{"id":57566,"date":"2023-05-04T12:55:26","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T16:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/?p=57566"},"modified":"2023-09-29T14:12:42","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T18:12:42","slug":"against-a-backdrop-of-bird-declines-complex-problems-meet-creative-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/against-a-backdrop-of-bird-declines-complex-problems-meet-creative-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Against a Backdrop of Bird Declines, Complex Problems Meet Creative Solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright order-bottom\"><div class=\"article-list list-style\"><h2 class=\"article-list-header\">More From Living Bird<\/h2><ul><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-living-bird-toc\" data-link-to=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-autumn-2023-table-of-contents\/\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Puerto_Rican_Parrot-Dubi_Shapiro-FI.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Puerto_Rican_Parrot-Dubi_Shapiro-FI-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Puerto_Rican_Parrot-Dubi_Shapiro-FI-240x180.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Puerto_Rican_Parrot-Dubi_Shapiro-FI-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Puerto_Rican_Parrot-Dubi_Shapiro-FI-480x360.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Puerto_Rican_Parrot-Dubi_Shapiro-FI.jpg 1076w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"A green parrot with touches of red and turquoise.\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><a class=\"article-item-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-autumn-2023-table-of-contents\/\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Autumn 2023\u2014Table Of Contents<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/li><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-living-bird-toc\" data-link-to=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-spring-2026-table-of-contents\/\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest-240x180.png 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest-480x360.png 480w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Living Bird-latest issue\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><a class=\"article-item-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-spring-2026-table-of-contents\/\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Magazine\u2014Latest Issue<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/li><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-article\" data-link-to=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-magazine-archives\/\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive-240x180.png 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive-480x360.png 480w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Living Bird archives\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><a class=\"article-item-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-magazine-archives\/\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Magazine Archives<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size toc-link\">This Perspective essay appears in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/living-bird-autumn-2023-table-of-contents\/\">Autumn 2023 issue<\/a> of <em>Living Bird<\/em> magazine. <a href=\"https:\/\/join.birds.cornell.edu\/page\/14522\/donate\/1\">Subscribe now<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the past century, declines in populations of iconic birds\u2014beautifully feathered waders in Florida, California Condors, Bald Eagles\u2014have occasionally made headlines and spurred conservation actions. In September 2019, the perils faced by birds once again made headlines. This time, the news was dramatic and comprehensive. A study published in the journal <em>Science<\/em> declared <a href=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/bring-birds-back\/\">North America had lost 3 billion birds since 1970<\/a>\u2014losses encompassing hundreds of species in grasslands, forests, along shores, all across the continent.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Media pronouncements about the study, led by scientist Ken Rosenberg of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and others, sounded the alarm: Was a century of conservation failing? Was there still hope?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reflecting on these questions, journalists Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal spent a year interviewing scientists, technology experts, conservation entrepreneurs, and federal agency leaders for their new book <a href=\"https:\/\/flyinglessons.us\/our-upcoming-book\/\">A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds<\/a>, released by Simon &amp; Schuster in April. In their conversation with Cornell Lab executive director emeritus John W. Fitzpatrick, he opined the challenge can best be summed up as \u201cnot rocket science.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright has-lightgray-background-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Read the Book<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/flyinglessons.us\/our-upcoming-book\/\">A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds<\/a>, Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal follow scientists, birders, foresters, ecologists, and philanthropists working to overcome habitat loss, changing climate, and the hazards of an urban world. They write, this is &#8220;a time of great opportunity built on scientific breakthroughs, advances in technology, and new approaches to conservation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s vastly more complicated than rocket science,\u201d Fitzpatrick said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the Gyllenhaals reveal, the science required to understand the extent of bird population declines over the past 50 years is, itself, enormously complex\u2014involving ecology, ornithology, biostatistics, computer science, acoustic engineering, genomics, satellite imagery, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology. Also complex are the threats to birds, which encompass loss of habitat, climate change, pesticides, invasive species, diminishing water supplies, and ravages on bird populations by outdoor domestic cats.