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The North American-East Asian Connection
by Brad A. Andres, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
and Taej Mundkur and Ayu Rahayu, Wetlands International - Asia Pacific

Most who dabble in the world of birds in North America are familiar with the major paths migratory birds use during their seasonal traverse of the Americas: the Atlantic, Mississippi, Central, and Pacific Flyways. Fewer may know that migratory birds that breed in North America also can be found in the East Asian-Australasian and West Pacific Flyways. Numerous species that breed in Alaska and northwestern Canada use these flyways to travel between New World breeding grounds and Old World wintering areas.

Prevalent among these travelers of the orient are migratory waterbirds. Dunlins breeding on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska have been sighted on mudflats in Japan, and bar-tailed godwits color-flagged in New Zealand and southeastern Australia have been spotted on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of western Alaska. Northern pintails migrate to islands in the Pacific Ocean, and birds banded in Alaska have been recovered in Japan. Red-throated loons, equipped with satellite transmitters in northern Alaska, crossed the Bering Sea and hopscotched their way along the coast from eastern Russia to Japan, finally stopping offshore of South Korea.

As in North America, many wetlands throughout these flyways have been degraded or lost. In fact, 85 percent of all the flyways' wetlands are under some form of threat. The Asia-Pacific Migratory Waterbird Conservation Strategy: 1996-2000 provides an international framework for the conservation of migratory waterbirds and their habitats throughout the region. Like the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, the strategy relies on partnerships of governments, conventions, national and international non-governmental organizations, development agencies, the corporate sector, and local communities to achieve its goals and objectives.

One of the strategy's main objectives is to develop a series of networks of internationally important sites for three principal groups of waterbirds: waterfowl, shorebirds, and cranes. Staff training, public education, and biological surveys are used to integrate waterbird conservation into the management of these important wetland sites, and local needs of communities at the sites are incorporated into all management plans. To date, 67 sites in 11 countries comprise the flyways' networks. Action plans have been developed to address conservation needs of broad wetland species groups and rare or threatened waterbird species.

Achievements during the first 5 years of the strategy's implementation prompted the countries and organizations serving on the Coordination Committee to approve a second 5-year strategy and action plan earlier this year. Last year, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service became an official member of the Committee. Administrative support for implementation of the strategy is provided by Wetlands International, and major financial support comes from the governments of Australia and Japan. Additional finances are urgently needed to implement priority conservation actions.

Wetland conservation in the Asia-Pacific flyways is no less daunting than that in the Americas. The cooperation developed through the Asia-Pacific Migratory Waterbird Conservation Strategy is a great step forward, however, that will benefit North American breeding and all migratory waterbirds found throughout the flyways.

For more information, contact Taej Mundkur, Wetlands International - Asia Pacific, 3A39, Block A, Kelana Centre Point, Jalan SS7/19, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, taej@wiap.nasionet.net, www.wetlands.org.

Wetlands International - Asia Pacific, Chair
Environment Australia
State Forestry Administration, China
Ministry of Environment and Forests, India
Ministry of Forestry and Estate Crops, Indonesia
Ministry of the Environment, Japan
Ministry of Natural Resources, Russia
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Convention on Migratory Species
Convention on Wetlands
United Nations Development Programme - Global Environment Facility
BirdLife International
World Wide Fund for Nature
Wetlands International - Specialist Groups

Aleutian Canada Goose Delisted
by Jenny Valdivia and Bruce Woods, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Highlighting 35 years of conservation among the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), state governments, conservation organizations, and private landowners, the Aleutian Canada goose is declared fully recovered from near extinction and has been removed from the U.S. Federal list of threatened and endangered species.

A subspecies of the Canada goose, the Aleutian Canada goose nests on Alaska's remote, windswept Aleutian Islands and winters in areas of California, stopping during migration at points along the Oregon coast. Aleutian Canada geese numbered only in the hundreds in the mid 1970s. Through unprecedented cooperation among the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and state governments, private landowners, and conservation organizations, the bird's population is estimated to have grown to 37,000, and the threat of extinction has passed.

Biologists traced the origin of the subspecies' decline to 1750 when fur farmers and trappers began introducing foxes on more than 190 islands within the goose's nesting range. Fox introductions peaked between 1915 and 1936, when fur demand was high. The foxes preyed heavily upon the birds, which had no natural defenses against land predators. Scientists recorded no sightings of Aleutian Canada geese from 1938 until 1962, when Service biologists discovered a remnant population on rugged, remote Buldir Island in the western Aleutians. Scientists believe Buldir was fox-free because its rocky, stormy coast was difficult to approach.

