Zaps are notes of awareness and pleas for action that appear in the corresponding print edition of Bird Observer. Here they are from the current issue.
December 1, 2022
2 MIN READ
Zaps
Corrigendum: Birds of Maine
The "About Books: Four Short Reviews of Four Large Books" column in Bird Observer 50(5): 354-9, neglected to note that the Nuttall Ornithological Club (nuttallclub.org) copublished Birds of Maine by Peter Vickery, et al. with Princeton University Press. Peter was a valued member of the Nuttall from 1984 until his death in 2017, and the club invested heavily in the development and publication of this culmination of his years of devotion to the birdlife and records of Maine. Bird Observer regrets the omission.
2022 U.S. State of the Birds
On October 12, 2022, the 2022 U.S. State of the Birds report was released by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and ٣٢ conservation partners and agencies. It’s the first update on the nation’s birds since the 2019 study by Cornell Lab scientist Ken Rosenberg and colleagues found 3 billion birds had been lost from the U.S. and Canada since 1970.
The trends from this year’s report show a stark contrast between wetlands, where breeding birds are increasing overall, and every other U.S. habitat, where birds have declined steeply. The report also identifies 70 Tipping Point species, birds that have lost half their populations in the past 50 years, and that are on track to lose another half in the next 50 years, if nothing changes.
The report calls for bigger conservation solutions by looking to successful wetlands conservation as a model for investments in other habitats; by advancing precision science and conservation to address the causes of declines head-on; and by working at new scales across science, policy, and partnerships with communities to restore and manage habitats to benefit birds, help with climate resilience, and improve quality of life for people.
Visit StateoftheBirds.org, where you can read the new 2022 report or download a copy, including an essay by ornithologist J. Drew Lanham, Shared Ranges, Shared Fates: A Convergent Destiny for Birds and People.