Spring 1998

[TEXT ARCHIVE WEB-PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2002.
ORIGINAL PRINT PUBLICATION DATE: SPRING 1998.]

Feathered Salvation

"Birds can save the world." So proclaimed Dr. John Fitzpatrick on April 26 at the 15th annual Smith Symposium held at Ryerson Woods. It's not an altogether surprising assertion from one of the nation's pre-eminent ornithologists. Fitzpatrick, now director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, was for many years Bird Curator at the Field Museum and director of the Archbold Biological Station in Florida.

Birds can save the world? Consider, for a moment, what John Fitzpatrick meant. He contends that if we pay attention to birds, they will tell us an enormous amount about the health of the planet. Informed and motivated people will then make needed changes.

In Hawaii, bird extinctions signaled that an ecological disaster was underway. According to Fitzpatrick, scores of species once abundant in Hawaii are now gone from the Earth. Major causes were the feral pigs and invasive plants that changed the ancient character of the forest on which these birds had depended.

In North America, the peregrine falcon and the Northern spotted owl have compelled us to focus on what's happening on the landscape.

"Our lives will not be dramatically diminished if the spotted owl goes," Fitzpatrick said. "But the Earth as we know it will change forever if we lose the great forests of the Pacific Northwest and that's what the spotted owl is telling us."

What are the birds telling us here in the midwest? The bobolink, the meadowlark, in fact all our grassland birds, have declined by more than 90 percent since 1950. Henslow's sparrow, a species that depends on wet tallgrass prairies for its survival, may be the next candidate for federal endangered species status.

And what about the birds of the oak woods? The red-headed woodpecker, which some have called the "poster child" for its ecosystem, has been listed as a species of deep concern by Partners in Flight, an international organization devoted to bird conservation. "Red-headed woodpeckers are very highly associated with open woodlands and intimately associated with the ecology of oaks," says Dr. Jeffrey Brawn, an ecologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey.

Fitzpatrick studies rangewide data from Breeding Bird Surveys. He says that, if trends continue, the red-headed woodpecker will become extinct in his lifetime. "It would be very sad to lose it," he says. "But what's even more important is what the data on this bird tell us about what's happening to the oak forest. We're losing the character of a major ecosystem — on which a great many species depend."

In this issue we bring you a report from the front — about the birds of our region. Here scientists have been studying the effects of ecological restoration in a variety of habitats. The bird news is a wake-up call, but it's not all bad, as Peter Friederici reports. Here, too, birders have formed a new Bird Conservation Network to bring the concerns of bird lovers to the forefront of conservation planning. Working with scientists and land managers, they have begun to develop a regionwide network of monitors — citizen scientists who will report on what the birds are telling us. "We want to advocate for birds and make sure they get a fair hearing." says Jerry Garden, president of Chicago Audubon Society, "At the same time, we also need to look at the big picture. The health of birds depends on the health of whole ecosystems."

Some people plant butterfly gardens. Some cut destructive buckthorn from the Forest Preserves. Some write letters to decision makers. Some simply read Chicago WILDERNESS Magazine, and discuss the issues with others. As an appreciation of ecosystem health becomes a part of the culture, the public increasingly will insist on effective solutions to ecosystem concerns.

"Young and old, public and private, we're doing it together," John Fitzpatrick said. "Besides, it's a heck of a lot of fun."

Debra Shore may be reached at editor@chicagowildernessmag.org.