Migratory birds in the crosswinds of federal, state protections
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Jules Struck Staff writer
| Stow, Mass.
A spotted sandpiper flies in spurts across Delaney Pond and alights on a bed of lilies near the water鈥檚 edge 鈥� right in the frame of Rita Gibes Grossman鈥檚 spotting scope.听
鈥淎t 11 o鈥檆lock there are some yellow flowers, and then there鈥檚 that little lily pad island,鈥� she says to Sandy Oxley, a fellow bird-watcher who had joined the small late-June expedition in the Delaney Wildlife Management Area.
Ms. Oxley raises her binoculars to the sandpiper, then skyward to the gliding form of a great heron. Humming nearby is a colony of ground-nesting bees.听
Why We Wrote This
Federalism sometimes creates a seesaw effect between states and the federal government. When one side relaxes its rules, the other often rushes in to fill the gap.
The birds at this site have picked prime real estate for nesting season. The 580-acre swath of protected land sits in a state with a robust legacy of bird conservation. Migrating here across state lines, however, can be challenging for a bird 鈥撀燼nd it鈥檚 getting harder.
Migratory birds have been protected for a century under the (MBTA), but a rollback of that federal law has turned conservation into a piecemeal network of state laws and regional efforts. To combat shrinking global bird numbers, states and towns are turning to collaborative conservation programs.
鈥淐onservation works through strong partnerships and by working across boundaries,鈥� says Katie Blake, conservationist at Highstead, a land conservation organization. 鈥淎 wood thrush doesn鈥檛 stop at the border 鈥� and think 鈥極h wait, I should stop here because this is the state line.鈥欌��
Tough trek for birds聽
Nine out of 10 migratory birds are inadequately protected during at least one leg of their annual migrations, according to a 2015 study published in .听
Before 2017, a person could be prosecuted for accidentally killing a bird, but an opinion submitted by the Department of the Interior effectively changed that interpretation so that only intentional harm 鈥� mainly illegal hunting 鈥撀爄s legally punishable.
Critics say that, since that change, companies have been free to take fewer precautions to avoid聽migration paths or nesting grounds.
鈥淯nder the previous implementation of the MBTA, many states looked toward the federal government as the backstop, and leaned on the authorities 鈥� to both provide guidance and enforce that,鈥� says Katie Umekubo, a lawyer representing the Natural Resources Defense Council and National Wildlife Federation in a lawsuit against the change to the MBTA.
鈥淲ith that gone now, I think it鈥檒l be a mixed bag. It鈥檚 yet to be seen how the states will react.鈥�
Eight states including Massachusetts are challengers in the case. The Trump administration鈥檚 opinion has been in practice since 2017, but will likely become regulation after a ends on July 20.
With challenges like climate change and bird decline, 鈥渢he work that is already ahead of a lot of conservation groups is so steep and constant that this would really exacerbate that,鈥� says Ms. Blake.
A that would punish incidental killing of birds was introduced to Congress in January.听
鈥淏ringing birds back 鈥� is pretty darn complicated,鈥� says Pamela Hunt, senior biologist in聽avian conservation聽at New Hampshire Audubon. She says the weakening of the MBTA isn鈥檛 鈥渉uge鈥� for New Hampshire, where the law is often used to caution homeowners from disturbing nests near their houses.
Western states hosting big energy companies will see a stronger impact on their birds, she says.听
The MBTA has been used to for failing to minimize the risk to birds of getting caught in wind turbines or electrical wires. BP had to pay to conservation efforts for violating the MBTA after its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Still, Dr. Hunt says bird protections need to go even further. 鈥淚t involves Brazil and Trinidad and Guatemala and Florida. 鈥� Birds are going to be impacted somewhere else during the year when they鈥檙e migrating.鈥�
The state of bird protections聽
July is nesting season, which means the spotted sandpiper back in Stow will be settled for a while in a state where bird-friendliness appears to be growing. In 2019, four acres of land were protected in Massachusetts, up from a 2-to-1 ratio in 2005, .
Massachusetts is 鈥渧ery, very strong in terms of lots of habitat, lots of protected land,鈥� says Scott Edwards, professor of biology聽and curator of ornithology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.
鈥淵eah, I would say Massachusetts is an excellent place to be a birder.鈥�
Dr. Edwards is taking phone calls from the bike lane as he makes his own kind of migration across the United States. He鈥檚 biking to Oregon to raise awareness of Black Lives Matter and #BlackBirdersWeek, and to do some cross-country bird-watching.听
Last week he pedaled through rural Indiana, where a 鈥渟taggering鈥� acreage of corn and soybean fields have taken over vibrant bird habitats. His route will later wind through the sprawling fields of the West 鈥� once dotted with , but today a friendlier territory to oil and gas companies.
Dr. Edwards took off from Massachusetts, where the first Audubon society was by Harriet Hemenway and Minna Hall, who were angered by the killing of millions of well-plumed birds for ladies鈥� hats. Their steadfast lobbying led in 1913 to an early version of the MBTA.
But even this state, home to naturalists past like Henry David Thoreau and present like David Sibley of 鈥淭he Sibley Guide to Birds,鈥� has seen changes.听
鈥淲e have a river birch in front of our house, and during spring migration or even fall migration, it would be nothing to see more than a dozen yellow-rumped warblers鈥� 20-odd years ago, says Ms. Gibes Grossman.
鈥淣ow, if I see two or three, it鈥檚 dramatic.鈥澛�
The weakening of the MBTA is only the latest 鈥渃hip away鈥� at bird conservation, says Dr. Hunt. 鈥淚 think keeping awareness of 鈥� what individuals can do is in some ways the most important thing.鈥澛�
鈥淚f they care at least, that filters up.鈥澛�
Shaded under Stow鈥檚 white pines, Ms. Gibes Grossman looks away from the spotted sandpiper to explain the relatively quiet morning. During migration season, 鈥渁ll the males have on their 鈥� courtship clothes, and they鈥檙e singing their little hearts out,鈥� she says. 鈥淣ow, they鈥檙e all nesting, they鈥檙e quieter.鈥�
Ms. Oxley, a birder of 20 years, still delights in migration season. 鈥淚t can be pretty intoxicating,鈥� she says.
