The loss of habitat is one of the greatest threats to U.S. birds, according to a report released today by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. Here, a red-winged blackbird flies over its favorite, marshy habitat at Forence Robison Park in Battle Ground. Joel Davis/The Oregonian, 2004

by Abby Haight, The Oregonian Researchers were shocked when they counted breeding tufted puffins along the Oregon coast last summer. The numbers showed the charismatic seabird with the comical mask had become alarmingly scarce. From 6,560 tufted puffins in 1979 to a rough count of 142 found on Oregon’s cliffsides and rock islands last year. The decline mirrored some of the grim news in a report released today by the Interior Department showing that almost a third of the 800 bird species in the United States are endangered or in decline from habitat loss, invasive species and climate change. The State of the Birds report, a sweeping compilation of 40 years of survey data, found a 40 percent decline in grassland birds, a 30 percent loss of birds in arid lands, and a 30 percent decline in species dependent on U.S. oceans. …

U.S. birds threatened by habitat loss, invasives, report says