Can captive breeding save this disappearing Everglades bird?

South Florida water managers approve a breeding program for the endangered Everglades sparrow, which has been at the center of debate for decades over how to move water to dry wetlands to restore them. did.

Cape Sable’s beach sparrow pilot program is likely to alter seasonal flood control in the sparrow’s habitat, which managers say could impede future restoration efforts.

“We can’t wait to build all the associated infrastructure[in the Central Everglades]and then go to places where we can’t move water south because we don’t know how to protect the birds,” Jennifer・Reynolds says. Ecosystem Restoration Director for the South Florida Water Management District told the board. “This is a $500,000 investment that will protect a multi-billion dollar infrastructure investment.”

Added to the endangered species list in 1967, the sparrow population hovered around 7,000 birds in just six locations in Everglades National Park in the 1980s. Its survival was considered a small measure of the health of the Everglades. But by last year, the population had plummeted to record lows, Reynolds said.

That’s despite years of efforts to protect important nesting areas that have also been a battleground for the birds’ recovery.

Located just west of the Shark River, this area once attracted the most birds and was better protected from storms and rising sea levels. However, during the breeding season, the north lock was closed to protect the nests that the birds build in the tall grass just a few inches off the ground. As a result, waters rose on the northern reservation, sinking Tree Island, the ancestral homeland of the Miccosukee people. The islands also have protected wildlife.

Wildlife officials say the captive breeding program will likely end seasonal lock closures and instead dictate operations based on conditions.

“It definitely gives us more flexibility in what we can do in a captive breeding program or a conservation breeding program, whatever you want to call it,” said Larry Williams, Florida Ecological Services supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. he said.

Water managers on Thursday also approved taking over construction of the project, which had been managed by the U.S. Army Corps, to speed recovery. The northern sparrow habitat project will begin next year and will move more water south.

The spillway, part of the Central Everglades Channel restoration effort, will also help alleviate high water levels in the protected area and allow more water to flow into the Shark River.

Conservationists who have fought to keep the gates closed for years have rallied around the breeding program as a way to help the sick birds, saying extensive restoration efforts will ultimately help the sparrows’ long-term survival. Ta.

“Without intervention, the prognosis for both this bird and its habitat is grim,” said Julie Reismell, executive director of Audubon Florida, citing the grasshopper sparrow breeding program in Central Florida as a measure of success. Ta.

When the breeding program began in 2015, the grasshopper sparrow population was down to about 100 individuals. This year, 1,000 sparrows kept in captivity were released into the wild.

The five-year pilot program is expected to cost just over $584,000 and will involve White Oak Conservation, the same wildlife facility north of Jacksonville that managed grasshopper sparrow breeding. Supervise. Like the locust program, breeding seaside sparrows will continue for years to come.

Miami Herald 2024. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.