{"id":85882,"date":"2024-09-07T05:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-07T09:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insideclimatenews.org\/?p=85882"},"modified":"2024-09-06T14:21:32","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T18:21:32","slug":"florida-grasshopper-sparrow-fights-extinction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insideclimatenews.org\/news\/07092024\/florida-grasshopper-sparrow-fights-extinction\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope for North America\u2019s Most Endangered Bird"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On a recent morning, 10 Florida grasshopper sparrows, tiny brown-speckled birds that are the most endangered on the continent, took their first scampers and flaps on the state\u2019s central prairie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It happened so fast it was hard to distinguish which of the captive-raised sparrows was the 1,000th released on this expanse of grasslands not far from Walt Disney World, the only place on Earth where the birds are found in their natural habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dozens of conservationists, gathered some distance away to avoid spooking the skittish sparrows, celebrated the milestone in an unprecedented recovery program that in only a few years has doubled the bird\u2019s wild population, from a mere 80 five years ago to some 200 today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time the land-dwelling sparrows emerged from the two large enclosures and disappeared onto the prairie, the observers couldn\u2019t help but cheer. The moment marked the culmination of years of deliberation, doubt and diligence among those engaged in the bird\u2019s fate, said Paul Gray, science coordinator for the Everglades Restoration Program at Audubon Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a lot of hard work by a whole lot of people,\u201d said Gray, who has worked on the Florida grasshopper sparrow for about 30 years and was present for the 1,000th release in July. \u201cI can\u2019t describe how hard it was emotionally for everyone involved in this because every step of the way, we had to do something that nobody had done before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A team of conservationists inspect the temporary homes of 10 Florida grasshopper sparrows after the birds were released back into the state\u2019s central prairie. Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The reasons for the Florida grasshopper sparrow\u2019s collapse on the central Florida prairie have confounded conservationists. Two decades ago, more than 1,000 thrived in the wild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sparrow nests surreptitiously among the grasses of the prairie, a habitat that itself is unique in the world and once spanned more than a million acres, although today more than 90 percent has been overtaken by the state\u2019s explosive growth and development. The sparrow is among 12 subspecies of grasshopper sparrow that are found throughout North America, Central America and the West Indies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to habitat loss, the Florida grasshopper sparrow also is vulnerable to predators, disease and climate change. Variations in precipitation and heavy downpours can threaten low-lying nests. In 2016 unprecedented rains prompted conservationists to lift nests, a practice they have continued every year since to prevent nest flooding, said Adrienne Fitzwilliam, the lead Florida grasshopper sparrow research scientist at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The subspecies\u2019 population is so small a single weather event or disease could wipe it out. The last bird extinction in the continental U.S. was declared in 1990 for the dusky seaside sparrow, a subspecies of seaside sparrow that vanished from Florida three years earlier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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