June 2011 News Roundup

In this month's issue... First Short-tailed Albatross Born In U.S. Fledges Axis Deer on Big Island, Hawai'i A New Threat to Native Birds, Agriculture, Natural Resources Efforts to Save Bird Once Thought Extinct Rewarded by Lowering of Species' Threat Status Six More California Condors Suffer Lead Poisoning From Ammo, Three Die Red Knot Wintering Population Drops by More than 5,000, Accelerating Slide to Extinction First Short-tailed Albatross Born In U.S. Fledges A Short-tailed Albatross chick has successfully fledged on an island in the Hawaiian archipelago, marking the first time this endangered species has ever been known to breed successfully outside of Japan. Read the full story here Axis Deer on Big Island, Hawaii A New Threat to Native Birds, Agriculture, Natural Resources A coalition of resource managers on Hawai‘i have confirmed the presence of a new threat to the island’s biodiversity – introduced axis deer – in the areas of Kohala, Ka‘u, Kona, and Mauna Kea. Read the full story here Efforts to Save Bird Once Thought Extinct Rewarded by Lowering of Species' Threat Status One of the world’s rarest birds passed a key milestone: the Pale-headed Brush-Finch has been downlisted from Critically Endangered to Endangered on the IUCN Red List of globally threatened birds after of more than a decade of sustained conservation action. Read the full story here Six More California Condors Suffer Lead Poisoning From Ammo, Three Die Three more California Condors, among the most endangered birds in the world, have died from lead poisoning from ammunition, while three others were treated for lead poisoning.  This brings the total number of condors killed by lead in the last 11 years to 19.  Read the full story here Rufa Red Knot Wintering Population Drops by More than 5,000, Accelerating Slide to Extinction Scientists released a report announcing that a decrease of at least 5,000 rufa Red Knots was observed at key wintering grounds in Tierra del Fuego, Chile from the previous year. Scientists reported population counts of wintering knots in other locations declined as well. The estimated current total population of the migratory shorebird is now unlikely to be more than 25,000. Read the full story here Photos: Short-tailed Albatross, USFWS; Axis deer, Wikipedia Commons; Pale-headed Brush Finch by A. Sornoza; California Condor by Susan Haig; Red Knot by Eleanor Bricettii

Don't forget to join ABC on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and check out the ABC blog                      Plus... Free Ways to Help American Bird Conservancy Raise Much-Needed Funds: every time you shop at any of 700+ online stores in the iGive network, a portion of the money you spend benefits American Bird Conservancy. It's a free service, and you'll never pay more when you reach a store through iGive. In fact, smart shoppers will enjoy iGive's repository of coupons, free shipping deals, and sales. To get started, just create your free iGive account<. And when you search the web, do it through iSearchiGive.com where each search means a penny (or more!) for our cause! Start iGiving at: www.iGive.com/abcbirds & www.iSearchiGive.com/abcbirds

American Bird Conservancy is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that conserves native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. Click here to unsubscribe from BirdWire