Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 15:30:36 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "dw.holmes" Subject: Local article about state bird, thought it might be of interest MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Article (6/7) about Baltimore Orioles from Frederick News-Press Scientists fear oriole may take flight By Sean Barry=20 Frederick News-Post Staff=20 After wintering in the tropics as usual, Maryland's official birds are = back home again. The blends of black, orange and white are singing in = nearby treetops.=20 But all is not well for the Baltimore oriole, which has been getting a = lot of attention lately.=20 Two major studies were released this year -- one confronting the = decades-long decline of its overall population, and the other warning = climate change may shift the bird's range to exclude Maryland.=20 More information is expected from research now getting under way for = Maryland's updated Breeding Bird Atlas. The field work for the massive = project, scheduled for 2002-06, is the first since 1983-87.=20 The Baltimore oriole (Icterus Galbula), whose breeding range includes = most of Maryland, the Northeast and parts of the Midwest, is still = abundant enough to keep it far from the endangered or threatened species = lists maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.=20 But the just-completed studies and earlier data suggest a gloomy = long-term outlook for the songbird, which is associated with Maryland's = founding Calvert family and the Major League baseball team.=20 "There's a cultural loss involved. No question," said Dr. Walter = Ellison, head coordinator of the Breeding Bird Atlas, a project run = jointly by private groups and government agencies.=20 "It's a great bird to look at. It's a great bird to listen to. It's a = very elegant bird," he said.=20 "It's a state bird with panache. Most states can't say that."=20 Baltimore orioles dwell high in treetops, where they build hanging nests = on the outer edges of branches. Living in all parts of Maryland except = the far southern areas, they prefer large shade trees on the edges of = clearings.=20 According to the Maryland Department of Archives, the Calverts likened = the birds' colors to the yellow and black of their family shield, now = part of the state flag.=20 The male Baltimore orioles' feathers are black, golden orange and white, = while the females are mostly brownish olive and dull orange.=20 The agency says Maryland legislators in 1882 made special provisions to = protect the species, which the baseball team was named for in 1894. It = became the state bird in 1947.=20 Though wildlife experts present no population estimates for the bird, = its relative abundance has been regularly monitored along with legions = of other species since 1966 through the Breeding Bird Survey.=20 Research including the BBS, which is jointly run by the U.S. Geological = Survey and a Canadian government agency, suggest the Baltimore oriole's = population was remaining stable or even increasing as late as 1980 or = the early 1980s.=20 But since then, its numbers have dropped significantly, creating an = overall downward trend since 1966. Though the decline is slight, its = accelerated pace in the last two decades has concerned experts.=20 "Since about 1980, there's been a complete reversal," said James Trapp, = a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service migratory bird biologist based in = Arlington, Va.=20 Across the Baltimore oriole's whole range, he said, the average annual = rate of decline from the mid-1960s to 2000 is estimated at about 1 = percent. Since 1980, it's nearly 2 percent, he said.=20 A report just concluded by his agency lists the Baltimore oriole as a = species of "conservation concern." Population shifts of every bird = species in the U.S. were measured, and only about 10 percent of the = species made the list.=20 The decline is blamed mostly on destruction of breeding habitat and = tropical wintering habitat, along with pesticides ingested by insects = that make up the birds' main diet. (They also dine on fruit and nectar, = especially when in the tropics.)=20 A report issued this March by the American Bird Conservancy and National = Wildlife Federation warns global warming may lead to the Baltimore = oriole's departure from Maryland as it migrates farther north in coming = decades.=20 "One model projects there may be no Baltimore orioles in Baltimore (or = anywhere else in Maryland)," the report says. "At the very least, the = range of the species in Maryland may be greatly reduced."=20 "...What if your state bird could no longer be found in its official = state?" says the report.=20 Once, a nearly opposite situation occurred. In a way, scientists removed = the Baltimore from the oriole.=20 Scientists today recognize Maryland's state bird as one of five kinds of = orioles -- Baltimore, Bullock's, Orchard, Scott's and Hooded.=20 But for several years beginning in the 1970s, the Baltimore oriole was = lumped together with the Bullock's, which breeds in the Midwest and = West. The name "Northern oriole" was given to the newly designated = species.=20 But experts soon reversed course, learning that the Bullock's was not = even the Baltimore's closest relative.=20 Mr. Trapp, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, recalled the triumph = when the Baltimore oriole weathered the crisis and was restored as a = unique species.=20 When it was mistakenly stripped of its identity, "That wasn't popular at = all with the people of Maryland," he said.=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D