126 birds on list ‘lost to science’

Two years ago scientists, following rumors, found and documented the existence of a bird not known to science for 140 years. It was the oddly named black-naped pheasant-pigeon, thought lost to science, possibly extinct.

It was seen and photographed on mountainous terrain on Papua New Guinea’s Fergusson Islands.

That pigeon subspecies could easily have been on a recently published list of 126 birds lost to science, no confirmed sightings for the past 10 years.

The list is the product of a joint effort by the American Bird Conservancy, BirdLife International and a group known as Re:wild. They call it the “most complete tally of bird species lost to science.”

There are approximately 11,900 bird species in the world, with 126 of them meeting the “lost” criteria established for the project. (See the list at searchforlostbirds.org/birds.)

Lost does not mean extinct, but it might. Proving that an animal is gone everywhere forever is very hard, most likely impossible. How can anyone be certain? The ivory-billed woodpecker is a perfect and current example.

Many ornithologists consider the bird extinct. They are ignoring the video in the hands of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) showing what the people who made the video are certain is that lost-forever woodpecker. The video was shot from a drone flown in a Louisiana forest.

Last year, the FWS announced it would move 21 North American species, including 10 birds, from its “endangered” category to “extinct.” The woodpecker was not on that list; it missed the cut.

The FWS will continue to “analyze and review the information (video and sighting reports) before deciding whether to delist the ivory-billed woodpecker,” the agency wrote in a news release.

The last accepted sighting of the bird was in April 1944, 80 years ago.

The birds that were declared extinct are eight species from Hawaii, one from Guam, and one North American species, the Bachman’s warbler. The warbler was a small yellow and black songbird once breeding in swampy thickets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Tennessee. It wintered in Cuba, where it was last seen in 1962.

I had a friend who braved those swampy thickets, looking for the bird. Consider a warbler, a tiny bird, in small numbers, scattered somewhere in swampy tangles spread over six states. Find it, take a photo, have identification confirmed. Win the lottery.

My friend, a true believer when it came to birds unseen, was unsuccessful in his search, not a surprise to anyone, I’m certain. But he loved the hunt.

The warbler was lost, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, to habitat destruction and collection.

Collection is an interesting reason. When a bird species, perhaps any species, becomes known for a threatening diminution of numbers, there are collectors who shift the search to a higher gear. If you want a specimen for your collection you must get yours before there are none left to collect.

The Hawaiian story is sad. Since humans arrived on the islands, according to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, 71 bird species have been confirmed as lost.

Forty-two endemic species remain, 31 of which are federally listed because of shrinking population and an ever-expanding list of threats. Ten of those have not been seen in as many as 40 years, their status unknown.

Key threats to Hawaii’s native bird species include habitat destruction, the introduction of wild pigs, sheep, goats and deer; predators like feral cats, barn owls, rats and mongoose; invasive plants and non-native mosquitoes carrying avian pox and avian malaria.

Lifelong birder Jim Williams can be reached at woodduck38@gmail.com.