At a July 10, 2008 hearing of the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans; Audubon Chief Scientist Tom Bancroft, Ph.D., told the panel that policy changes were urgently needed to address rapid declines among almost half of the common species for which population trends are known. He reiterated the findings of Audubon's groundbreaking Common Birds in Decline report which was featured in Audubon Magazine. Bancroft was joined by experts from the Interior Department, American Bird Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited among others.

Read Audubon's full testimony here.

Image information: Northern Bobwhite, population decline of 82%. Photo by Ashok Khosla.