You may know that more than 300 species

of birds nest in the forests of North

America, but did you know that...

■ More than 85 percent of forest habitats

have been permanently destroyed or

logged in the United States?

■ Two out of every three woodland

species in the central United States

have declined in abundance during the

past 30 years?

■ Ninety-nine percent of the original

forests in the eastern United States have

been cut, and the forests that regenerate

or are replanted are often of lower

quality for Neotropical migratory birds?

■ More than 75 percent of riparian

woodlands in the West have been

destroyed, and that this loss has caused

several bird species to be placed on the

federal Endangered Species List?

■ Most forests in the midwestern United

States have been lost—for example,

99 percent of mature oak forest and

beech-maple forest in Michigan,

96 percent of bottomland forests in

Missouri, and 72 percent of northern

hardwoods in Minnesota?

■ In eastern Montana, about 90 percent

of the trees in wooded draws have been

removed?

■ Most woodlands in eastern United

States are less than 100 acres in size, 

and this allows parasitic brown-headed

cowbirds and predators easy access to

the nests of Neotropical migratory birds

breeding there?

■ Ninety-eight percent of the longleaf

pine forests along the southeastern

coastal plain have been replaced?

■ Only 5 percent of the original oldgrowth forests of the Cumberland

Plateau in Tennessee remain today?

■ Nearly all of the temperate rainforests

of Oregon have been logged?

You may know that the grasslands of

North America harbor dozens of unique

species of birds found no place else in the

world, but did you know that...

■ Although more than 400,000 square

miles of tallgrass prairie once covered

the United States (15 percent of the

lower 48 states), 95 percent of those

grasslands have been permanently

destroyed or converted to agriculture?

■ Three out of every four grassland 

bird species in North America have

declined in abundance during the past

30 years?

■ Ninety-nine percent of the Palouse

Prairie in the Pacific Northwest has

been lost to agriculture?

■ More than 90 percent of sagebrush

habitats in the Southwest and

Intermountain West have been

overgrazed, and that cattle grazing

usually results in significant degradation

of nesting habitats for birds?

■ Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana

have lost more than 99 percent of their

prairies during the past 150 years, and

with those prairies went upland

sandpipers, dickcissels, and bobolinks?

■ In Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,

Louisiana and Texas, only 5 percent of

the once widespread coastal prairie

remains?

■ Most remaining grasslands in the 

East and Midwest are fragments so

small that brown-headed cowbirds and

predators can readily parasitize or

destroy nests of birds nesting there?

■ Ninety-four percent of native

grasslands in San Diego County,

California have been developed?

Important Facts about

Habitat Loss and Birds

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Catch the

Migration

Sensation

International

Migratory Bird

Day is May 8th
■ Properly reclaimed strip mines can

provide excellent habitat for many

grassland species?

■ Land management practices such as

fire suppression, grazing, and water

regulation have created a massive

invasion of exotic grasses and shrubs on

millions of acres of native grasslands and

steppe in western North America?

You may know that healthy wetlands

provide clean drinking water for cities 

and towns everywhere, but did you 

know that...

■ More than 50 percent of all wetlands in

the contiguous United States have been

drained or filled since the time of

European settlement?

■ The bottomland hardwood forests of

the South have declined by more than

75 percent?

■ Scientists know relatively little 

about the breeding ecology of many

species of wetland birds, such as rails

and shorebirds?

■ More than half of all original barrier

island vegetation and coastal wetlands

in the United States have been

destroyed or altered, thereby depriving

birds important resting and feeding

sites during migration?

■ The midwestern states have been

particularly hard on their marshes and

swamps—Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa

and Missouri have drained more than

90 percent of their original wetlands?

■ Ninety-four percent of inland wetlands

have been drained in California, but

Alaska has retained more than 90

percent of its original wetlands?

■ Most western states have destroyed

one-third to one-half of their wetlands

during the past 100 years?

■ There are 30 to 70 percent fewer king

rails, Virginia rails, soras, lesser

yellowlegs, and black terns today than

there were only 30 years ago?

■ More than half of all the areas

identified as critical for endangered

species are contained in wetlands?

■ The North American Waterfowl

Management Plan has protected,

restored, or enhanced more than15 million

acres of marshes, potholes, and forested

wetlands in Canada, the United States,

and Mexico between 1986 and 1996?

Finally, you know that birds are fun to

watch, but did you know that...

■ Spruce budworms cause millions of

dollars in damage each year in northern

and western forests, but that five out of

every six budworms are eaten by

migratory birds?

■ Birds are good indicators of the health

of the environment, and that population

declines of peregrine falcons and

ospreys in the 1960s alerted us that the

pesticide DDT was harmful to all

animals, including humans?

■ In 1921, biologists estimated that,

through insect control, birds saved

farmers and timber owners $44 million

in losses?

■ Homes in neighborhoods with large

trees for birds cost less to cool and heat,

and are worth more than similar homes

in neighborhoods without trees?

■ Agricultural areas, such as orchards,

with woodlots nearby usually have more

birds than areas without woodlots, and

that birds have been shown to consume

95 percent of the tree-damaging codling

moths in those orchards?

■ Many tropical birds, and birds that

migrate to the tropics during the winter,

are important for the pollination of many

valuable species of flowers and trees?

■ By eating thousands of leaf-damaging

insects each day, birds in the Ozarks

allow commercially valuable white oak

trees to grow faster than they would if

birds weren’t in those forests?

■ Birds save the timber industry tens of

millions of dollars in timber damage each

year by consuming wood boring insects?

■ The blue jay is one of the “Johnny

Appleseeds” of the bird world, playing

an important role in dispersal of acorns,

and hence oak trees, in the Midwest?

■ Raptors, such as Swainson’s hawk,

red-tailed hawk, and great-horned owl,

provide a natural control for rodents

that destroy crops and infest grain

supplies?

For more information, contact: 

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Office of Migratory Bird Management

4401 N. Fairfax Drive

Suite 634

Arlington, VA 22203

703/358-1714

May 1999