Professional Documents
Culture Documents
S U M M ER 2 017
SPECIAL REPORT:
WATER AND BIRDS
IN THE ARID WEST
HOW TO
TAKE AMAZING
SHOREBIRD
PHOTOS
BIRD BLINDS
ACROSS
AMERICA
PLAYING
WITH FIRE
IN A CHICAGO
MARSH
BOB THE
FLAMINGO
CONQUERS
CURAAO
A RISKY RESCUE
FOR ISLAND
SPECIES
WILL INTERIOR
SECRETARY ZINKE
TARNISH HIS
IDOLS LEGACY?
Audubon Birds Live!
Across the Audubon network and with our partner Explore.org,
live cameras stream glimpses into the fascinating lives of birds.
From Ospreys and Bald Eagles to Atlantic Puffins and a particularly
charismatic Blue Jay, Audubon bird cams are not to be missed.
Tune inyou never know what you might see.
audubon.org/birdcams
ATLANTIC PUFFIN. PHOTO: CYRIL RUOSO/MINDEN PICTURES
Blind, bald, and vulnerable, many baby birds cant fend for themselves. They are altricial,
meaning they need parental careif not from adult birds, then from humans. Photographer
Andrew Garn knows this rsthand. He volunteers as a wildlife rehabilitator at the Wild
Bird Fund in New York City, where he has turned some of his avian patients into subjects.
He is drawn to the young birds because their ungainly, alien look is so different from their
adult form. Its amazing how they become so elegant, Garn says.
g
NAKED AND AFRAID PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW GARN
Altricial birds are born bald, Text by Meaghan Lee Callaghan
or with patches of natal down
feathers like this Monk Parakeet
chick (left). It hatched from an
egg laid by a rescue, and Garn
photographed it right after it
broke free, bits of shell still
clinging to its body. A couple of
days older, this House Sparrow
(right) was brought in as an
orphan. Still completely blind,
like the parakeet, the sparrow
begs for food with its brightly
colored gape, or mouth. That
color will only start to fade after
the bird has fully edged.
g
GROW I NG PAI NS
Growing up is almost never a
smooth transition. But what
looks like a really bad hair day
for this pigeon chick is just a step
in the process of becoming an
adult. Around 12 days old, it still
sports yellow down but is also
growing sheathed pin feathers,
which pierce the skin and unfurl
like a ag. These feathers wont
stick around for long, though.
Just weeks after edging, some
pigeons start their rst molt.
Because shedding old feathers
can be a slow process, edged
birds can end up with juvenile,
rst molt, and second molt
feathers all at the same time.
g
ROC K O N
While the Rock Pigeon is
common throughout most of
the United States, chicks can
be a rare sight. That's not the
case for Garn, who has chosen
the bird as a recent muse and
even raised one from an egg
photographing it in his studio
at about four days old (left).
Stretching and stumbling, a
second pigeon, photographed
at the home of a rehabber, tries
out its new feet. Later in life,
it will join others in its species
as an expert navigatorin part
why humanity has relied on
pigeons to carry messages for
thousands of years.
CONTENTS Summer 2017 Volume 119, Number 2
22
Western Waters Oases in a Dry Land
30
Gallery Audubon Photography Awards
In the arid West, the Colorado River Basin and a It wasnt easy to whittle down the more than
network of saline lakes supply water critical to the 5,500 photos entered in this years competition,
survival of both birds and people. but a handful of images proved exceptional.
Essay by David Owen/Visualizations by Katie Peek By the Editors
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: DAILY OVERVIEW; CHRISTOPHER SCHLAF, ERIC NYQUIST; TRISTAN SPINSKI
Cover
Southern Camine
Bee-eaters.
Photograph by
Zachary Webster/
Youth Winner
40
Observation Blind Faith
48
Innovation Engineering a Better Mousetrap
What is a blind to a birder? Protection, a portal, and New genetic technology may one day save island
a lesson in patience. Explore these extraordinary birds from invasive predators. But is tinkering with
structures through a photographers lens. nature worth the risk?
EssaybyTerryTempestWilliams/Photos byTristanSpinski By Brooke Borel/Illustrations by Eric Nyquist
8 Audubon View
We dont have to cut environmental
protections to grow the economy. Theres
A Voice You Can Trust
plenty of evidence that both can thrive. Our commitment to rigorous journalism stretches back
more than a centuryand far into the future.
11 Inbox BY MARK JANNOT
12 Field Notes
Ryan Zinke puts the bull in Bull Moose;
scorching the Earth for a postindustrial
renaissance; how one Arctic seabird is
W hen we asked writer
Brooke Borel to look into
early efforts to explore protecting
integrity, from the fact that you
can trust that what you read here is
factually accurate and fair, and isnt
Audubon is
not a house
organ, and its
faring against climate change; rigged imperiled island birds by tweaking dictated to us by our organizational value derives
nests and robots to advance ornithology. the genetic code of their mouse overlords. And when we report on entirely from
predators, we had no idea whether Audubons work, as we do regular- its integrity.
20 Flock Together the National Audubon Society ly, we apply the same journalistic Bottom line,
Flamingo Road A poolside accident had taken a position on the con- rigor and commitment to clarity there is noth-
meant Bob could never return to the troversial concept, and if so what and accuracy. (On page 22, youll ing fake about
wild. But the leggy pink ambassador it might be. (As Borel reports near nd a particularly ne example of our news.
has found a new calling on the island the end of Engineering a Better this in Oases in a Dry Land, our
of Curaaoand the kids are loving it. Mousetrap, the answer is essen- exploration of the Water and Birds
By Meghan Bartels/Photography by tially We havent taken a stance, in the Arid West report just pub-
Jasper Doest but Audubon scientists tend to lished by Audubons science team.)
look unfavorably on calls to ban Bottom line, there is nothing fake
scientic research.) We didnt about our news.
need to know that going in be- That ethic emphatically
cause our interest in the story had applies to the photos we publish
everything to do with the fact that as well, and is duly enshrined in
its an important one that we were the rules of our annual Audubon
certain youd nd fascinating, and Photography Awards, which
nothing to do with promulgating state that submitted photos must
an organizational party line. accurately reect the subject
LEFT, TOP TO BOTTOM: MAC STONE; JOSHUA LOTT; GAIL BISSON
Production
Felicia Pardo
Content Production Manager
Customer service: 844-428-3826 or customerservice@audubon.org. The observations and opinions expressed in Audubon magazine are those of the
respective authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official views of the National Audubon Society. Volume 119, Number 2, Summer 2017.
Audubon, ISSN 0097-7136, the magazine of the National Audubon Society, will be published quarterly in 2017 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). Editorial
offices: 225 Varick Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10014; 212-979-3000. Audubon does not accept unsolicited artwork or manuscripts and is not respon-
sible for their return. Reprint permissions: audubonmagazine@audubon.org; 212-979-3188 (fax). Copyright 2017 the National Audubon Society. No part
of the contents of this magazine may be reproduced by any means without the written consent of Audubon. For Maine Audubon membership services ONLY:
call 207-781-2330 or write 20 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth, ME 04105. Postmaster: Send address changes to National Audubon Society, P.O. Box 727,
Neenah, WI 54957-0727. Periodical preferred postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Canadian GST Number is R127073195. Canada
Post International Publications Mail (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 190314. Printed in USA.
