State of the Birds >

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Shrublands, such as sagebrush and chaparral, are dominated by shrubs and short trees. The habitat covers 20 percent of the 48 contiguous states, and most of it is seriously degraded in quality. Primary threats to western shrublands include conversion to pasture for grazing, invasion of nonnative species, resource extraction, too-frequent or too-scarce fire, overgrazing, and the growth of ranchettes. In the East, shrubland habitat is succumbing to succession to forest, over browsing by deer, and urbanization.

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Northern Bobwhite
Numbers of this bird have dropped by more than two-thirds, to about 9 million individuals; it has mostly vanished from the northeastern states.

Painted Bunting
This colorful bunting is also a target of the caged-bird trade, exacerbating the problem of habitat loss. Its population has dropped by half, to 4.5 million birds.

Florida Scrub-Jay
Because of burgeoning suburbs, there are only about 10,000 Florida Scrub-Jays today, less than 10 percent of the pre-European population.

Additional Yellow WatchList species in shrubland habitats:
Greater Sage-Grouse
Lesser Prairie-Chicken
Mountain Quail
Harris's Hawk
Antillean Nighthawk
Lucifer Hummingbird
Costa's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Willow Flycatcher
Gray Vireo
Tamaulipas Crow
Black-capped Gnatcatcher
Wrentit
Curve-billed Thrasher
California Thrasher
LeConte's Thrasher
Blue-winged Warbler
Virginia's Warbler
Lucy's Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Abert's Towhee
Brewer's Sparrow
Black-chinned Sparrow
Harris's Sparrow

Additional Red WatchList species in shrubland habitats:
Gunnison Sage-Grouse
Bristle-thighed Curlew
Bell's Vireo
Black-capped Vireo
Island Scrub-Jay
California Gnatcatcher
Bendire's Thrasher
Golden-winged Warbler
Rufous-winged Sparrow
Five-striped Sparrow