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These threats stretch from the Arctic to the tip of South America. They play out at the interface of people and places\u2014and therein lies the most complicated challenge. Over the past century, land management reveals a saga of tensions between natural ecosystems and human hands on landscapes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"750\" data-id=\"57597\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Seaside_Sparrow-Jay_McGowan-544311691-gallery.jpg\" alt=\"A small sparrow with colored bands on its legs clings to marsh grasses.\" class=\"wp-image-57597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Seaside_Sparrow-Jay_McGowan-544311691-gallery.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Seaside_Sparrow-Jay_McGowan-544311691-gallery-720x600.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Seaside_Sparrow-Jay_McGowan-544311691-gallery-768x640.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Seaside_Sparrow-Jay_McGowan-544311691-gallery-480x400.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Cape Sable subspecies of Seaside Sparrow lives in the Florida Everglades and is federally listed as Endangered. It is threatened by pesticide runoff and the loss of tidal marsh habitat from human activity and sea-level rise. <em>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/macaulaylibrary.org\/asset\/544311691\">Jay McGowan\/Macaulay Library<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"750\" data-id=\"57598\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Laysan_Albatross-Melissa_Hafting-434408891-gallery.jpg\" alt=\"An albatross tends to its fluffy gray-brown chick at a nest.\" class=\"wp-image-57598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Laysan_Albatross-Melissa_Hafting-434408891-gallery.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Laysan_Albatross-Melissa_Hafting-434408891-gallery-720x600.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Laysan_Albatross-Melissa_Hafting-434408891-gallery-768x640.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Laysan_Albatross-Melissa_Hafting-434408891-gallery-480x400.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Laysan Albatross in Hawaii tends to its chick. Chicks are vulnerable to sea-level rise, longline fishing, introduced predators, and plastic waste that parents may feed them. <em>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/macaulaylibrary.org\/asset\/434408891\">Melissa Hafting\/Macaulay Library<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Front-Row Seat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I had a front-row seat to these complexities during my eight years at the U.S. Department of the Interior from 2001 to 2009, and another eight years at The Nature Conservancy from 2013 to 2021. In Hawaii, I held the beautiful Iiwi, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/keeping-hope-alive-for-hawaiis-iiwi\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"35472\">a scarlet honeycreeper threatened by loss of forest habitat and avian diseases<\/a>. On the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara, I learned about how invasive rats had decimated cliff-nesting seabirds. In Guam, I found that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/the-snake-that-ate-guams-birds\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"11599\">brown tree snakes had nearly annihilated bird populations<\/a>, resulting in an eerie dawn silence. Deforestation, hunting, pesticides, and other human actions brought populations of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/how-the-puerto-rican-parrots-survived-the-devastating-2017-hurricane-season\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"33088\">Puerto Rican Parrot<\/a> to a low of 13 birds in the 1970s, prompting a captive breeding program. On Midway Island, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/facing-into-the-wind-the-complicated-fate-of-the-laysan-albatross\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"7655\">Laysan Albatross chicks<\/a> died when fed, inadvertently, plastic wastes brought to them by their parents. I traipsed through deep, salt-tolerant grasses in the Everglades, where I came upon a 9-foot python\u2014one of the tens of thousands that are decimating bird and mammal populations. All across America, I saw birds devastated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/deepwater-horizon-ten-years-after-americas-biggest-oil-spill-disaster\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"45181\">by oil spills<\/a>, imperiled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/power-or-prairie-can-wind-energy-and-wildlife-coexist-in-the-flint-hills\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"43149\">by wind turbines<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/neonic-nation-is-widespread-pesticide-use-connected-to-grassland-bird-declines\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"52963\">stricken by pesticides<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes people, even public agencies, simply circumvent legal requirements or strive to eliminate them, as in the 2017 bold move by appointed Department of the Interior officials under the previous Presidential administration to <a href=\"Perspective: Reinterpetation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Runs Counter to Sprit\u2014and Language\u2014of the Law\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"Perspective: Reinterpetation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Runs Counter to Sprit\u2014and Language\u2014of the Law\">reinterpret the 100-year old Migratory Bird Treaty Act<\/a>.