Wickersham's Conscience

WC was lucky enough to pick up two different near-endangered species – “threatened” in environmental protection law terms – in one day recently. Neither were “life birds” in birding argot. But both are rare enough and endangered enough to be pretty remarkable.

Clapper Rail

A Clapper Rail is a secretive, retiring bird that skulks in reeds and marshes. They don’t usually come out in the open, but WC was lucky enough to have this handsome fellow come out in the open at Tijuana Slough. He munched a small mud crab as we watched.

Because of the Clapper Rail’s behavior, it’s hard to know just how many are left. But the west coast populations are threatened. The threats are all human: habitat destruction, human traffic – motorized and otherwise – in breeding areas and introduced predators like dogs. The species as a whole is not in danger; numbers are good on the east coast and in much of South America. But the western birds are in trouble.

The same problems affect the charming Snowy Plover.

Snowy Plover

This species breeds on beaches, where beachfront development has decimated the habitat. Human use of beaches and introduced predators have reduced Snowy Plover territories to a relatively few colonies.

There’s a massive educational effort under way to save the Snowy Plover. WC is unsure that the educational effort is reaching the dirt bikers, sand dune buggy riders and dog walkers who really need the education. Given mankind’s impact on New World bird species so far, it’s hard to be optimistic.