[CT Birds] Bonaparte's Gull

[TomdB2 at aol.com]

Unfortunately, I think it's a reflection of the times we live in that the  
folks running the Red List have so many warning bells and buzzers going off all  
over the world that they have to triage what they are concerned about in ways 
 they've never had to before.  The Great Lakes disappearance of Bonaparte's  
Gulls is real--I raised it on the listserv there and was told by every  
respondent that the population loss has been universally observed in the  region.
 
Here's another good point of reference--remember that National Audubon  press 
release a few months ago about species that have suffered declines of 50%  or 
more in their populations over the last x years?  Of the top 10 birds on  
that list, all but one (Northern Bobwhite) are still listed as "least concern"  
by BirdLife/Red List.  This is the case even though their observed declines  
ranged from 65-78% and several are, I'm pretty sure, endemic to North  America 
(so it's not like there's some other global population that's stable,  causing 
BirdLife/Red List not to include them).
 
Tom de Boor
Branford, CT



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