The diminutive goose, distinguished from other Canada geese by a white band at the base of its neck, was listed as endangered in 1967 under Federal laws that predated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 and was among the first to be protected under the ESA. The first accurate count of the birds in 1975 revealed only 790 individuals. In the early 1980s, biologists found small numbers of breeding geese on two other Aleutian islands.

Since 1967, biologists have worked to eliminate introduced foxes from former nesting islands and to reintroduce geese. The Service and state wildlife agencies closed Aleutian Canada goose hunting in wintering and migratory areas; banded birds on the breeding grounds to help identify important wintering and migratory areas; and released families of wild geese captured on Buldir Island onto other fox-free islands in the Aleutian Chain.

The Service also has acquired land in California's Central Valley to protect and manage as wintering habitat, and easements have been acquired and voluntary programs established on private lands. As a direct result of these recovery activities, the population increased to 6,300 birds by 1990, enough to allow the Service to reclassify the goose from endangered to threatened. The recovery continued through the 1990s, with new populations firmly established on the Aleutian islands of Agattu, Alaid, and Nizki.

The Service is required under the ESA to monitor delisted populations for at least 5 years. It will pay particularly close attention to the small number of geese that nest in the Semidi Islands and that winter on the northern coast of Oregon.

It took a lot of people working together to bring the Aleutian Canada goose back from near extinction—success is sweet.

For more information, contact Jenny Valdivia, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Endangered Species, 911 NE 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97219, (503) 231-6121, jenny_valdivia@fws.gov, or Bruce Woods, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Endangered Species, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, Alaska 99503, (907) 786-3695, bruce_woods@fws.gov.

Prairie Wings
by Bob McCready and Christina Ütebay, The Nature Conservancy

When our ancestors were wending their way across the west in Conestoga wagons, fertile prairie habitat stretched as far as the eye could see. In fact, this "sea of grass" stretched from the prairies of southern Canada to the arid grasslands of Northern Mexico, encompassing the largest landscape on the continent. From that time to now and into the future, conversion to agriculture, fragmentation from urban development, degradation of wetlands, groundwater depletion, fire suppression, and incompatible grazing practices have been and will be among the most serious threats to the prairies.

The impact of these pressures on grassland birds has nowhere been more acute than in the mixed and shortgrass prairies of the western Great Plains. It is here that the only endemic bird species of the Great Plains are found including ferruginous hawk, mountain plover, long-billed curlew, Sprague's pipit, Cassin's sparrow, Baird's sparrow, lark bunting, McCown's longspur, and chestnut-collared longspur. All but three have shown significant population declines over the last several decades.

Fritz Knopf of the U.S. Geological Survey's Biological Research Division explains: "As a group, the grassland birds of the western Great Plains have shown steeper, more consistent, and more geographically widespread declines than any other behavioral or ecological group of North American species."

In response to this calamity in the making, The Nature Conservancy (Conservancy) created a program called Prairie Wings. With this new program, the Conservancy is embarking on an effort to build strategic partnerships to protect those sites that are important to maintaining viable populations of prairie birds. As a first step, those areas that provide the most critical habitat for grassland birds in the western Great Plains from Canada to Mexico will be identified and mapped. Once identified, the program will support the efforts of partner organizations to implement conservation work at priority sites.

A pivotal endeavor already receiving support is the newly forming Northern Great Plains Joint Venture. The Conservancy, through its Prairie Wings program, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation are funding the joint venture coordinator position of this North American Waterfowl Management Plan habitat conservation partnership. The Joint Venture will protect critical grassland landscapes and wetlands for waterfowl, grassland birds, and shorebirds in southeastern Montana, northeastern Wyoming, and western North and South Dakota.

Those affiliated with Prairie Wings believe that the successful conservation of the declining grassland birds of the western Great Plains will require the efforts of a broad-based coalition of government agencies, conservation organizations, universities, and landowners. They also have confidence that there will come a day when the skies over the Great Plains of the West are once again filled with the wings of prairie birds.

For more information, contact Bob McCready, Director, Prairie Wings, The Nature Conservancy, 4889 Eagle Harbor Drive, Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110, (206) 780-1102, bmccready@tnc.org.