Audubon magazine is printed using vegetable-content ink on 100 percent recycled paper (90 percent post-consumer content), excluding covers (10 percent) and inserts.
Scarlet Heroes [Re: Camp Macaw] Its sad that these rangers are needed,
but they deserve great respect for their work. I was in Belize and Guatemala
in 1990 on an eco-tour and saw beautiful tropical birds of many species,
in addition to monkeys and other fascinating creatures. Belize was my rst
tropical trip, and you cant imagine how fascinating and awe-inspiring it is to Lesson in Love
see macaws ying free in the wild and living the life they deserve! It makes Thank God for That Crazy Bird
me very sad that poachers from anywhere in the world would take wildlife is an inspiring, compassionate
from their homes to live a life in captivity. Deborah Avins story. Sometimes humans need to
interact with animals and watch
how they treat each other. We
Connect the Dots Why not keep a life list of yellow T H E A F T E R L I F E L I S T | B I R D - F R I E N D LY G A R D E N I N G | M E G A B I R D I N G F E S T I VA L S
have much to learn.
Chain Reaction is one of the Volkswagen Beetles or fat bald phyllis mathison
MISSION SCARLET
most important articles Audubon men? He missed the point, and so How to protect Belizes macaws from poachers?
Hunker down under their nests for weeks on end.
has published in a long time. did his son. I read the Blooms book and loved
Some neonics are a boon to farm- robert nordin it. Our family has had several
ers and Big Ag companies, but pet magpies; theyre amazing
are deadly to most crop insects. If Greener Pastures birds. Thank you for sharing your
the insects dont survive, the birds [Re: Beeng Up Bird Habitat] incredible journey with us.
that eat them wont survive, and This is a great step. Just like part- Send letters to jo muller
the creatures that eat the birds nering with hunters can help save audubonmagazine
or drink the waters that neonics our wild areas, so can partnering @audubon.org. Dj Vu
pollute also wont survive. We with ranchers. Show people how The Mourning Warblers song
are looking at a trophic cascade they can make a difference, give from Mapping Melodies is also
that goes all the way to the top them a chance, and oftentimes often featured in commercials, like
eventually to human beings. they will do the right thing. for Thompsons WaterSeal. So if
jane alexander betsy jarvi you think youve heard this before,
audubon board member you have.
In Saskatchewan, ranchers under- sandra hazen
Tally Ho! stand the use of grassland better
[Re: The Afterlife List] than the provincial government. We are Top Gun
Wonderful story! Life never goes By joining with environmentalists, looking at [Re: Resurgence] I used to be
PHOTO: CAMILLA CEREA/AUDUBON
as planned, death never goes as theyre the movers and shakers in a trophic able to observe Snail Kites in
planned, mourning never goes as the race to save habitat. cascade action when I lived in Palm Beach
planned, and that is just ne. john newman that goes County. Theyre truly majestic and
ilana debare all the way super cool. Swallow-tailed Kites
Rising Activists to the top are the masters of ying, though,
What a sad tale about a man ob- Im writing in response to Eric eventually and my absolute favorite birds to
sessed not with the joy and beauty Eagles letter about the Winter to human watch in ight.
of birding, but with numbers. 2016 article The Kids Are Not beings. giancarlo enrique santolalla
O n a mild monday in
February, a 30-acre patch of
common reed sways in the winter
Ridge Marsh, and the herons
lingering presence prevented the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
of neglect,
Audubon
gether to restore the area and
provide somewhere for migratory
birds to rest, refuel, and reproduce.
Great Lakes
breeze at Indian Ridge Marsh in from touching this plot of land in and others are Today the biggest threat to
Southeastern Chicago. A colony 2011, when the agency restored working to existing wetlands in the Calumet
of Black-crowned Night-Herons the surrounding 150 acres of restore Indian are invasive plants like phragmites
once built a rookery at Indian former steel-industry dumping Ridge Marsh. and narrowleaf cattail. As they
ARCTIC
Eto millions
very june the population of
Svalbard swells from thousands
as seabirds converge
an ecologist at the Institute of
Oceanology of the Polish Acad-
emy of Sciences. The Dovekies
on the Arctic archipelago to nest. derive their nutrients almost
Located between Norway and exclusively from the sea, and they
the North Pole, the small cluster deposit the wealth from the water
of islands turns rocky to lush in on land, tying the marine and
a matter of weeks, thanks to the terrestrial food chains together.
guano, egg shells, and feathers For all the species it supports,
left behind by massive colonies of the six-ounce seabird relies on
Dovekies (better known as Little just one food source: microscopic
Auks outside of North America). crustaceans called copepods that
The Dovekies compost is the thrive west of Svalbard, where
bedrock of the local ecosystem: cold Arctic waters mix with the
Reindeer and Barnacle Geese warm, salty Atlantic current.
feed on the emergent summer But with temperatures rising
vegetation, while Arctic foxes and more dramatically here than
polar bears prey on the grazers anywhere else on Earth, research
and nesters. The whole tundra is suggests the hotspot is getting
connected, says Rafa Boehnke, too hot. Novel laser technology
16AUDUBON | SUMMER 2017 FROM LEFT: KONRAD WOTHE/MINDEN PICTURES/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE; FLORIAN SCHULZ/VISIONSOFTHEWILD.COM
Under Siege
July marks the
peak breed-
ing season for
millions of birds in
northern Alaska.
Yellow-billed
Loons nest around
the deep waters
of Teshekpuk
Lake, Spectacled
Eiders settle into
the sedges of the
Beaufort Sea, and
species from all 50
U.S. states ood
the vibrant coastal
plain of the Arctic
National Wildlife
Refuge.
But soon the
fossil-fuel industry
could take over
this ecologically
imperative region,
otherwise known
as Americas
Bird Basket. In
May Secretary of
the Interior Ryan
Zinke ordered his
department to
create a plan that
maximizes oil and
gas extraction
in the western
Arctic (home to
Teshekpuk and
the refuge). An
earlier executive
order also looks to
overturn a ban on
offshore drilling
in the Arctic Sea.