&nbsp; The Act is emphatic: \u201cunless and except as permitted\u2026it shall be unlawful at any time, by any means or in any manner, to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill\u2026any migratory bird\u2026.\u201d Despite the clarity of this language, the Interior Department officials abruptly shifted course, narrowing interpretation of the Act to apply only when killing or \u201ctaking\u201d birds is the purpose of the action rather than an incidental side effect of, say, logging or energy production. Ultimately, the <a href=\"Primaries: Migratory Bird Treaty Act Restored!\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"Primaries: Migratory Bird Treaty Act Restored!\">effort to reinterpret the Act failed<\/a>, but this episode illustrates the persistent vulnerability of conservation to changes in laws and regulations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But even efforts focused on conservation present challenges for bird protection. As Fitzpatrick tells the Gyllenhaals, what becomes evident is: \u201cWe\u2019re not going to find a master solution.\u201d It is not always clear what can even be done, for example, to eliminate invasive pythons or brown tree snakes. In other cases, there may be trade-offs: as in the choice between maintaining drier nesting areas for Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows in the Everglades or maximizing wetland restoration. Sometimes costs are high\u2014$5 million per year for the California Condor\u2014and available resources are scarce, so some species go unattended. Sometimes focus on a single species like the Greater Sage-Grouse may result in practices ideal for it, but not for other sagebrush habitat birds.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"861\" data-id=\"57580\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Wild_Rat-Frank_Lawler.jpg\" alt=\"A silhouette of a rat in a forest.\" class=\"wp-image-57580\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Wild_Rat-Frank_Lawler.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Wild_Rat-Frank_Lawler-720x620.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Wild_Rat-Frank_Lawler-768x661.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Wild_Rat-Frank_Lawler-480x413.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Invasive rats contribute to bird declines across the world after hitchhiking to far-off countries on boats. <em>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2jmFAeY\">Frank Lawler\/Creative Commons<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"861\" data-id=\"57585\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Python-Florida-Soulgany101-WIki-2.jpg\" alt=\"A large python coiled in a tree\" class=\"wp-image-57585\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Python-Florida-Soulgany101-WIki-2.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Python-Florida-Soulgany101-WIki-2-720x620.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Python-Florida-Soulgany101-WIki-2-768x661.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Python-Florida-Soulgany101-WIki-2-480x413.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An invasive python in the Everglades National Park, Florida, is a potent threat to many native species of wildlife. <em>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Burmese_Python_(5),_NPSPhoto,_R._Cammauf_(9099356419).jpg\">Soulgany101\/WIkimedia Commons<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Making Conservation Collaborative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Science can help sort out some of these challenges. But sometimes conservation actions provoke deep tensions with economic or other interests. Sarah Sawyer, who oversees California Spotted Owl conservation for the U.S. Forest Service, describes to the Gyllenhaals a \u201ccautionary tale\u201d in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/evidence-of-absence-northern-spotted-owls-are-still-vanishing-from-the-northwest\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"24179\">history of protecting the Northern Spotted Owl<\/a>, a trajectory in which owl protection collided with the local timber industry. The Gyllenhaals sum up the experience as a \u201croiling mix of politics, science, violence, and sabotage.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Drawing on her experiences in Africa doing fieldwork in places where local communities relied on logging or other natural resources for their livelihoods and survival, Sawyer concludes that enduring conservation requires engaging everyone\u2014recreationists, those whose livelihoods are tied to using land and water resources, environmental advocates, and others. The need to transcend natural resource \u201cbattles,\u201d combined with growing recognition of a need for landscape-scale action, have inspired collaborative conservation in which communities are coalescing in partnered problem solving.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"797\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Scarlett-PA-Hellemann.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-57591\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Scarlett-PA-Hellemann.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Scarlett-PA-Hellemann-720x478.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Scarlett-PA-Hellemann-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Scarlett-PA-Hellemann-480x319.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lynn Scarlett visiting Pennsylvania in 2006 as Deputy Secretary at the Department of Interior. <em>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Assignment-_48-DPA-N_Scarl_PA_Earth)_Visit_of_Acting_Secretary_P._Lynn_Scarlett_(and_aides_to_Lorimer_Park,_near_Norristown,)_Pennsylvania,_for_Earth_Day_event_(in_conjunction_with_-_DPLA_-_01b4ea14071e601c3ff48b36888a324d.JPG\">Tami Heilemann\/WIkimedia Commons<\/a><\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I remember a trip while I was Deputy Secretary at the Interior Department to western Pennsylvania at Buffalo Creek. There, dozens of farmers, partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a local university, are fencing off miles of streams and riparian areas. They are planting native warm spring grasses. They are installing owl and Wood Duck boxes.