Condors, cranes, blackbirds, and other birds in the news

One of the hats I wear around here is News Hound, and boy, there's been a lot of to catch up on lately, particularly about threatened and endangered species:

• The number of bird species considered threatened on the worldwide Red List rose from 1,210 last year to 1,221 now. In all, BirdLife International changed the threat assessments for 81 species. Some improved, some got worse, and in many cases, taxonomic revisions required additions or subtractions to the list. Of note in North America, Sooty Grouse, which was recently split from Dusky Grouse, is listed as Least Concern. Rusty Blackbird, however, was downgraded from Least Concern to Vulnerable due to a population decline that "has been rapid during the past decade." And Hawaii's Po'ouli is now listed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct). The last known individual died in 2004.
• What will Arnold do? That's the question after the California Senate passed a bill last week already approved by the Assembly that bans lead bullets in areas where California Condors occur. The giant birds eat carrion, including game animals shot with lead bullets, and lead, of course, is toxic. Conservationists have pushed for a ban for years. I'm told that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has until October 14 to sign or veto the measure.
• The 237 Whooping Cranes that flew north last spring produced 84 chicks in Wood Buffalo National Park earlier this summer, but only 40 survived the season. Biologist Brian Johns hopes that 35 will make it back to Texas. In the Lone Star State, a developer's interest in 100 acres of crane habitat came to light last month, but some who initially hoped to stop him have changed their tune. Meanwhile, the next class of Wisconsin Whoopers is being trained to follow ultralight planes. Operation Migration's Joe Duff has set a target departure date of October 10.
• Our October cover story reported on the first nesting of Kirtland's Warblers in Wisconsin. Now, the Michigan DNR has released this year's census of singing males, which shows a total of 1,697 birds, an increase of more than 200 over last year.
— M.M.