If approved, both
schemes may
upend a delicate
adults are expending extra energy the lack of white hake and Atlantic can only sacrice so much for the compromise that
to bring home dinner, some- herringspecies thought to have health of their chicks before the balances business
times traveling farther from their ed north in search of cooler reproductive success of the larger with habitat
cliffside colonies and hunting at waterssome pufn colonies now population begins to falter. From protection.
greater depths. The team was also feed on Acadian redsh, a species there, the cascading effects of this To combat this
surprised to nd small squid and that has rebounded recently due to keystone species on tundra life threat, Audubon
other creatures never before seen careful management of commercial could be staggering. is calling on Con-
in the birds gullets. shing. Since then, there has been In the far north, ecosystems gress to preserve
So far, Dovekie populations an increase in survival rates for hang in a precarious balance. Each the Arctic Refuge
seem to be holding steady; theyre pufn edglings. small rise in temperature could bring from expanded
still one of the most abundant Still, researchers are keeping a organisms closer to the brink. But development.
seabirds in the Northern Hemi- close eye on Svalbards Dovekies. each small act of resilience like the Add your voice
sphere. Atlantic Pufns in the Gulf If anyone suffers, its the parents, Dovekies could also help scientists at audubon.org/
of Maine have demonstrated a says marine biologist and team predict how Arctic species might savearctic.
similar hardiness. To make up for member Emilia Trudnowska: They face the changing current. Purbita Saha
g RIBBON OF GREEN
Riparian habitat along the Gila River,
a 650-mile tributary of the Colo-
rado, supports more than 200 bird
species. If a plan to divert water to
southwestern New Mexico moves
forward, up to 4.5 billion gallons
could be siphoned away annually.
Money for the project could instead
be used for water-conservation pro-
grams, the goal of a campaign being
led by Audubon New Mexico.
W E ST ERN WATER
24 AUDUBON | SUMMER 2017 PREVIOUS SPREAD: DAILY OVERVIEW, SATELLITE IMAGERY DIGITALGLOBE; ABOVE: MIKE FERNANDEZ
MAP KEY
Native cottonwood-
willow forests provide
canopy, mid-story, and shrub-level COLORADO RIVER BASIN
nesting sites for breeding birds and
shelter for migrants. The trees need
intermittent ooding to regenerate, Flaming Gorge
and so as the water table has Dam
1963
lowered, seedlings struggle
COTTONWOOD to germinate. YAMPA RIVER
WATER TABLE
LITTLE
COLORADO RIVER
COLORADO
Davis Dam RIVER
SALTCEDAR 1952 VERDE RIVER
Parker Dam Roosevelt
1938 Dam
Alamo
1911 SALT RIVER
Dam
1968
SOURCE: BIRDS AND WATER IN THE ARID WEST, NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY, JULY 2017 SUMMER 2017 | AUDUBON 25
W E ST ERN WATER To read the full report, visit
audubon.org/westernwater.
to spread a full years worth deposits of motorboats, jet Advocacy it, like a sap-gathering gash
of its entire ow evenly over a skis, golf carts, all-terrain How to Help Safeguard in the trunk of a rubber tree.
surface the size of its drainage vehicles, RVs, and people Western Water We had already own over
basin, roughly 250,000 square with gray hair. several larger, more recent
miles, the water would cover All that human util- Both people and birds need the additions to the same water-
it to a depth of only about an ity has costs. The Colorado Wests scarce water resources, but storing-and-shifting network.
inch. The Mississippi River has helped to shape some without action neither will have a Even people who describe
carries the equivalent of the of the most otherworldly reliable supply. Thats why Audubon themselves as worried envi-
Colorados entire annual ow landforms on earththe is engaging with water users and ronmentalists usually have no
every couple of weeks. Grand Canyon, of course, decision makers to reach solutions idea where their water comes
Yet the Colorado is a and also the Vermilion Cliffs, that protect and restore critical sites, from, Pitt says.
crucial resource for a surpris- in northern Arizona, and such as the Salton Sea, Colorado The Colorado suffers
ingly large part of the United the eerily striated buttes and River Delta, and other Important from the same kinds of
States. It and its tributaries mazelike sandstone mean- Bird Areas. Put simply, agreements overuse and environmental
ow through or alongside ders of Canyonlands Na- to share water in times of shortage degradation that threaten
seven Western statesColo- tional Park, in southeastern will help to keep drinking water in another key water source in
rado, Wyoming, Utah, New Utahyet even within those faucets, agricultural water in irriga- the Western United States
seemingly wild landscapes, tion canals, and water for wildlife in a vast network of saline
Water problems are its ow is so altered and habitats to sustain us all. lakes. Diversions of inows
straightforward in one controlled that in many ways Please join us in calling on your for agriculture, industry, and
way: Without water we the river functions more like members of Congress to support human consumption have
die, and not centuries a 1,400-mile-long canal. vital water-conservation programs reduced the amount of water
from now. When sup- The legal right to use every in the West. For Fiscal Year 2018, these lakes hold, which in
plies are short, people gallon is owned or claimed by Audubon recommends requests of turn has steadily increased
have no choice but to someonein fact, more than $100 million for Western drought their salinity, a problem also
nd solutions, one way every gallon, since theoretical relief, including $25 million for exacerbated by drought.
or another, in real time. rights to the Colorados ow, Colorado River system conser- Unlike most saline lakes,
known to water lawyers as vation, and $30 million for the which formed naturally tens
Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, paper water, greatly exceed WaterSMART Grants programall of thousands of years ago, the
and Californiabefore cross- its actual ow, known as administered by the U.S. Bureau of Salton Sea was created by an
ing into Mexico near Yuma, wet water. That imbalance Reclamation. And the budget for the act of engineering imbecil-
Arizona. It supplies water to has been exacerbated by a U.S. Department of Agricultures ity. Yet it plays a unique and
more than 36 million people, severe drought that began Natural Resources Conservation increasingly important role
including residents not just just before the turn of the Service should include $200 million in sustaining the viability of
of Boulder, Denver, and millennium; even as much of for Watershed and Flood Preven- a large number of bird spe-
Colorado Springs but also of the Western United States tion Operations, and fully fund Farm cies. It is one of the principal
Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, emerges from it, the over- Bill conservation programs and the stops on the migratory route
Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, allocation problems remain. Regional Conservation Partnership known as the Pacic Flyway,
San Diego, and Los Ange- Kunkel dipped a wing, Program to increase efficient water which extends from Pata-
les. It irrigates close to six and Pitt pointed toward the use on farms while restoring habitat gonia to the Arctic Circle,
million acres of farmland, Never Summer Mountains, for birds and other wildlife. and roughly 60 percent of
much of which it also created on our right. Theres the Wherever you live, you can the species known to breed
through eons of silt deposi- Grand Ditch, she said. I make a difference. Visit action. in North America have been
tion. It powers two of the saw what looked like a road audubon.org/westernwater to spotted there. The Salton
countrys largest hydroelec- or a hiking trail cut across take action and stay informed. Seas receding shoreline
tric plants, at Hoover and the face of a steeply slop- poses a direct health threat
Glen Canyon Dams, and is ing forest of snow-dusted to humans, too, because as
the principal water source conifers; she explained that g SALINE SANCTUARY
the water level falls, more of
for two enormous manmade it was an aqueduct, dating to With its surrounding wetlands, the lakebed is exposed and
reservoirs, Lake Mead and 1890. Fourteen miles long, Great Salt Lake, the largest the harmful substances left
Lake Powell, as well as many the Grand Ditch carries saline lake in the Western behind by evaporation are
smaller ones. It supports water across the Continental Hemisphere, provides food and picked up by the wind.
recreational activities that are Divide at La Poudre Pass habitat for millions of birds. Water problems are
said to be worth $26 billion and empties it into a stream But water consumption over straightforward in one way:
a year. Some of its south- that ows toward the states the past 150 years has led to a Without water we die, and
ern reaches attract so many eastern plains. It doesnt tap roughly 11-foot drop in lake level, not centuries from now.
reducing habitat and altering
transient residents during the the Colorado directly, but When supplies are short,
salinity. Algae and bacteria that
winter that you could almost captures as much as 40 per- thrive in highly saline areas cast
people have no choice but
believe it had overowed its cent of the ow from slopes a reddish hue, as seen here. to nd solutions, one way or
banks and left dense alluvial that would otherwise feed another, in real time. They
10,001100,000
Colorado River by David Owen. long enough, you will see birds. They
Published by arrangement with are showing us that we need to be
100,0011 million
Riverhead Books, an imprint of resilient, too. M.B.