The Nature Conservancy
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
The Nature Conservancy of Canada
The Saskatchewan Wetlands Conservation Corporation
Pronatura Noreste
National Audubon Society

A Weed Over Troubled Waters
by Craig Springer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Only the whirr of wasp wings buzzing by my head broke the silence at Nelson's Lake. Still air made my ears acutely aware there were no waterfowl here. Early in the spring, this small south-Texas lake should have teemed with teal. In years past, dabblers and divers making their way back north peppered the lake. But now, weeds grow around old flat-bottom boats pulled up along the shore, perhaps for the last time; the hollow shells of duck blinds offshore, left to ruin, proclaim a loud testament to what has been. Waterfowl hunting is now an historic endeavor here. It seems so incongruous, eerie in fact, with waterfowl numbers at record highs.

Giant salvinia is the insidious creator of this still-life scene. It literally has carpeted better than half of the lake's 160-acre surface, expunging waterfowl habitat. Beneath the 2-foot deep carpet, the water is acidic, without oxygen, without light. Fish, invertebrates, and native aquatic plants are greatly reduced. The carpet is so thick terrestrial plants grow on top.

In a long line of invasive species, giant salvinia is a recent arrival. If you think the invasion of zebra mussels made waves, giant salvinia is the tempest on the horizon. If it goes unchecked, irreparable harm to the environment and the economy will most assuredly ensue. It could be the kudzu of aquatic plants.

But hope floats aloft. Last March, Bob Pitman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Region 2 Invasive Species Coordinator, called scientists, water managers, and private landowners, all with a dog in the fight, to the National Giant Salvinia Conference in Houston, Texas.

"Weeds won't wait," warned Randy Westbrooks, U.S. Geological Survey Invasive Plant Coordinator, "and weeds don't recognize political boundaries. We must have a tactical plan of attack."

Scientists spoke of the advancing front—it's now in 12 states—and of their failures and successes. One success story in particular may provide the tactic with the most promise: use of a biological-control agent. The substantiation comes from "Down Under."

Australian Dr. Peter Room, University of Queensland, spoke on using a weevil to control giant salvinia. Twenty years of research on the salvinia weevil shows they eat through huge mats of giant salvinia in Australia and Africa. It feeds exclusively on giant salvinia and may be of no consequence to other plants, but that is a question that needs to be answered before the weevil can be turned loose on Salvinia molesta infestations in the United States.

Meanwhile, prevention is and always will be the first line of defense. If you are a user of waters infested with this plant, take precautions against its spread—a sprig caught in a boat motor or shoe sole can initiate an onslaught at the next lake. Please help us to stop "giant salvinia" from becoming household words.

For more information, contact Craig Springer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 500 Gold Avenue, S.W., Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103, (505) 248-6867, craig_springer@fws.gov.

The Chihuahuan Desert: A Life-filled Landscape
by Christopher Williams, World Wildlife Fund

Desert. The word conjures up images of a lifeless and harsh terrain. In the case of the Chihuahuan Desert, nothing could be further from the truth. This desert is alive and teeming with a wondrous variety of plants and animals. It is arguably the most biologically rich and diverse desert in the world.

Covering nearly 250,000 square miles, the Chihuahuan Desert stretches south from Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona into the Mexican plateau, some 5,000 feet above sea level. It is a land of extremes. For thousands of years, stands of oak, juniper, and pine have flourished in its mountains, and at lower elevations, waterways have snaked through its arid expanses, supporting marshes, grasslands, and forests of cottonwood and willow to form the region's ecological backbone. A myriad of plant species provide food and shelter for a plethora of animal species, from vermilion flycatchers to earless lizards, from blacktailed jackrabbits to pronghorns, from kangaroo rats to ghost-faced bats. Ironically, this desert sustains an array of freshwater species, including turtles, cichlids, and pupfish, that survive in enclosed basins and ephemeral rivers, cut off from the sea and isolated from other river systems.

Sadly, Chihuahuan Desert plant and wildlife populations have been in steady decline for decades. Although there are many reasons for this decline, pollution, subsistence and commercial harvest, mining, and exotic species introduction, none have had a more profound impact than water diversion and livestock grazing.

