After 3 Bad Years, Aquatic Bird Nesting Rate Drops 39% In S Florida - Drop Includes Everglades

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON, D.C. Jan. 11, 2013 - One of the nation's largest and most important wading bird breeding areas – south Florida, which includes the Everglades National Park – has seen wading bird nesting plummet to levels 39 percent below ten-year averages, according to a new report by the South Florida Water Management District. This weather-induced decline bucks a trend dating to 1985 of growing bird populations in South Florida as a result of restoration of water flows in the Everglades, and reaffirms the need for speeding completion of the project.

The report says that an estimated 26,395 wading bird nests were initiated throughout south Florida during the 2012 nesting season which constitutes a 39% decline relative to the decadal average, and a 66% decline relative to the 77,505 nests for 2009, which was the best nesting year on record in south Florida since the 1940s. While the 2012 number is comparable to that of 2011 (26,452) and 2010 (21,885), it is the third consecutive year of relatively poor nesting effort in south Florida.

"These numbers are alarming because we are talking about extremely important bird breeding grounds on a national level and we're looking at three years of poor breeding success," said Kacy Ray, Beach Nesting Bird Conservation Officer for American Bird Conservancy, one of the nation's leading bird conservation organizations. "Restoring water flows in the Everglades will re-establish prey production and availability across the landscape that, in turn, will support the return of large successful wading bird colonies to the traditional rookeries downstream."

All species of wading birds suffered reduced nest numbers relative to the past ten years, but the extent of the decrease varied among species. Of particular concern are nesting failures of the endangered Wood Stork which declined 44%; White Ibises (39%) and Snowy Egrets (56%) also suffered significant declines. There was also limited nesting by Little Blue Herons and Tricolored Herons (only 89 and 412 nests, respectively), which continues a steep and steady decline in nesting activity for these two species during the past eight years.

EDIT

http://yubanet.com/enviro/Wading-Bird-Nesting-in-Key-U-S-Area-Plummets-39-Percent-Below-10-Year-Average.php#.UPNb12KFzZo

[locks]

1. Alarming news

Thanks for the post. In the 80's and 90's I saw so many species of beautiful wading birds on my trips through the Everglades and south Florida. Economic development and loss of wetlands have caused this tremendous decline in nesting wading birds. Tonite on Nature on PBS "Cuba: the Accidental Eden" showed how Cuba has protected its undeveloped islands for migrating birds (most which come from the east coast of the US) and for marine creatures and coral. But how concerned the biologists and environmentalists are that when the embargo is lifted and Cuba is opened to tourists and developers some of the last remaining safe heavens in Caribbean will be lost.

[lunasun]

2. +1

[NYC_SKP]

3. K/R (nt)