Penguin Publishing Group, a division
of Penguin Random House LLC. 1 million+ Saline Lakes
Copyright 2017 by David Owen. North South
28 AUDUBON | SUMMER 2017 *Not saline lakes per se, but provide similar value as bird habitat
MAP KEY
Lines link known and suspected migration paths among the saline lakes
Alaskan breeding grounds and to other sites. Each color represents a different priority species
(listed at left). Arcs show connections between sites, not exact routes.
Known connection Spring Autumn
migration migration
Suspected or weak connection
paths arc paths arc to
Connection, based on banding to the left the right or
data, from a saline lake to or top. bottom.
another North American site
Northwestern
breeding
grounds
KLAMATH BASIN
HONEY PYRAMID
LAKE LAKE GREAT SALT LAKE
LAHONTAN WETLANDS
COLORADO RIVER
Pacific Coast
Eastern
MONO Canadian
LAKE breeding
grounds
Central
Valley
OWENS
LAKE
Orange
County
Gulf Coast
SALTON
SEA
COLORADO
RIVER
DELTA
Baja
California Central and South American
wintering grounds
SOURCE: BIRDS AND WATER IN THE ARID WEST, NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY, JULY 2017 SUMMER 2017 | AUDUBON 29
2017 AUDUBON
PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS
IN ASSOCIATION WITH NATURE'S BEST PHOTOGRAPHY
The more than 5,500 photos entered in this
years contest, our eighth, show birdlife at its
most vivid, vulnerable, formidable, and elegant.
Photographers from 49 states and eight
Canadian provinces submitted images.
Congratulations to the winners and honorable
mentions featured hereand to all those who
strive to share the beauty of birds.
Category: Amateur
Photographer: Deborah Albert
Species: Gentoo Penguin
Location: Brown Bluff, Antarctica
Camera: Nikon D90 with a Nikon
70-300mm lens; 1/800 second at
f/5.6; ISO 200
PROFESSIONAL
WINNER
PROFESSIONAL
HONORABLE MENTION
Photographer:
Karen R. Schuenemann
Species: Sandhill Cranes and
Snow Geese
Location: Bernardo Waterfowl
Management Area, New Mexico
Camera: Nikon D5 with Nikon
200-400mm f/4 VR lens; 1/1250
second at f/13; ISO 6400
A M AT E U R W I N N E R
B L I N D
WHAT COMPELS BIRD LOVERS TO HUNKER DOWN IN THE DARK, OFTEN CRAMPED,
INTERIORS OF BLINDS? AN INTIMATE VIEW INTO THE AVIAN WORLD.
F A I T H
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRISTAN SPINSKI | TEXT BY TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS
We
awoke before dawn and
dressed like duck hunt-
ers in a palette of browns,
beiges, and grays. The
attire was a hopeful gesture
of not being seen, even
inside a bird blind, on our
pilgrimage to witness the
great migration of Sandhill
Cranes along the Platte
River in Nebraska. It was a
spring ritual, both human
and wild. More than half
a million cranes descend
along this meandering river
through marshes and corn-
elds. Thousands of visitors
come to watch.
Tom Mangelsen, the
legendary wildlife photog-
rapher known for his Images
of Nature imprint, was our
guide. Tom grew up on the
Nebraska prairie; Sandhill
Cranes have always been
part of his weather system.
Now he returns each year
with the cranes and shares
this spectacle with others
in his familys decades-old
duck hunting blind on the
edge of the Platte.
We left the Mangelsen
cabin an hour or so before
dawn and snuck out to
shore, barely 100 yards
away. We didnt want
to disturb the roosting
cranes nearby, some on the
sandbar, others standing in
the shallows. Tom took the
lead walking the well-worn
path through the willows
and grasses wet with dew.
We followed him single le,
quiet and attentive to the
early sounds of birdsong,
Red-winged Blackbirds
among them.
Once inside the wooden
box, roughly four feet wide
and eight feet long, four of
us gingerly unpacked our
geartripods, binoculars,
scopes, cameras, notebooks
and pencils, thermoses
I nd peering through
blinds somewhat voy-
euristic, akin to spying
on neighbors through
their well-lit windows
when our lights are off;
they cant see us but we
can see them.
before me: the shrouded sil- We were close to the sands of birds lifting up the selves against the pages of a
houettes of Sandhill Cranes, birds, close enough landscape with their wings. pastel sky. The outstretched
multitudes, standing stoically to be touched by the Everything was in motion: wings of the Sandhill Cranes
in the shallows looking like a majesty and presence the water, the grasses, the with their nger feathers
Chinese scroll of tall, statu- of these gray-feathered cornelds, the sky. Flock after extended are the farthest
esque birds. elders standing tall on ock of cranes rising from reaches of hope against the
And then, in a urry and the prairie with their the river, higher and higher, press of modernity. Their
cacophony of sound, primal beaks pointing upward ying above the Platte in all return is our assurance that
and singular, the guttural as they danced and directions. Some of the birds the world is still t for beauty.
cries of the cranes shattered bowed to one another. crisscrossed each other like Nine million years of perfec-
the darkness like wildness long, undulating strands of tion resides in the bones of
itself, with hundreds of thou- calligraphy, writing them- these birds that bear witness
to the wisdom of evolution in like angels, only to rise and of being for having witnessed ing our attention, we saw
its adaptive grace. Generation fall and rise again in the amo- the ongoing nature of grace. what love looks like in the
after generation, the memory rous play of lovers, leaping We were close to the shimmering light of home. a
of cranes landing in Middle and bowing to the embodied birds, close enough to be
America to feed and breed on knowledge that the future touched by the majesty of Terry Tempest Williams is the
the banks of the Platte River depends on each gesture these gray-feathered elders author of The Hour of Land:
allows their story to continue. granted to the other. In one standing tall on the prairie A Personal Topography of
I am the pupil of the of the oldest dances on the with their beaks point- Americas National Parks
bird blind, an eye squinting planetthe kind of mastery ing upward as they danced and more than a dozen other
for insight beyond my own only nine million years of and bowed to one another. books. Her last Audubon story
kind. The cranes slowly oat evolution can perfectwe, Through the open window of traced Darwins footsteps in the
back to Earth, descending also, rise to an awakened state the blind, framing and focus- Galpagos.
