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08/17/2010: "Some Birds In Decline"

There are 172 bird species that use the Salish Sea marine ecosystem, but unfortunately many are in serious decline, and the SeaDoc Society has launched a project to study the factors causing marine birds to decline.

This cutting edge science will first determine which species are in decline throughout the ecosystem and then find out the reasons for the declines. We couldn’t be more pleased to have just hired a new scientist, Ignacio (Nacho) Vilchis, to lead this project.

Nacho, who just finished his PhD at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (U.C. San Diego), will work with numerous partners in the US and Canada including Bird Studies Canada, Canadian Wildlife Services, Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, University of Washington, US Forest Service, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to determine which bird species are declining, which are stable and which are increasing. He then will assess the risks for being in decline.

Just as we know that people who drink in moderation, watch their weight and exercise regularly live longer, in two years SeaDoc will be able to tell you the risk factors for bird species in decline as well as the factors for bird species that are doing well. Ultimately this information will allow us to improve the factors causing declines, which will help recover multiple bird species.