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Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) numbers in Iowa have dropped to an all-time low. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the state's pheasant population has fallen to an average of seven birds counted for each 30 mile route driven. That's down from 11 birds per route in 2010. They say the drop in pheasant numbers isn't restricted to Iowa. Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska also have seen decreases in pheasant numbers.

“The bee is a sensitive creature that touches all parts of nature,” said Rami Olleik, a professor at the American University of Beirut who is an expert on beekeeping and Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) – instances of sudden, mass disappearance of worker bees that result in the death of a honeybee colony. With no warning, beekeepers can discover that 20 to 80 percent of their bees have vanished claimed Olleik. “All the mixed signals from pollution are driving [the bees] astray,” he said. “They lose their orientation and cannot return to the hive. If they don’t return to the hive, they die.”

The Sage Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is the largest grouse in North America, where it is known as the Greater Sage-Grouse. Its range is sagebrush country in the western United States and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. The greater sage-grouse is known for its elaborate courtship dance on the Prairies, but its enthusiastic display of virility might not be enough to save the endangered species from being wiped out in Alberta as soon as next year. A group of scientists hope to come up with ways to prevent the eventual extinction of the sage-grouse. Cliff Wallis from the Alberta Wilderness Association says the numbers have dropped to 30 in Alberta from the thousands 25 years ago. Wallis says the Alberta and federal governments are aware of the plight of the sage-grouse, but so far have failed to act. Cam Aldridge from Colorado State University says a similar decline of the species is occurring in the United States as well.

THE populations of two once-abundant Welsh woodland bird species have fallen so dramatically they are now on an RSPB rare bird watch list, it has been announced. Numbers of the lesser spotted woodpecker Dendrocopos minor and willow tit Parus montanus have plummeted since the 1970s. According to the RSPB, willow tits have fallen in number by a huge 91% and the lesser spotted woodpecker – the smallest of the UK’s woodpeckers – has dropped by 76%.

Adverse effects of agrochemicals on earthworms’ burrowing behaviour can have crucial impacts on the entire ecosystem. In the present study, we have therefore assessed short- and long-term effects on burrowing behaviour in the earthworm species Aporrectodea caliginosa and Lumbricus terrestris after exposure to a range of imidacloprid concentrations (0.2–4 mg kg-1 dry weight (DW)) for different exposure times (1, 7, 14 d). Short-term effects on the burrowing behaviour of A. caliginosa were already detected at the lowest test concentration (0.2 mg kg-1 DW), whereas such effects in L. terrestris were not observed until exposure to concentrations 10 times higher (2 mg kg-1 DW). Since many of the observed effects occurred at imidacloprid concentrations relevant to natural conditions and since reduced activities of earthworms in soils can have crucial impacts on the ecosystem level, our results are of environmental concern.

In Canada, the Prairie population of Loggerhead Shrikes Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides occurs in central and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, and in southern Manitoba. They feed on grasshoppers, beetles, mice, small birds, snakes, lizards and frogs. Scientists observing a nest with eight nestlings watched as the parent birds appeared with a grasshopper every four minutes over the space of an hour! The last 100 years have witnessed the gradual decline of this subspecies. Pesticides are a critical factor in this decline.