete Sockness
 > Stump Canyon, Huachuca Mts.
 > savetheriver@COX.NET

We will likely never know the precise cause of death of this very 
special bird nor what, *if any*, role the presence, number, and 
behavior of observers may have played in its demise, but this incident 
should serve as a reminder of the potential for our activities to harm 
the birds we pursue and the environments they need to survive.

Sheri Williamson
Bisbee, Arizona
tzunun@mindspring.com
http://tzunun.home.mindspring.com