&nbsp; The result is dramatic reductions of bacteria in water, which is good for nature, the dairy cows at Buffalo Creek, and the farmers that tend them. Streambanks now display dense shrubs, bringing habitat for birds and shade cover for fish.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have met ranchers and farmers across the continent shifting to regenerative agriculture to restore soil health, maintain native grasses, and enhance stream flows, affirming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aldoleopold.org\/about\/aldo-leopold\/\">conservation pioneer Aldo Leopold<\/a>\u2019s vision of linking conservation with sustaining livelihoods. Reversing trends in declining bird populations must include these endeavors of collaborative action and the power of each individual to make a difference.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"761\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/California_Condor-Amber_Hart-493558321-1280x761.jpg\" alt=\"A condor with an identification tag on its wing soars against a blue sky.\" class=\"wp-image-57595\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/California_Condor-Amber_Hart-493558321-1280x761.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/California_Condor-Amber_Hart-493558321-720x428.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/California_Condor-Amber_Hart-493558321-768x456.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/California_Condor-Amber_Hart-493558321-1536x913.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/California_Condor-Amber_Hart-493558321-480x285.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/California_Condor-Amber_Hart-493558321.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>California Condor by <a href=\"https:\/\/macaulaylibrary.org\/asset\/493558321\">Amber Hart\/Macaulay Library<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learning from the Condor&#8217;s Return<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Some years ago, I listened to an Indigenous Athabaskan leader recall a time of his ancestors when the California Condor soared skies all the way to Canada. Over 25 years ago, hiking in the San Rafael Wilderness in California, I heard a haunting whistle. I looked up and saw six condors\u2014recently released from a captive breeding program\u2014soaring overhead. At the time, just 15 condors had been set free into the wild. Over a decade ago, I held a California Condor in my arms\u2014assisted by two USFWS employees, one who held the beak and one the legs. Together, we opened our arms and released this bird into the wild.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright has-lightgray-background-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Lynn Scarlett was the deputy secretary and chief operating officer of the U.S. Department of the Interior under President George W. Bush. She also served as Chief of External Affairs at The Nature Conservancy and chaired the Science Advisory Board of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. She is currently an administrative board member at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A year or so later, I returned to the wild lands beyond Ojai, California, with a close friend and one of my heroes, John Ogden. Over 35 years ago, John, a scientist, led the team that scaled cliffs and hiked mountains to retrieve from the wild the last remaining California Condors and bring them into captivity to breed them with the hopes of rebuilding a condor population to return to the wild. I stood with John, 25 years after he had set forth to save the condor amid much controversy, even death threats. Yet John and his colleagues had persisted.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We stood shoulder to shoulder watching the fruits of that labor as 12 condors soared overhead and, at dusk, glided in to roost upon snags where once their ancestors had presided. Today, ranchers have joined the efforts to sustain this bird. The story of the condor is a broader metaphor for the better angels of ourselves. Though the details vary, species by species, the future of birds perhaps resides in what Cuban biologist Giraldo Alay\u00f3n, contemplating protection of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, once referred to as that space \u201cbetween science and magic.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The science can guide us; the magic resides in the conservation commitment of each of us.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the face of decades of population declines, recent successes highlight how conservation depends on broad collaborations, novel partnerships, and the magic of human nature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":57674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc":60231,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc_title":"Living Bird Autumn 2023&mdash;Table Of Contents","_birdpress_featured_image":false,"_birdpress_hero_toggle":true,"_birdpress_hero_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_image_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_style":"default","_birdpress_hero_ratio":"","_birdpress_hero_h1":"","_birdpress_hero_media_id":57590,"_birdpress_hero_media_array_id":[],"_birdpress_hero_media_array":[],"_birdpress_hero_media":0,"_birdpress_hero_video_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_video":0,"_birdpress_hero_youtube":"","_birdpress_hero_content":true,"_birdpress_hero_byline":"By Lynn