Birds are experiencing “dramatic declines” across the Bay Area and California, according to a first-of-its-kind study led by the Petaluma-based wildlife organization Point Blue Conservation Science.
The study, published in the scientific journal Ornithological Applications, traced avian population trends from 2012 through 2022. During that timeframe, scientists at Point Blue and more than 50 partner organizations counted birds and characterized their habitats across the Western Hemisphere’s Pacific Flyway, which millions of birds pass through to migrate each year. Notably, researchers found that at least 10 of the 22 shorebird species they were monitoring had plummeted significantly in the past decade alone.
The most staggering drop was observed in the American avocet, a shorebird that breeds around salt ponds in San Francisco Bay and is widely recognized across California for its striking black and white plumage, spindly blue legs and long, upward-curving bill. The species has declined annually by 10%, amounting to a loss of about 40,000 birds, Matt Reiter, research director and quantitative ecologist for Point Blue, told SFGATE. The other two species of most concern included the dunlin, a stocky, speckled shorebird with a drooping black bill, and the willet, another long-legged bird with a piercing call that feeds along mudflats and beaches. Those bird populations declined at rates of about 5% and 8% per year, respectively, with losses encompassing tens of thousands of birds.
“It’s not a small number,” Reiter, also a lead author of the study, said over the phone. “These are quite dramatic changes we’re seeing over pretty concerning ranges.”…