ENGINEERING A BETTER
MOUSETRAP
New genetic technology may one day save island birds from
invasive predators. But is tinkering with nature worth the risk?
BY BROOKE BOREL / ILLUSTRATIONS BY ERIC NYQUIST
T
he silent black-and-white footage opens on a
seemingly tranquil setting: a burrow where an Atlantic
Petrel tends to its chick. Then mice begin scurrying in
and out of frame. The dark blurs jostle the adult, dart-
ing up to the exposed chick and tearing off bloody bites.
Theyre eating it alive.
The horric scene is captured by nest cams on Gough
(rhymes with off ), a rugged volcanic island about 1,700 miles
west of South Africa. It has one of the worlds largest seabird
nesting colonies, with millions of birds representing 22 species.
Its also home to hundreds of thousands of mice, descendants
of stowaways on 19th-century seal-hunting ships. The tiny
predators devour some 900,000 chicks a year and threaten to
decimate the islands Atlantic Petrels and Tristan Albatrosses,
which breed here almost exclusively. In a rodent-free landscape,
more than two-thirds of the albatross chicks should make it to
adulthood; on Gough, mice cut survival to as low as 10 percent.
To stop the carnage, the U.K.s Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds is staging an ambitious $9.5 million campaign in 2019.
Helicopters will navigate the steep terrain, strategically dropping
180 tons of food pellets laced with the anticoagulant brodifacoum;
mice that consume the spiked pellets will hemorrhage to death. Its
T
about whether to wield such a powerful tool.
W
here is, in fact, a scientist devoted to making mice
hen charles darwin visited the galpagos in irresistible. John Godwin, a neurobiologist at North
1835, he encountered nches with an array of beak Carolina State University, spent most of his career
shapes. Each unique shape, he later posited, was studying sh and lizard sexual behavior. Then, in 2011,
adapted for a particular niche in foraging seeds, in- he read about the Farallons, rocky islands off the coast
sects, and nectar across the varying landscapes. The of San Francisco that have up to an astounding 500 in-
observation helped solidify his theory of natural se- vasive mice per acre in the summer. They also support one of
lection: Organisms that are good at navigating their environment the worlds largest breeding colonies of Ashy Storm-Petrels.
will likely survive and reproduce, passing their traits to the next The abundant rodents attract Burrowing Owls, which histori-
generation. These traits are linked to genes, and offspring have a cally used the islands as a pit stop during fall migration but now
50/50 chance of inheriting a given gene from either parent. overwinter there. When mouse numbers dip during winter food
But thats not always how it works. Gene drives, sometimes shortages and bad weather, owls dine on the storm-petrels.
called selsh genetic elements, hijack heredity. They push CRISPR wouldnt be unveiled for another year, but God-
the inheritance of a specic gene highersometimes to nearly wins colleagues were already working on a natural gene drive in
100 percenteven if it provides no evolutionary edge. (It isnt mosquitoes to curb dengue fever. Could a similar approach, he
entirely clear why this happens.) wondered, combat invasive mice? Given his expertise, Godwin
Scientists contemplated leveraging this capability as early as was especially curious whether an engineered mouse would
1940, when a Russian researcher suggested an approach to wipe stand a chance wooing wild females. He convinced entomolo-
out troublesome insects. Since then, scientists have mulled ways gist Fred Gould, co-director of NC States Center on Genetic
to manipulate a natural gene drive to do their bidding. In 2003, Engineering and Society, and David Threadgill, a mouse ge-
evolutionary biologist Austin Burt proposed using genetic en- neticist with a focus on biomedicine, to take on Farallon mice
gineering to build an articial driveone that could pinpoint a as a test case. They arranged a conference call with the U.S.
precise location in an organisms DNA and insert a desired gene. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the islands.
Biotechnology caught up in 2012, when an international team The agency also invited Karl Campbell, Island Conserva-
of scientists unveiled a revolutionary new way to alter genes. The tions project director, on the call. Campbell was deep into a
technology, called CRISPR, is a set of biological editing tools: It search for new conservation technologies; hed heard of gene
can nd a specic stretch of DNA, cut it like scissors, and add, drives but didnt know anyone in the eld. The FWS gave
delete, or replace genetic information. CRISPR makes it possible Godwin the go-ahead to collect Farallon mice but ultimately
to harness natural gene drives, a process akin to building a car didnt consider a gene drive solution for its mouse problem. (It
from spare parts. Scientists can also employ it to create articial opted for poison, as it was already available, but public criti-
drives, like building a car with custom parts. cism has put the deployment in limbo.) Campbell, however,
In 2015 geneticists used a CRISPR gene drive to change wanted in. The scientists were surprised; fairly or not, genetic
Guide
Endonuclease
Syr Gene
Guide
4
Quick
Vireo
Pointers
Spectacles
Unlike most
songbirds, many
of the vireos
have white rings
around their eyes.
The White-eyed
Vireo, however,
has yellow ones
(baffling, we life needs purpose, and so do birders, especially in those long summer days when most birds
know). are trying to y under the radar. Yet not the vireos. This sturdy family of songbirds will keep jab-
bering through the midday heat, daring you to come out and nd them. See me. No you cant. Here
Wing Bars I am. Way up here. In the tree. Follow the voice of the Red-eyed Vireo to catch it as it meanders
Species like the
through the canopy to forage. Hop, stop, search, stretch, and pluckthese hook-billed birds are
Blue-headed or
White-eyed Vireo a caterpillars worst nightmare. For birders, though, theyre a real challenge; with their calculated
have two obvious movements and camouaged looks, youre more likely to get an earful than an eyeful. And that
stripes across makes spotting a vireo all the sweeter. Pete Dunne
their wings. Oth-
ers, including the
Gray Vireo, have
a fainter pair.
Four Is a Crowd
Before you start identifying vireos, you need to stop confusing them with other birds.
Mimicry BY JASON WARD
The White-eyed
Vireo is a pro
FROM TOP: JOEL SARTORE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE; ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVID ALLEN SIBLEY.
at copying and
pasting other
birds calls into
its own. Listen
for a medley of
woodpeckers, Vireo Warbler Flycatcher Kinglet
thrushes, and At rst glance, vireos might Warblers can be very similar Both ycatchers and vireos Things get trickier with
tanagers. seem like all of the other small, to vireos in posture, shape, are voracious insectivores, but kinglets; they feed and pose
perching birds you know (they size, feeding style, and even their hunting strategies differ. almost identically to vireos. But
Name Tags were thought to be related to name. (Yes, theres a species North American ycatchers no bird can rival the stamina
There are a few warblers for a while). But the called the Warbling Vireo.) tend to sit and wait on an of kinglets, which seem to be
vireos that are large feet, long legs, broad Lets take the Tennessee exposed perch, darting out to in constant motion as they
aptly labeled. breast, and beak on this Warbler, for example. This bird catch insects in mid-air. Vireos, search for food. The bigger
The key eld Huttons Vireo illustrate that has an olive-green back, tail, in contrast, are more active; vireos, meanwhile, move
marks of the the family is more closely re- and wings and a pale breast, they search leaves and owers, slowly and methodically. Upon
Black-whiskered, lated to shrikes and crows. The belly, and undertaila typical moving from branch to branch closer inspection, the bill on
Blue-headed, and best way to know if a bird is a palette for vireos. But like other to nd their next meal. Check this Ruby-crowned Kinglet is
Yellow-throated vireo, however, is to gauge how warblers, Tennessees have a out the foraging posture of also much smaller and thinner
are revealed in often it sings; the males are like thin, pointy bill, while vireos this Eastern Wood-Pewee: It than a vireos. Plus, the bird
their names. broken records, belting up to have a thick bill with a small sits upright, while vireos hold is more round and compact,
Purbita Saha 20,000 tunes in a single day. hook at the end. themselves more horizontally. almost like a butterball.
FROM TOP: PORTFOLIO VERO BEACH; DAVID ALLEN SIBLEY; LARS SCHNEIDER/TANDEMSTOCK; VOLODYMYR MELNYK/ALAMY; ISTOCK
routine. Spending a couple of days, rather than hours, in bird habitat will deepen
your understanding of avian behavior and the different niches that species rely upon.
Whether youre a seasoned pro or sleeping outdoors for the rst time, theres an immer- Grail Bird
sive experience that will help take your birding excursion to the next level. Alisa Opar
Gray-headed
Car Camping Chickadee
Drive-up campgrounds across the country offer excellent access to trails where birds No other bird in
abound. Some even have great birding at tent sites: California Condors soar overhead mainland North
at Pinnacles Campground, while Greater Roadrunners zip around on foot. When the America is as
birds go quiet, pull out guidebooks and get to know the trees, wildowers, and butteries inaccessible as
around you. Recreation.gov provides a list of family-friendly campgrounds. this chickadee, a
rare resident of
Backpacking stunted spruces
The farther you venture from roads, the more likely you are to encounter wildlife instead of and willows along
people. A long weekend in the backcountry is ideal for seeking out an elusive species, such as rivers in northern
White-tailed Ptarmigan in Washingtons Cascade Range. Always make sure you have plenty Alaska and
of food, water, and warm layers, obtain necessary permits, and inform someone of your travel extreme north-
plans. Visit the U.S. Forest Services camping page for more tips: bit.ly/2pPInEq. western Canada.
Birders deter-
Glamping mined to seek it
If pitching a tent isnt your style, but you still want to slumber in nature, consider out in its remote
glamorous camping, or glamping. Lodgings range from walled tents with real beds haunts should go
to plush, all-inclusive experiences with gourmet meals, hot showers, and ush toilets. prepared for a true
Glamping.com lists more than 100 tents, tree houses, tepees, and yurts nationwide, some wilderness camp-
right on the doorsteps of national parks, including Glacier and Zion. ing experience.
Go Nocturnal
Head out on an owling expedition after dark, or any nocturnal
hike, and youll likely encounter the wonder of a few night-
time sounds. Camp out, and youll experience the changing
soundscape of the entire period from sunset through sunrise.
Some owls are noisy just after dark and just before dawn,
3
Tips for
Novice
falling quiet for long stretches in between while they hunt. Campers
Other owls, meanwhile, may be silent at dusk, cranking up
later. A wide variety of other birds contribute to the late- Rent Gear
night chorus: bitterns, rails, night-herons, cuckoos, various While there are
grassland sparrows, even Yellow-breasted Chats. As the zero costs once
moon rises, listen for enigmatic nightjars such as whip-poor- youre in the
wills and poorwills bursting into song. Then take it easy the great outdoors,
next morning: Many birds sing most persistently at rst the price of
light, and you can enjoy the concert from the comfort of your camping equip-
tent. Kenn Kaufman ment can add
up quickly. REI
and many local
Happy Camper sporting goods
stores loan tents,
Haul your equipment to the campsite in comfort with Ospreys sleeping bags and
Aether backpack (starting at $290); the top converts to a pads, and stoves
daypack for birding adventures. Tentsile takes camping to for reasonable
new heights with Stingray (pictured top left, $650), a rain- fees. Outdoors-
proof, three-person tent that can be hung between trees. The geek.com ships
synthetic ll of Mountain Hardwears Hotbed Spark sleep- nationwide, and
ing bag ($139) keeps you cozy when temperatures dip into its basic camping
the 40s. Miirs Camp Cup ($25) does it all; the double-wall package for two
vacuum insulation keeps cold and stays hot, and the stain- starts at $97.
less steel doesnt transfer avor, so your nightcap wont be
coffee-avored. GCI Outdoors Sunshade Eazy Chair ($50) Reserve a Spot
may be the ultimate camp chair: Its solid, supportive, and has Campsites at
a sun-blocking shade. Be prepared for the unexpected with more than 2,500
Black Diamonds waterproof, 200-lumen Spot headlamp federal areas,
($40) and Adventure Medical Kits compact yet complete from Alaskas
Mountain Hiker rst aid kit ($25). Tongass Na-
tional Forest to
Floridas Lake
The Right Stuff Okeechobee, are
FROM TOP: MELYSSA ST. MICHAEL; COURTESY OSPREY; JEFF JOHNSON/PATAGONIA
its summer, and sunbathers arent the only population headed to the
shore. Birds also ock to the boundary between land and water, whether a
sandy beach, mudat, or marsh. There are more than 50 species of shorebirds
in North America, and their elegant shapes and intricate patterns make them
alluring subjects for photographers. Follow these tips to wade into their world.
Where to Photograph
Migrant Shorebirds
Most shorebird species nest in the far
north, but by July adults begin to head
south, followed by juveniles in their crisp
plumage. Heres where to catch them.
CLOCKWISE FROM CENTER LEFT: ILLUSTRATION BY DAVID ALLEN SIBLEY; JIM VERHAGEN; NATURE AND SCIENCE/ALAMY
Shorebirds migrating through the
ET H I CS center of the continent stop by the
massive wetlands complex formed by
Do Not Disturb Cheyenne Bottoms and nearby Quivira
National Wildlife Refuge (pictured
beach-nesting shorebirds such as plovers and oystercatchers nest above). Visitors include great numbers
in some of the most populous regions of the world, right in the heart of Stilt Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, and
Grail Bird of summer vacation season. Theyre whimsical, captivating, and highly Wilsons Phalarope. Both sites can be
endangered. Its all too easy for photographers with even the best of in- reached via wildlife drives, dikes with
American Avocet tentions to disturb their nests and behaviorsometimes to devastating pedestrian access, and areas abutting
Tall, bright, and consequence. Piping Plover chicks, for example, are seen eating all the habitat with eye-level views. For max
handsome, these time, so we can easily underestimate how difcult it is for them to get shorebird density, aim for early August.
leggy waders nest the calories they need. Initial data from a study conducted on my local
on open ground beach in New Jersey reveal that chicks in areas heavily used by humans Plymouth and Duxbury Beaches,
near Western have lower daily survival rates compared with chicks in other areas, a Massachusetts
wetlands. Theyre nding that should serve as a wake-up call to photographers. When the tide is out, mixed ocks of
high-strung as A few rules of thumb will help minimize your impact: Always take plovers, dowitchers, and sandpipers
breeders, so dont the time to watch broods from a very safe distance for a few sessions be- forage along the seaweed wrack lines
try to photograph fore photographing them. Understand where they go and how they get and open mudats of the barrier
them at the nest there when no one is around. Learn how they react under various forms beaches in Plymouth and Duxbury
unless you use a of disturbance. Armed with that knowledge, you can position yourself bays. To access them, drive the Ply-
blind. At feeding appropriately. And though many nests are cordoned off behind inter- mouth Beach sand roads (with a permit)
sites in shallow pretive signage and symbolic fencing, those still leave a photographer or park in the lot at Duxbury and
water, avocets exposed. Use a pop-up blind to vanish from birds sight, and as a result, proceed on foot. Visits here are good
may be more theyll make a much closer approachand youll get amazing photos of throughout late summer but can be
approachable. healthy animals naturally going about their lives. Jim Verhagen best after Labor Day. Benjamin Clock
5
How to
Read the
Tides
According to the
proverb, there are Tips for
two things that
wait for no one:
Shooting
time and tide. For in Sand
aspiring shorebird
photographers, the Play Defense
latter can make all Resist the urge to
the difference. change your lens.
Each time you do,
Incoming Tide sand, salt, or water
Around three can get into your
hours before high camera body or on
tide, the rising the lens contacts.
water starts to
move the birds off Seal Away Gear
the ats and up Use a camera bag
toward the shore. that keeps your
Pick a good spot, P RO FI LE gear sealed safely
put the sun at your away. A hotel
back, get as low The Shorebird Whisperer shower cap on
as you can, and let the camera body
the tide push the lisa franceski was new to shorebirds when she rst can fend off ocean
birds your way. took her camera to the beach near her home on Long Is- spray and sand as
land. I didnt even know what a Piping Plover was, she you shoot.
High Tide says. Since then, she has shadowed individual families of
With their feeding shorebirds through each season that they nest in New Mind the Terrain
grounds ooded, York. Piping Plovers, with their run, run, stop rhythm, At eye level, sand
the birds settle lend themselves to the eye-level portraits that Franceski can be far more
into tidal marsh particularly enjoys shooting; American Oystercatchers also uneven than it
areas, beaches, strike classic poses on the ground. To photograph birds on appears from
and along rocky their level and avoid startling them, Franceski predicts overhead. Choose
shorelines. Arrive their movements, then lies in the sand and waits for the a position that en-
before high tide, birds to pass by. Often the sand is wet, and sometimes shes sures a birds feet
sit low and quietly, in the path of a stray wave. But her technique means she arent concealed
and concentrate doesnt need a tripodher elbows braced in the sand are by mounded sand.
on the birds steady enoughand the intimacy of the resulting images
closest to you or proves that her patience pays off. Meghan Bartels Brush Off Sand
FROM TOP: LISA FRANCESKI; CAMILLA CEREA/AUDUBON; CANON USA
walled pens, each about the size of a pool table and scattered
with wood chips, sand, cardboard tubes, and plastic nest boxes.
They look like giant hamster cages, but the point is to offer an
approximation of nature with places to hide and play.
Two malesone wild and one lab-raised, but not yet engi-
neered with a gene driveare put in a pen with four wild females.
While blood tests will reveal paternity, Godwins team is interest-
ed in more than who the daddies are. Each mouse has unique ear
tags, and radiofrequency ID tags will monitor who visits whom,
and for how long. Spying on the critters should help reveal what,
exactly, a mouse nds attractivesize, for example, or aggressive-
nessand ultimately help scientists breed the sexiest lab mice.
While Godwin tackles mouse attraction, other GBIRd mem-
bers have been investigating gene drives. Threadgill, whos now
at Texas A&M, designed a natural drive using CRISPR to bind
two pieces of existing mouse DNA. The rst is the T-complex, a
group of genes that impairs sperm lacking those same genes, thus
ensuring theyre passed to offspring. The second is the Syr gene,
whose presence guarantees a mouse will be male (see Stacking
the Deck, p. 51). If the combination works, over time, every
mouse on an island would be male, causing the population to die
out. Paul Thomas, a mouse geneticist at University of Adelaide
in Australia, is taking a different tack. Hes working on two types
of CRISPR-based articial gene drives: One forces all offspring
to be female, and another makes embryos unviable, so females
produce no pups. (Both teams work in biosecure labs and employ
extra layers of protection so the drives arent likely to spread even
if the mice escape: Wild mice in the Lower 48 have an apparent
resistance to Threadgills natural gene drive, while Thomass gene
drive only works on a snippet of DNA unique to lab mice.)
When engineered mice like those in Texas or Australia are
ready, theyll be tested with wild mice at a more secure venue.
Another GBIRd partner, the USDA Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, has a large biosafety lab in Fort Collins,
Colorado, with secure enclosures that are far closer imitations
of nature than the Mouse Barns giant hamster cages.
If the gene drive mouse is indeed alluring to potential technology and are actively trying to block GBIRds efforts.
matesand if it passes a litany of safety tests and ethical con- From GBIRds earliest days, Campbell expected regula-
siderationsGBIRd will advance to the next phase. Theyll tory hurdles and public concern about releasing engineered
collect mice from an as-yet-undetermined island, bring them to mice. No legal framework exists for the tech, and no previous
a biosafe facility, and start the attraction tests anew. Assuming engineered organismsuch as GMO cropscan potentially
theyre successful, only then will they deploy gene drive mice. spread as rapidly and intentionally through an ecosystem.
The exact number theyll need isnt clear: Theres a delicate bal- From the beginning GBIRd has sought help for navigat-
ance between releasing enough so the drive works, but not so ing those uncertain waters. Partners at the USDA are working
many that the mice wreak environmental havoc and die off from with federal regulators to understand what laws may apply in
food shortages before they take hold and start reproducing. the United States. Landcare Research, a New Zealand fed-
Island Conservation initially estimated that it would release eral science institute, is exploring regulations abroad, and the
gene drives by 2020. It was, they gured, enough time to engi- Commonwealth Scientic and Industrial Research Organisa-
neer the mouse, obtain permission to legally and safely release tion (CSIRO), Australias federal scientic research institute, is
it in the wild, and address critics concerns. They expected the studying potential risks. Landcare, CSIRO, and NC State are
timeline would generate excitement. It did the opposite. all committed to engaging with communities on or near islands
O
where the mice may be released. NC State also has an inter-
n a balmy december day in cancn, mexico, staff disciplinary team of graduate and postdoctoral students who
members of Island Conservation met with the most study biology, math, social science, and communication analyz-
vehement critics of biotechnology in the conserva- ing practical and ethical implications. Its about more than mice,
tion movement. They were attending the 2016 UN says Elizabeth Pitts, a postdoc in rhetoric at NC States Center
Biodiversity Conference, and they proposed a neutral on Genetic Engineering and Society: Will meddling in places
placethe convention center lobbyto plead the case weve already altered dramatically help or harm? How do you
for gene drive research. Island Conservations audience included obtain consent from people who may be affected by the tech?
representatives from Friends of the Earth (FOE), an environ- And if we hit the reset button on an islandis the ideal were
mental advocacy group, and ETC Group, a Canadian biotech- trying to reset to ten years ago? A hundred? A thousand? Or as
nology watchdog. Both groups call gene drives genetic extinction Pitts puts it: How do you like your nature?
