San diego wildlife rescue birds7/6/2023 ![]() At the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge, the October bird count is not encouraging. While the Klamath region is the hardest hit, wetlands farther south on the flyway are in bad shape, too. Biologists say this happens all over the state, even in normal years, but is more common during drought. During dry periods those marches can be too long for young birds that have no flight feathers so they can’t survive. Dabbling ducks, which includes mallards and pintails, nest in upland areas and must walk to water sources. Instances of young birds being “stranded” are amplified during drought. But the region has been one of the hardest hit in this year’s statewide drought. Klamath’s marshes, streams and grasslands provide vital stops during birds’ long journeys - more than 80% of migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway use them as a stopover in spring and fall. “But the spring could be a different story if birds leave the Central Valley early and return to the Klamath where there is little to no available habitat,” Sawyer said. So far the Klamath refuges have not experienced a severe disease outbreak like the one that took place last year. A botulism outbreak in the lower Klamath Basin last year killed an estimated 60,000 birds, likely many more. Avian botulism and cholera, present even in wet years, spike in arid times. Resting and feeding spots at wildlife refuges are overcrowded this year, which can foster spikes in the infectious or water-borne illnesses spread by close quarters. ![]() The odds are against us.” Melanie Weaver, state Department of Fish and Wildlife Resilient but still struggling “I’m concerned that we are not going to see the populations come back. The odds are against us.”Įven recent winter storms - which dumped rain across the north and central parts of the state and swelled some rivers and streams - made no dent to ease California’s drought, wetlands loss or water shortage. “I’m concerned that we are not going to see the populations come back,” Weaver said. They have wings, they move where food and water is.”īut the widespread nature of this drought throughout the West, and its severity and potential duration, may challenge even the most resilient wildlife. ![]() Melanie Weaver, waterfowl coordinator for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, has confidence in the ability of migrating birds to adapt, saying “ducks and geese are wired to go through drought. ![]() Having the resources they need is critically important.” Flights of 4,000 miles are absolutely quite common, and they will fly nonstop for a few days. “The journey, from the human perspective, is enormous,” said Andrew Farnsworth, who researches bird migration at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. In the span of a few human generations, even in years of plentiful rain, 90% of California’s wetlands have disappeared to development and agriculture, so migrating birds are especially vulnerable to prolonged droughts. Migratory birds are arriving at the refuge hungry and exhausted since wetlands farther north, in the Klamath region, are dried up. Geese forage at the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge complex in Willows on Oct. A recent aerial survey of the vast refuge showed about 34,000 ducks this year compared to 1.5 million in 1948 nearby Tule Lake refuge had only about 30,000 ducks in the survey, down from 3.5 million. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson Susan Sawyer.Īs a result, nearly all of the ducks have vanished. The refuges there are “almost completely dry,” said U.S. This year is the driest on record in the Lower Klamath Basin, a lush region of marshes and streams that straddles the Oregon-California border. Biologists in Northern California and Oregon say they are tracking flocks deviating far off established flight paths, seeking water where there is little.Įxperts say evidence is already emerging a year into this drought that their labored journey is weakening and stressing birds that struggle to find wetlands along their journey to rest and feed. The great dryness has eliminated many of the flyway’s rest stops in California - particularly in the far north Klamath region - forcing ducks, geese, eagles, herons and other traveling birds to stay aloft and keep looking. Normal routes - long imprinted in migrating birds’ navigation systems - have gone haywire. Wildlife experts say this year’s severe drought has uncoupled that connectivity. It’s an arduous journey, hopscotching from wetlands and waterways, allowing birds to rest and refuel, shoring up strength for their trip. A CalMatters series investigates what’s improved and what’s worsened since the last drought - and vividly portrays the impacts on California’s places and people.Ĭalifornia is the most critical link in the 4,000-mile-long Pacific Flyway, a route along the West Coast where millions of birds shuttle between their summer and winter homes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |