News roundup

From American Bird Conservancy: On Sept. 17, Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), George Voinovich (R-OH), Susan Collins (R-ME), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced Senate bill S. 3490 to increase funds for the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act. Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI) and Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) introduced a similar bill, H.R. 5756, in the House of Representatives.

Want to contact your political representatives? Here are the senators, and here are the representatives.

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From Cornell Lab of Ornithology: "Little Green Places" contest deadline is Oct. 31. The "Celebrate Urban Birds" program invites birders to send photos, drawings or links to videos that show small urban spaces that provide shelter, food or water. You can send your Littel Green Place to urbanbirds AT cornell DOT edu. Many details appear here.

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Again from ABC, on a topic dear to my heart:

A new study has found that federal and state funding to conserve and recover Hawaiian birds species listed under the Endangered Species Act is much lower than for mainland birds, and is insufficient to recover the many declining bird species on the islands.

The study found that on average, endangered bird species on the mainland received 15 times more funding than endangered Hawaiian birds. Of the total spent toward recovery of listed bird species between 1996-2004, the 31 birds unique to Hawaii received only 4.1% of the recovery funds available from all sources, which included the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other federal sources, and the state, even though nearly one third of all U.S. endangered birds are found exclusively on Hawaii.

Nearly one-third of all U.S. endangered birds live on the Hawaiian islands?!
Do mainland birders support the conservation of Hawaiian species?
Are they talking to the agencies and individuals who control recovery funds?
Or is this a long-term case of "out of sight, out of mind"?