Groups seek listing of rare bird

By Journal staff | Sunday, October 05, 2008

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The Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and three other conservation groups have filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Black Hills population of the American dipper as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Conservation groups originally requested Endangered Species Act protection for the dipper in March 2003.

The Fish and Wildlife Service responded to a 2006 effort to list the dipper with the statement that there was not "substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the American Dipper in the Black Hills of South Dakota may be warranted."

The American dipper is the only songbird that regularly swims, according to the conservation groups. The dipper will "fly" gracefully under water in search of aquatic insects and other small prey.

No other population of dippers exists for hundreds of miles around the Black Hills. Dippers are rarely seen away from streams and do not make long distance flights over land.

Fish and Wildlife denied dipper protection requested in the groups' 2003 petition, stating that the Black Hills population of American dipper is not a distinct species and that loss of the Black Hills population would be insignificant to dipper populations elsewhere.

But the conservation groups hope genetics research being conducted at the Center for the Conservation of Biological Resources at Black Hills State University will show the Black Hills population of American dippers is a distinct population of dipper and therefore merits protection.

Duane Short, wild species program director for Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, noted, "The Black Hills population of American dippers is just about as isolated as any bird of flight can be."

Short expressed concern for the Black Hills population: "Dippers are very sensitive to stream degradation, water quality and other habitat disturbances. The dipper's sensitivity to degraded conditions makes them good indicators of overall stream health and environmental conditions, but at the same time, they are extremely vulnerable to stream pollution and habitat loss."

Logging and mining activities in the Black Hills contribute to degraded stream conditions, the conservations groups argue, saying a mining waste product called selenium has been documented to have killed dippers in the Black Hills. Silt caused by logging projects and mining activities also kills aquatic insects and other essential dipper prey, they say.

A University of Wyoming study concluded that "variation in water quality, as measured by common dipper prey, affected the presence of this semi-aquatic bird," according to the conservation groups. The study further concluded that dipper presence may indicate the likelihood of an unpolluted stream.

Repeated surveys conducted by the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department indicate that the Black Hills population of American dipper is in severe decline. Historically common in healthy, swift-flowing streams of the Black Hills, dippers are now known to nest only along portions of Spearfish and Whitewood creeks.

Nancy Hilding, president of Prairie Hills Audubon Society of Western South Dakota, said: "The dipper is a very special bird; it is a joy to watch. It has a unique ability to live, feed and play in the rapids and cascades of cool mountain streams of the West and often lives in the most beautiful places. South Dakotans should be proud that the Black Hills National Forest still hosts an American dipper population. We need to ensure the dipper has the protection and recognition it deserves and that it survives for future generations to enjoy."

The Endangered Species Act requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine if further investigation of the Black Hills population of American dipper status is warranted within 90 days of receiving the petition for its protection.

Conservation groups expect a response to their petition near the beginning of 2009.