What is the current focus of bird conservation in Mexico?

One of our priorities at Conabio is to encourage a general culture of bird watching so citizens can help researchers by providing basic information on the birds in their neighborhood. Citizen science can help us better understand local [bird] populations by filling in some of the information gaps because we do not have the institutional resources or personnel required to do as much biological monitoring as is required. Bird watching also has the additional benefit of teaching citizens generally about local conservation and involving them in protecting ecosystems.

Most of the information on Mexican bird populations currently available to scientists is actually calculated indirectly using statistics about loss of biodiversity. So, for example, if we know a certain number of hectares of land have been deforested and we had an approximate species population count per hectare for that area, then we can calculate the loss. We are barely generating the first models on how Mexico’s bird populations are changing. We are relying a lot on information from the United States and Canada for species that migrate to Mexico to extrapolate data about Mexican bird populations, but we do not have nearly as much information available on our own local species.

Birds are an indicator of the quality of a habitat. If we do not inform ourselves appropriately, their habitat could be collapsing without us even being aware. The research done in the United States and Canada indicates we need to prioritize bird conservation and collaborate to detect and mitigate the main risks for birds.

What are the greatest risks to birds?

The greatest risk to Mexico’s marine [bird] species comes from entanglement in fishing nets and plastic pollution. Birds largely depend on their sense of smell and plastic floating at sea smells like food to them, which explains why they eat it. The greatest threats to land birds in Mexico are changing land use and loss of habitat as agriculture and cattle farming transform the ecosystems they rely on—and come accompanied by various forms of water and soil pollution.

Unfortunately, public policy has at times been detrimental to bird life, too. For example, reforestation policies regularly turn to meadows when choosing land upon which to carry out mass tree-planting projects, without the understanding that meadows are complete and important ecosystems in themselves. By transforming meadows they endanger the species reliant on that habitat. For example the Sierra Madre sparrow [Xenospiza baileyi] is now the bird species at highest risk in Mexico because the meadows it lives in have either been forested or are being used to graze cattle that deplete the meadow grass, leaving very little meadow habitat.

Another species at high risk from changing land use is the emblematic golden eagle [Aquila chrysaetos] featured on the Mexican flag. Each adult pair needs a huge expanse of land to be able to breed successfully because of the amount of food required to raise their chicks, and even then they only breed every four years or so. Their habitat is the high central desert plains, where mining is common. Mining changes land use, which reduces the habitat for the ground species the golden eagle feeds on. In addition, mines bring communities, roads, power lines and pollution, which further endanger local species. Today, the golden eagle is on the list of priority bird species to protect.

Another major risk people rarely talk about is domesticated cats. However well fed they are, their instinct is to kill. Studies show that cats stray much farther from home than most people would imagine, and that for every kill they bring home to their owners there are another 10 victims. Cats are a major threat to bird populations in all urbanized areas, one that could be avoided by keeping them indoors, something we want to encourage.

What impacts from climate change have you noticed in the bird population?

With so little information we still do not have hard data on the impact of climate change. However, the main thing we have noticed is changing migratory patterns. So, for example, birds arrive at their nesting grounds at different times. Our greatest concern with climate change is endemic species because these live in very specific habitats. When their ecosystems change or disappear they have nowhere to move to.

For example, the quetzal [Pharomachrus mocinno] lives in mesophilic forest and cannot survive in pine forests. Mesophilic forests require the combination of a certain altitude, temperature and humidity. With rising temperatures these habitats are shrinking and there are no equivalents. Another specialized species under threat from climate change is the flamingo in the Yucatán peninsula. Flamingos feed on organisms that depend on a certain type of salinity in the water, and when the salinity changes, these organisms move away or die, endangering the flamingos’ food source.

Climate change has also brought more and stronger hurricanes to the region and there are cases of Mexican flamingos being swept as far away as North Carolina in the United States by hurricanes. Flamingos are a specialized species. They cannot survive if they do not find their way back to their habitat. In this instance, these “lost” specimens were tracked thanks to citizen science and offer an example of how the general population can play an important role in bird conservation if we involve them.