N
to develop policy on gene drives and related technologies and
to refrain from endorsing lab research and eld tests until it o one is dropping mutant mice on a remote island
nalizes its assessment in 2020. Also in September, 30 activ- anytime soon, if ever. Late last year Island Conservation
ists, including environmental heavyweights Jane Goodall and nixed its 2020 timelineor any timeline. We have no
David Suzuki, endorsed a call for a halt to all proposals for the plans for release, says Heath Packard, the groups com-
use of gene drive technologies, but especially in conservation. munications director. Still, theyre forging ahead with
And at the United Nations conference in Cancn, FOE and a set of criteria to dene the ideal eld test location.
other opponents triedand failedto convince world govern- Itll likely be small and simplenot a mountainous island like
ments to temporarily ban gene drive research. Gough, with its sweeping cliff coasts and complex landscape.
Because gene drive animals could spread across borders, Dana GBIRd is also forming an independent ethics panel to pro-
Perls, a FOE senior campaigner who met with Island Conserva- vide feedback at each major milestone, including mating a gene
tion, wants research to pause until international regulations are drive mouse and wild mouse and selecting the pilot study island.
in place. [The technology] has the potential to cause incredibly The group has to be willing to pause, halt, or change course if
signicant damage to ecosystems and to species, she says. We the ethics or public perception demands it, says Jennifer Kuzma,
need to slow way down and look at the potential risks. co-director of the Center on Genetic Engineering and Society
who advised GBIRd on convening the panel. We dont want the
public engagement and the ethics to just be window dressing.
Will meddling in places weve already altered And they certainly dont want to repeat the Monsanto effect.
In the 1990s, when the biotech giant and competitors sold their
dramatically help or harm? And if we hit the reset rst GMO crops, they didnt seek much public input. Instead,
they identied an agricultural problem, built a solution, and re-
button on an islandis the ideal were trying to leased it. The backlash was erce and sustained: 21 years later, ac-
reset to ten years ago? A hundred? A thousand? tivists and many consumers are still wary about the products, and
a non-GMO food industry has emerged in response. Gene drive
researchers wield an even more powerful biotechnology and have
GBIRd partners agree that a cautious approach is needed, learned from Big Ags mistakes. Given the technologys promise,
but they also believe that a moratorium could seriously delay the and the fact that its already being used in labs around the world,
science. Members have largely footed their own bills so far, but research will likely continuewith a lot of stops along the way.
the group will need to raise up to $12 million per year to con- For many seabirds, this progress may be too slow. Invasive
duct advanced trials and push the project past proof-of-concept. animals and plants threaten around 387 island avian species,
A ban could scare off funders, setting the research back years. according to BirdLife International. The house mouse is still
Other scientists exploring the technology fret about the un- spreading, and many birds teeter on the edge of survival: If poi-
knowns. Im deeply concerned about how well we can predict son fails on Gough, for example, the Tristan Albatross could go
how [gene drives] evolve outside of our control, says Kevin Es- extinct by 2040. And so conservationists continue to ght back
velt, an evolutionary engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of with the tools at hand, even as they wish for something better. A
Technology who is considering whether gene drive mice could
curb Lyme disease on Nantucket. While mice released on an Brooke Borel is a journalist and author in Brooklyn, New York.
island are less likely to spread globally than, say, winged insects, Her last Audubon story explored avian plagues.
Esvelt worries people may steal and release them in untested
Customer service: 844-428-3826 or customerservice@audubon.org. The obser-
areason the mainland, for instance, in an attempt to check vations and opinions expressed in Audubon magazine are those of the respec-
rapacious rodents that diminish crop yields. My concern is, tive authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official views of
the National Audubon Society. Volume 119, Number 2, Summer 2017. Audubon,
what would that do to public condence in scientists and in this ISSN 0097-7136, the magazine of the National Audubon Society, will be published
technology? he says. Are we really willing to risk an accident quarterly in 2017 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). Editorial offices: 225 Varick
that might damage the chances that we might be able to use Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10014; 212-979-3000. Audubon does not accept
unsolicited artwork or manuscripts and is not responsible for their return. Reprint
gene drive technology against malaria? permissions: audubonmagazine@audubon.org; 212-979-3188 (fax). Copyright
National Audubon Society hasnt taken an ofcial stance 2017 the National Audubon Society. No part of the contents of this magazine may
on the technology. I personally wouldnt want to call an end be reproduced by any means without the written consent of Audubon. For Maine
Audubon membership services ONLY: call 207-781-2330 or write 20 Gilsland
to research, because you dont really know what will come out Farm Road, Falmouth, ME 04105. Postmaster: Send address changes to National
of it, says Steve Kress, vice president for bird conservation. Audubon Society, P.O. Box 727, Neenah, WI 54957-0727. Periodical preferred
postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Canadian GST
But I also think there is a place for voices of concern, which Number is R127073195. Canada Post International Publications Mail (Canadian
will help guide the research. Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 190314. Printed in USA.
for several weeks this spring, Austin-based artist Dan Winters mulled over John James Audubons See all of John
American Flamingo. The more I looked at it, the more its neck stood out, he says. What, he wondered, James Audubons
if it had multiple necks and heads? I like the idea of creating this creature of lore that doesnt exist. Birds of America
To fashion his fanciful amingo, Winters printed six copies of Audubons rendering, carefully snip- at audubon.org/
BOTTOM (DETAIL): JOHN JAMES AUDUBON
ping them into pieces that he reassembled into a surgically modied version of the original. He glued birds-of-america.
the collage to a 12-by-12-inch piece of plywood painted with acrylic and incorporated newspaper,
pencil, and India ink. The tiny arrows call out motion, he says, making the piece feel more kinetic.
Winters, whos also a renowned photographer, has long been fascinated with birds and has re-
imagined several Audubon paintings, including the Golden Eagle. He was an amazing naturalist and
painter, and hes left an incredible legacy, he says. This was his rst experiment with the amingo,
a bird he nds striking yet gawky. That duality surely wasnt lost on Audubon, who made life-size
portrayals; when painting the four-foot bird on three-foot paper, he, too, focused on the extremely
elongated neck, curving it dramatically downward so the lanky wader t on the page. Julie Leibach