Bye-bye birdies? 34 local species are on new 'watch list'

From the short-eared owl to the pinyon jay, from the calliope hummingbird to the trumpeter swan, 34 bird species that spend time in Utah are in trouble, according to a new report.

The National Audubon Society and the American Bird Conservancy recently released a "watch list" of birds in America that are or may soon be in danger. The groups say their assessment was a comprehensive analysis of population size and trends, distribution and threats facing 700 bird species in the country.

The report cites 178 species in the continental United States and 39 in Hawaii. Of these, 59 on the continent and 39 in the island state are on the "red list" of greatest concern, and 119 are on the "yellow" list, which means birds in danger of landing on the red list.

Utah trends also are bad: five on the red list, 29 on the yellow.

This list differs from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's threatened and endangered tally. For example, one red-listed bird — the Gunnison sage grouse, whose habitat includes Utah and other states — is not on the federal list, Greg Butcher, bird conservation director for the Audubon Society, said during a telephone press conference.

"We think it was erroneously denied" listing by the federal government, Butcher added.

Five other Utah birds made the critical red list. They include:

Gunnison sage grouse

Spotted owl

Lewis's woodpecker

Bendire's thrasher

Black-chinned sparrow

Those included on the yellow list are: Trumpeter swan, Greater sage grouse, Clark's grebe, Swainson's hawk, snowy plover, long-billed curlew, marbled godwit, semipalmated sandpiper, Western sandpiper, stilt sandpiper, flammulated owl, short-eared owl, black swift, calliope hummingbird, Williamson's sapsucker, olive-sided flycatcher, willow flycatcher, gray vireo, pinyon jay, varied thrush, Le Conte's thrasher, Virginia's warbler, Lucy's warbler, Grace's warbler, Abert's towhee, Brewer's sparrow, sage sparrow, lark bunting and black rosy finch.

"You in the Intermountain West are in pretty bad shape," opined David N. Pashley, a vice president of the conservancy, speaking on the conference call.

He said some of the most difficult problems in Utah concern pressure on birds that live in sagebrush habitat — including the Gunnison grouse and the sage grouse, which are both listed, Pashley said.