Common birds in decline in Colorado

Human sprawl silences birds
Bird counts show dropping numbers of five common Colorado bird species.
By MARGIE WOOD
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Five common birds in Colorado, including the lark bunting which is the state bird, are declining in population at a rate that alarms bird lovers, according to the National Audubon Society.

The society teamed with the U.S. Geological Survey to analyze statistics gathered over the last 40 years from the annual breeding bird survey and the Christmas bird count. Results released earlier this month show that the five common birds - lark bunting, Western meadowlark, horned lark, Northern harrier and evening grosbeak - all are suffering sharp declines between 94 percent and 64 percent.

Four of those birds are grassland denizens and the evening grosbeak is a forest bird, but all are affected by humans taking up their habitat, said SeEtta Moss of Canon City, who is the conservation chair for the Arkansas Valley Audubon Society.

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