American songbirds declining.The destruction of tropical forests in Mexico and Central America Central America, narrow, southernmost region (c.202,200 sq mi/523,698 sq km) of North America, linked to South America at Colombia. It separates the Caribbean from the Pacific. is reducing the numbers of migratory songbirds in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , said biologists at a recent National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservancy. Incorporated in 1905, it is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world. conference in Silver Bay, N.Y. Migratory birds such as warblers, thrushes and tanagers are finding fewer winter retreats because tropical forests are being bulldozed to make cattle ranches, says Sandy Sprunt, vice-president and director of research for the New York-based society. However, U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist ''' The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. A wildlife biologist is someone who studies wild animals and their habitats. Marshall Howe suggests a different reason for the decline. Preliminary data, he says, indicate that habitat destruction in the United States, where migratory birds nest, may affect birds such as flycatchers, warblers and vireos more than the destruction in Latin America. "But neither point of view is well substantiated," he says. "Both are a problem," says Sprunt. "But the destruction in the United States is not going on nearly as fast." |
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