Water in the Chihuahuan Desert on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border is both crucial and scarce. As human settlements and populations grew, more and more water was diverted from natural resources to irrigate fields and supply towns—today more than 90 percent of the Rio Grande River is diverted for irrigation. The San Pedro River is one of the last free-flowing rivers in the desert's northern realms. With virtually intact forests along its banks, this river provides one of the most important migratory bird habitats in North America. Here, riparian forests host as many as 5 million migrating birds every year.

Before 1850, the desert's open plains were lush with a variety of grasses and were relatively shrub-free, but as more people came into the area and livestock herds grew, the desert pastures were no longer able to rebound. Fortunately, conservationists from throughout the Chihuahuan Desert region, together with national and international organizations like World Wildlife Fund (WWF), are searching for solutions to the many challenges that threaten the area.

To preserve this desert, WWF has joined with others in efforts to keep more water in the Rio Grande and its tributaries, to conserve aquatic and riparian habitats, and to restore the natural processes that maintain them. Partners also are campaigning for a new national monument that would link Guadalupe National Park in Texas to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. Local efforts involve harvesting mesquite in an environmentally friendly way, campaigning for freshwater ecosystem conservation, and implementing sustainable grazing regimes.

Hope resides where there is life, so hope is high for preserving the Chihuahuan Desert, where life exists as if by magic.

For more information, contact Christopher Williams, World Wildlife Fund, 1250 Twenty-fourth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037, (202) 293-4800, chris.williams@wwfus.org, www.worldwildlife.org.

HOT DESERT—COOL FACTS

The Chihuahuan Desert supports 350 cactus species, nearly one-quarter of the world's 1,500 known cactus species.

It is home to 250 butterfly species, including North America's largest butterfly, the giant swallowtail.

It is home to the largest remaining prairie dog town in the world.

It has more mammal species than Greater Yellowstone.

It has more bird species than the Florida Everglades.

It has more plant species than Pacific Northwest forests.

It has more reptile species than the Sonoran Desert.

—World Wildlife Fund

The Birders' Exchange
by Betty Petersen, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences
and Lina DiGregorio, American Birding Association

To conserve migratory birds, we must protect the three vital geographical components in their lives: breeding, migratory, and wintering areas. Many conservation success stories can be found in North America, South America, and the Caribbean, but there is a big difference among the countries involved in how that success is achieved. Many Latin American and Caribbean scientists, resource managers, educators, and students have been working without the most basic "tools," such as binoculars and field guides. The Birders' Exchange was undertaken to ameliorate that very problem.

Founded in 1990 by Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, and joined by the American Birding Association in 1997, Birders' Exchange collects new and used optics, neotropical field-identification guides, ornithology texts, backpacks, and laptop computers and distributes them, free of charge, to people working to conserve birds and their habitats in Latin America and the Caribbean. Over the past decade, the program has distributed a remarkable array of equipment to hundreds of conservationists in more than 250 organizations in 36 countries.

Patricia Gonzales' story is a prime example of what can happen when the Birders' Exchange is called upon. Patricia lives in San Oeste, Argentina, and has studied shorebird biology in South America for many years without the benefit of having basic equipment. After receiving a Birders' Exchange grant of optics and books, her work really took off, becoming the basis for the designation of San Antonio Bay as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site. Patricia has involved local schools in her projects and works tirelessly to educate the public about the importance of shorebirds to the ecology of coastal Argentina.

There are three simple things you can do to help replicate this kind of success:

1. Collect equipment that no longer may be useful to you, but would be useful to someone else, and donate it to the Birders' Exchange. Optics must be in alignment, and all equipment must be in working order. Birders' Exchange also accepts monetary donations, which are used to purchase equipment at discount prices. (All donors are issued a receipt for tax purposes.)

2. Encourage a Latin American or Caribbean conservation program to submit a grant application to the Birders' Exchange. Applications are found at http://americanbirding.org/programs/consbexap.htm.

3. If traveling to Latin America or the Caribbean, volunteer to deliver an equipment package to a bird conservation project.

Recycling conservation tools can have a meaningful effect on bird conservation for many years to come—and you can be a part of making it all possible.

For more information, contact Betty Petersen, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, Birders' Exchange, 81 Stage Point Road, P.O. Box 1770, Manomet, Massachusetts 02345, (508) 224-6521 extension 216, bpetersen@manomet.org or Lina DiGregorio, American Birding Association, Birders' Exchange, 720 West Monument Street, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80904, (719) 578-9703, edcon@aba.org.