美国国家公共电台 NPR--Florida grasshopper sparrows have wowed researchers with their resilience

Florida grasshopper¹ sparrows have wowed researchers with their resilience

Transcript²

The Florida grasshopper sparrow was on the brink³ of extinction⁴ but now numbers are rebounding⁵ in the wild. Birds bred at a zoo have been released onto prairies, where they continue to reproduce.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

A small bird called the Florida grasshopper sparrow was on the brink of extinction just three years ago. Now it's coming back thanks to an emergency effort to breed the birds in captivity⁶ and release them on the central Florida prairie. That's the only place on Earth that they're found in the wild. WMFE environmental reporter Amy Green reports.

AMY GREEN, BYLINE⁷: The Florida grasshopper sparrow is a drab, brown-colored bird no larger than the palm of your hand.

(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)

GREEN: That captive-raised sparrow was 45 days old when he was released last year among the saw palmetto and wiregrass of the central Florida prairie, not far from Walt Disney World. After surviving the winter, he established a breeding territory and paired with a wild mate. He was recorded this spring by a conservation group documenting the releases.

JUAN OTEYZA: They sound a bit like an insect. They go like, (mimicking sparrow).

GREEN: Juan Oteyza of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has spent hours on the prairie observing the sparrows. Wildlife agencies began releasing the sparrows on the prairie in 2019 after agonizing⁸ debate. No one knew whether the effort would be successful. The sparrow was North America's most endangered bird, with only about 80 left in the wild. Some feared the releases would condemn⁹ the sparrows to extinction - for example, if a disease spread from captive birds to wild ones. Since then, the sparrows have wowed researchers with their resilience. The captive-raised sparrows have paired and bred with their wild colleagues, producing offspring that also are breeding. Oteyza says the number of birds at the initial release site has doubled. And the wild population has jumped to more than 120.

OTEYZA: We often just see them and don't really think of them as released birds. And that's a great thing, right? They just incorporated into the wild population really well.

GREEN: Some of the captive-raised sparrows began their lives far from the prairie at the Brevard Zoo.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOOR SLAMMING)

GREEN: The zoo's Kelly Currier keeps her voice low to avoid spooking the skittish¹⁰ sparrows, as her colleague steps inside a wooden and wire-mesh enclosure with a morning meal of crickets and worms.

KELLY CURRIER: It is how you act when you're in here. If you are calm, they can feel it. And if you are slow, it affects how they are going to act as well.

GREEN: It's just like a baby.

CURRIER: Exactly. Yeah.

GREEN: The Brevard Zoo is one of four locations where the sparrows are being raised. Here, each enclosure is like a little patch of the prairie, with tall, wild grasses and branches where the sparrows can perch¹¹ and look out. The staff spends hours preparing their meals and observing them. Currier has a favorite sparrow she nicknamed Wild One for the bird's fierce devotion to her hatchlings. Still, Currier says, she is never sad to see them go to the prairie.

CURRIER: I want for every one of these birds to be out there living their life that they want to live. So I'm so happy when they go. It's like, bye. Good luck.

GREEN: The Florida grasshopper sparrow still faces many threats. The population remains¹² so small that one thing could wipe it out, like a disease or weather event. And Oteyza says the sparrows' plight¹³ is a sign of other problems.

OTEYZA: This problem may be associated with climate change. It may be associated with habitat degradation¹⁴ or habitat loss.

GREEN: Perhaps the biggest threat here in fast-growing central Florida is the prairie itself is vanishing as it is overtaken with development.

For NPR News, I'm Amy Green in Melbourne, Fla.

(SOUNDBITE OF ANOMALIE'S "DRIBBLE")

1 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

4 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

5 rebounding   

蹦跳运动

参考例句：

• The strength of negative temperature concrete is tested with supersonic-rebounding method. 本文将超声回弹综合法用于负温混凝土强度检测。
• The fundamental of basketball includes shooting, passing and catching, rebounding, etc. 篮球运动中最基本的东西包括投篮，传接球，篮板球等。

6 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 agonizing   

adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式)

参考例句：

• I spent days agonizing over whether to take the job or not. 我用了好些天苦苦思考是否接受这个工作。
• his father's agonizing death 他父亲极度痛苦的死

9 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

10 skittish   

adj.易激动的，轻佻的

参考例句：

• She gets very skittish when her boy-friend is around.她男朋友在场时，她就显得格外轻佻。
• I won't have my son associating with skittish girls.我不准我的儿子与轻佻的女孩交往。

11 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

14 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。