Bob and All,
I said some of this already in my reply to Roy Gerig's question about lark
numbers in the valley this winter, but I want to make sure I've said it clearly.
I appreciate the level of caution that Dave Irons expressed, with regard to
listing of subspecies. He couched this in terms of science but it also makes
sense in terms of conservation.
"More reports" of threatened/endangered subspecies don't translate into
recovery of the subspecies. Adding such reports to eBird may inflate the
apparent numbers, and give support to opponents of their T/E listing.
As one example of how eBird data have already been misused by opponents of T/E
listing, please look up the comments on the proposal to list Western
Yellow-billed Cuckoo by New Mexico's fish & game department (which opposed
listing, along with several other state F&W agencies). A consulting firm
aligned with anti-conservation groups fed them a dubious "analysis" that was
aimed to undercut both the idea that "Western" YBCU was a distinct, listable
subspecies and the idea that riparian corridors are primary habitat.
If you do find "Streaked" Horned Larks during breeding season, in a habitat
that is threatened by *non-agricultural* modifications such as
residential/industrial development, you can help recovery by contacting USFWS
and advocacy organizations such as Portland Audubon.
Note that *agricultural* modifications to lark habitat are exempt, under the
terms of the current listing as "Threatened." So if you see larks using a grass
field that's being converted to filbert/hazelnut orchards or vineyards, there's
nothing that USFWS can do to protect that habitat, under current rules.
Sorry for the bad news, but that's the reality we're facing ...
Joel
On Fri, 2019-03-15 at 01:06 -0400, obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
From: "Robert O'Brien" <baro@xxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2019 20:06:23 -0700
Subject: [obol] Reporting birds to subspecies and how your local eBird
reviewer
This sounds like a totally reasonable solution.
At the same time in your discussions with eBird perhaps you could bring up
the situation with Streaked Horned Lark (striata). eBird does not allow
the sub specific designation of this threatened bird. Due to increasing
interest from Oregon birders, detailed observations have been documented
with photographs that could be reviewed by the eBird reviewers for
veracity. Such observations could be important for the recovery of this
threatened subspecies, and might well contribute to even more observations.
bob obrien