Scarlett\u00a0","_birdpress_hero_byline_bottom":"","_birdpress_hero_button_link":"","_birdpress_hero_button_text":"","_birdpress_hero_button_color":"","_birdpress_hero_date":false,"original_guid":"","_birdpress_hide_search":false,"_birdpress_page_width":"","_birdpress_global_cta":false,"_birdpress_widget_sidebar":"","_birdpress_next_article":60250,"_birdpress_next_article_title":"Gallery: Birds in Paradise","_birdpress_prev_article":60238,"_birdpress_prev_article_title":"Geomagnetic Disturbances and Wrong-Way Bird Migrations","_birdpress_sub_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_sub_navigation":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_title":false,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation":"","_birdpress_postType":"both","_birdpress_categoryID":0,"_birdpress_tagID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostTitle":"","_birdpress_menuID":0,"_birdpress_menuName":"","_birdpress_listHeader":"","_birdpress_listLayout":"card-display","_birdpress_listColumns":"","_birdpress_maxItems":12,"_birdpress_listPaginate":true,"_birdpress_displaySort":true,"_birdpress_sortOrder":"DESC","_birdpress_sortBy":"date","_birdpress_listID":"","_birdpress_listClass":"","_birdpress_displayImages":true,"_birdpress_displayCaptions":false,"_birdpress_displayExcerpts":false,"_birdpress_attTop":"","_birdpress_attBottom":"","_birdpress_showLogos":false,"_birdpress_post_logo":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[0],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","wds_primary_category":1,"wds_primary_topic":0,"wds_primary_content-format":0,"wds_primary_cornell-lab-project":0,"wds_primary_host-project":0,"wds_primary_read-more-tag":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[997,1039,998,1043],"content-format":[1055],"cornell-lab-project":[],"host-project":[],"read-more-tag":[],"class_list":["post-57566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-biology","topic-conservation-biology","topic-news-and-features","topic-science-conservation-news-and-features","content-format-article"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1696011162:4"],"_birdpress_living_bird_toc":["60231"],"_birdpress_living_bird_toc_title":["Living Bird Autumn 2023&mdash;Table Of Contents"],"_birdpress_featured_image":[""],"_birdpress_hero_toggle":["1"],"_birdpress_hero_h1":[""],"_birdpress_hero_media_id":["57590"],"_birdpress_hero_media_array_id":["a:0:{}"],"_birdpress_hero_media_array":["a:0:{}"],"_birdpress_hero_media":["0"],"_birdpress_hero_video_id":["0"],"_birdpress_hero_video":["0"],"_birdpress_hero_youtube":[""],"_birdpress_hero_content":["1"],"_birdpress_hero_byline":["By Lynn Scarlett\u00a0"],"_birdpress_hero_byline_bottom":[""],"_birdpress_hero_button_link":[""],"_birdpress_hero_button_text":[""],"_birdpress_hero_date":[""],"original_guid":[""],"_birdpress_hide_search":[""],"_birdpress_page_width":[""],"_birdpress_global_cta":[""],"_birdpress_widget_sidebar":[""],"_birdpress_next_article":["60250"],"_birdpress_next_article_title":["Gallery: Birds in Paradise"],"_birdpress_prev_article":["60238"],"_birdpress_prev_article_title":["Geomagnetic Disturbances and Wrong-Way Bird Migrations"],"_birdpress_sub_navigation_id":["0"],"_birdpress_sub_navigation":[""],"_birdpress_sub_navigation_title":[""],"_birdpress_anchor_navigation_id":["0"],"_birdpress_anchor_navigation":[""],"_birdpress_categoryID":["0"],"_birdpress_parentPostID":["0"],"_birdpress_parentPostTitle":[""],"_birdpress_menuID":["0"],"_birdpress_menuName":[""],"_birdpress_listColumns":[""],"_birdpress_maxItems":["12"],"_birdpress_listPaginate":["1"],"_birdpress_displaySort":["1"],"_birdpress_listID":[""],"_birdpress_listClass":[""],"_birdpress_displayImages":["1"],"_birdpress_displayExcerpts":[""],"_birdpress_showLogos":[""],"_birdpress_attTop":[""],"_birdpress_attBottom":[""],"_birdpress_post_logo":["0"],"_EventAllDay":[""],"_EventTimezone":[""],"_EventStartDate":[""],"_EventEndDate":[""],"_EventStartDateUTC":[""],"_EventEndDateUTC":[""],"_EventShowMap":[""],"_EventShowMapLink":[""],"_EventURL":[""],"_EventCost":[""],"_EventCostDescription":[""],"_EventCurrencySymbol":[""],"_EventCurrencyCode":[""],"_EventCurrencyPosition":[""],"_EventDateTimeSeparator":[""],"_EventTimeRangeSeparator":[""],"_EventVenueID":["0"],"_OrganizerEmail":[""],"_OrganizerPhone":[""],"_OrganizerWebsite":[""],"_VenueAddress":[""],"_VenueCity":[""],"_VenueCountry":[""],"_VenueProvince":[""],"_VenueZip":[""],"_VenuePhone":[""],"_VenueURL":[""],"_VenueStateProvince":[""],"_VenueLat":[""],"_VenueLng":[""],"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":[""],"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":[""],"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":[""],"_edit_last":["4"],"_webdados_fb_open_graph_specific_image":["https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Iiwi-Robert_Hollyer-428720221-social.jpg"],"_webdados_fb_open_graph_specific_description":[""],"_wds_trimmed_excerpt":["In the face of decades of population declines, recent successes highlight how conservation depends on broad collaborations, novel partnerships, and the magi ..."],"banner-image":[""],"custom-byline":[""],"_birdpress_hero_transcript":[""],"_wp_old_date":["2023-05-03"],"_thumbnail_id":["57674"],"_wds_focus-keywords":[""],"wds_primary_category":["1"],"wds_primary_topic":["0"],"wds_primary_content-format":["0"],"wds_primary_cornell-lab-project":["0"],"wds_primary_host-project":["0"],"wds_primary_read-more-tag":["0"],"footnotes":[""]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57566"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=57566"},{"taxonomy":"content-format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-format?post=57566"},{"taxonomy":"cornell-lab-project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cornell-lab-project?post=57566"},{"taxonomy":"host-project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/host-project?post=57566"},{"taxonomy":"read-more-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/read-more-tag?post=57566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}