100th Anniversary of Landmark International Migratory Bird Convention

Nature Notes for July 29, 2016

August 16, 2016 marks the 100^th anniversary of the International Migratory Bird Convention, a treaty between the U.S. and Canada. It was a landmark event in wildlife conservation.

By 1900, populations of several formerly abundant species of birds had become or were about to become extinct. Labrador Duck, Great Auk, Passenger Pigeon, Heath Hen, Eskimo Curlew and Carolina Parakeet are all now extinct.

Martha, the last Passenger Pigeon, died in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. Only a few years previously, in 1857, an Ohio Senate committee denied a measure to protect the Passenger Pigeon, writing:

"The passenger pigeon needs no protection. Wonderfully prolific, having the vast forests of the North as its breeding grounds, travelling hundreds of miles in search of food, it is here today and elsewhere tomorrow, and no ordinary destruction can lessen them, or be missed from the myriads that are yearly produced." (source: sialis.org)

The species’ sudden extinction provided impetus to the growing conservation movement.

Until this treaty, there were no regulations regarding hunting, timing of hunts or bag limits. Many birds were heavily harvested by market hunters during the northward migration, so they didn’t have the opportunity to breed. Many thousands of birds were hunted and sold in markets for food.

In the 1870s, fashion started to take a toll on birds. Ladies hats were decorated with feathers and sometimes even complete birds. Egret plumes were especially popular and incredibly valuable. They sold for $32 an ounce, twice the price of gold at the time. The plumes had to be taken when they were fresh, that is on the breeding colonies. Market hunters shot many adults and the orphaned young were left to starve.

As the egret population began to collapse, the feather trade turned to other bird species. During two afternoon walks in Manhattan in 1886, ornithologist Frank Chapman (best known to birders as the founder of Christmas Bird Counts) recorded 40 species of birds decorating 75% of the 700 hats he surveyed.

In Canada, the Hudson’s Bay Company harvested thousands of swans and geese, mainly for the European market. The quills were used for pens and the skins for powder puffs.

With the protection of the act, a number of species that were tottering on the brink of extinction in the late nineteenth century have made something of a recovery.

Woods Ducks are quite common today, but in the late 1800s, market hunting and destruction of the hardwood forests had led to a huge decline. Wood Ducks are cavity nesters, so they need large trees with old woodpecker holes in which to nest.

Great Egrets were almost wiped out by the plume trade. However, the species began to recover once plume hunting was banned.

Trumpeter Swans were popular not only for the feather trade but also for the table. By 1935, fewer than 70 swans were believed to remain the wild. With protection, the population has rebounded and it was removed from Canada’s Endangered Species list in 1996.

Trumpeter Swan populations have recovered since this species was protected

by the International Migratory Bird Convention.

photo © Rob Lonsberry Photography

In 1936, Mexico signed on to the Convention. In 1972, Japan and in 1976, Russia joined. In 1996, the Canadian Act was updated and there have been recent updates from all countries involved.

Birds today face new threats that could not have been envisioned in 1916. Habitat degradation, collision with tall buildings, communication towers, wind turbines, toxins in the environment, cat predation and climate change all pose considerable threats. Despite the success of the International Bird Act, it needs to be revisited regularly in order to keep abreast of the changing world.

The North American Bird Conservation Initiative was created by the governments of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico in 1999 to recognize birds as an international “natural economic resource.” NABCI is a trinational commitment to protecting, restoring, and enhancing populations and habitats of North America’s birds. Readers can consult the recent report on the state of North America’s Birds 2016 at http://www.stateofthebirds.org/2016/

An update on the Presqu’ile Piping Plovers: The female left the beach when the chicks no longer needed to be brooded by her, although she made one return visit. The male and three chicks are doing well. The chicks are now four and a half weeks old. They are taking short flights and may well be off the beach by the time this column is published. Photos and video are on Presqu’ile Provincial Park’s Facebook page.