Estimated 2000 dead birds found in a Beach in Chile

When one finds a dead bird on the beach, the scenario is often followed with a growing piqued curiosity, questioning what happened to the poor bird. If we’re talking about a responsible person, he/she would inform beach authorities about the dead bird, who in turn would then take the necessary actions geared in handling the decaying dead bird’s body.

It won’t hit news headlines, as is.

But when more than 1 dead bird is found on the beach – say, an estimated 2000 – that’s another story.

Based on the estimates of a natural history director in San Antonio, an estimated 2000 dead birds were found on beaches in Chile. It is believed that what happened the birds is a case of fishermen mistakenly capturing them with their nets, which led to the birds’ to drowning, being unable to fly away.

Spread across an area close to six kilometers or four miles on the beach, the dead birds’ were found scattered on the beaches of Santo Domingo, one of Chile’s coastal cities. The dead birds found included Guanay Cormorants, Gannets, Pelicans and Gray Petrels (mostly).

Jose Luis Brito, a natural history and archeology museum director, is convinced that fishermen “did nothing” when a number of birds got caught in their nets. The act was followed up with letting the fish drown, before their bodies were re-introduced into the sea.

As the needs of man are growing more and more, the incident reminds everyone of just how much mankind’s needs can cause heavy damage to the environment, particularly in the aspect of loss of wildlife due to unfortunate run-ins between men and animals.

To date, reports indicate a move in filing a complaint against fishermen, in relation to the multitude of birds found dead on beaches.

Black-backed Woodpecker – Petition for Endangered Status

Forest fires have always been perceived as “bad”, with many campaigns, programs and advertisements telling and retelling everyone of its risks and dangers.

For the black-backed woodpecker though, post fire environments are the source of a worthy feasts, with treats taking shape in beetle larvae found in burned trees.

Its penchant for such has led to the first federal petition, ever, in seeking recognition of the protection of post-fire habitats, as experts would share.

With four conservation groups filing a petition to the US Interior Department to include the black-backed woodpecker in the Endangered Species Act (in Sierra Nevada, Black Hills of Eastern Wyoming, and Oregon’s Eastern Cascades), burned habitat protection is an eventual on-the rise concern in keeping black-back woodpecker populations in check.

Apart from forest fire suppression protocols, the post-fire salvage operations of logging industries add to the decline of the post-fire habitat needs of the woodpecker, combined with the decline and thinning of green forests in national forests.

"Intensely burned forest habitat not only has no legal protection, but standard practice on private and public lands is to actively eliminate it,” – a quote, taken from the petition.

"When fire and insect outbreaks create excellent woodpecker habitat, salvage logging promptly destroys it."

The black-backed woodpecker is known to have had its fire-killed beetle tastes for millions of years, picking them out from conifer forests in the North American forest areas.

A threat to its natural habitat stands to threaten the species capacity to live on, with a number of experts sharing that it’d be rather reckless to neglect the species’ habitat considerations, given that they’ve been around since the Ice Ages.