From left, Michael Gamble, Aaron Given and Ann McLean trap sparrows into nets for their research Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Aaron Given, town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, slowly moves sparrows into his net to be banded and recorded for data Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Michael Gamble and Aaron Given with the town of Kiawah Island, track sparrows for data research Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. A sparrow is trapped in a net for banding Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. From left, Aaron Given, Ann McLean and Jeff Marshall remove sparrows from their net while bird banding Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Jonah Chester covers flooding, sea level rise and climate change for the Post and Courier's Rising Waters Lab.
From left, Michael Gamble, Aaron Given and Ann McLean trap sparrows into nets for their research Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. KIAWAH ISLAND — Aaron Given trudged through frigid, ankle-high water as dawn climbed lazily over the eastern horizon, tinting the salt marshes golden-red as it bloomed. The sun offered little warmth this early in the morning, and the temperature hovered a few notches above freezing. Given paused, scanning the tide as it crept slowly towards its morning crest. Given is the Town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist. Since the late 2000s, he and a devoted group of volunteers have banded
tens of thousands of birds across Kiawah to better understand the avian species that inhabit this sea island.
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Our public service and investigative reporting is among the most important work we do. It's also the most expensive reporting we do. We can't do it without your support. On this cold January morning, he had chosen this site to search for saltmarsh sparrows. The sparrows live exclusively in salt marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf Coast, and overwinter in coastal South Carolina. They're extremely loyal to Kiawah. "We can have up to 50 to 60 percent return of birds coming back to these little spots out in the marsh," Given said. Even if relocated to another suitable habitat, they'll still try to return to their preferred spot. "Some of these spots are maybe (200 square feet)," he continued. "Fifteen to 20 birds will pack into that little roost." But those homes are at risk. Nesting in the East Coast's tidal-swelled landscapes leaves saltmarsh sparrows vulnerable to climate change and human development. The sparrows are estimated to have lost about 90 percent of their population since the late 1990s, partially due to the increased frequency and severity of tidal flooding,
according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service . With an estimated annual population loss rate of about
9 percent , many conservation groups say the birds are
on track for extinction sometime between 2030 and 2060. While they slip closer to extinction, saltmarsh sparrows have been awaiting an overdue decision from the Fish and Wildlife Service on whether they warrant a spot on the federal Endangered Species Act list. The sparrows aren't alone. About 40 other South Carolina species currently are either awaiting a listing decision or "under review" by Fish and Wildlife, according to a list provided by the Center for Biological Diversity. That includes birds, bugs, snakes, frogs, turtles, crayfish and several different species of plants. Some of those species have been on the waitlist since
the 1980s . They've all become mired in a system which wildlife advocates contend is unprepared to handle a warming world and growing extinction crisis.
Saltmarsh Sparrow Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. The backlog is more than an annoyance, said Noah Greenwald, the endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. It's a period during which already vulnerable species might slip closer toward annihilation. He said at least 42 species have gone extinct while on the waitlist. "It's not serving anyone for listing to be delayed," Greenwald said. "It makes recovery more expensive and harder. The program's broken. It needs reform. The Fish and Wildlife Service has known this is a problem basically forever, and they haven't fixed it." Humans are as much a part of South Carolina's ecosystem as sparrows. The fate of the palm-sized saltmarsh sparrow and Charleston are closely intertwined. Just as increased tidal floods are pushing the bird towards extinction, sea level rise poses an existential threat to the Holy City's future. Charleston experienced more tidal floods in 2024 than it did in the entire period from
late 1921 to 1958 — and the frequency and severity of such sunny day flooding events will likely increase further in the coming decades, as ocean levels continue rising. Rising waters are also warming waters, which have the potential to fuel a new, powerful generation of hurricanes. Humans have adapted to every ecosystem from the frigid tundra to the isolated tropical islands of the Pacific, and can always retreat further inland. But the saltmarsh sparrows have nowhere left to run. And one of the best tools to help them is, in the eyes of many conservationists, completely broken.
Aaron Given, town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, slowly moves sparrows into his net to be banded and recorded for data Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Canary in the coal mine
Given's team marched in a line across the marsh, flushing the sparrows from their hiding spots. The tide had come in just far enough to push the birds exactly where they needed them. The birds flitted from patch to patch, and then sailed into the capture nets. The team broke into an awkward sprint, their momentum hindered by rubber boots and the suction of pluff mud. They reached the stunned birds in seconds. Deft hands, now warmed by the mid-morning sun, worked with gentle confidence to untangle the birds, and then secured them in cloth bags. It's a ritual they'll repeat several times throughout the morning, flushing as many birds as possible from the marsh grass. During a break between capture runs, Ann McLean looked out over the salt marsh. "It's so much smaller than it used to be," she said, as she observed Given struggling to capture a bird. "The high grasses used to be so thick and tall; Now it's like a third of its size. Everywhere rises and falls, but it's been a lot more than we expected. It dramatically decreases every year." South Carolina's salt marshes
are drowning . Saltmarsh sparrows may be one of the first victims of that squeeze, but they likely will not be the last. The ocean around Charleston has risen roughly a foot over the past century, according to historical data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The tides are predicted to rise another foot-plus by 2050. They'll push further and further into dry ground, and inundate the high marsh that saltmarsh sparrows rely on. "Saltmarsh sparrows are having trouble producing enough young to sustain their population, largely because of sea level rise," said Erin Rogers, the coastal manager for Audubon South Carolina. "Even in these high marsh areas where they're nesting, things are flooding more frequently from sea level rise and from more intense, more frequent coastal storms."
A sparrow is trapped in a net for banding Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Rogers said that the difference between high marsh and low marsh is small by human scales — from a few centimeters to a few inches at the most. High marshes only flood during extremely high tide events. Low marshes flood once a day, with the coming of the daily high tide. The salt marsh ecosystem is not stagnant. It grows, shrinks, moves and evolves with the changing climate. But the Earth is warming at a breakneck pace, and the marshes either have nowhere to go or can't outrun the rising ocean. Marshes can get smothered out of existence if their landward movement is blocked by overdeveloped shorelines — a phenomenon known as "coastal squeeze." Allowing for marsh migration could help preserve those landscapes, but Given acknowledged that idea could be controversial. "You're going to have to let things that didn't flood flood," he said. "That's probably the best thing that can happen now. It's also going to be one of the hardest things, because you have all of these homes right on the edges of the marsh." Given calls saltmarsh sparrows "indicator species" because they provide clues about the overall health of the marsh — and act as a bellwether for the fate of other coastal species. Saltmarsh sparrows can be difficult to discern from the
seaside and
Nelson's sparrows that also inhabit South Carolina's marshland. Until 1998, Nelson's and saltmarsh sparrows were considered the same species, and they still occasionally interbreed with each other, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All three birds sit snug with each other on the evolutionary tree, with common roots likely dating back just a few hundred thousand years.
Aaron Given, Town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, works in the early morning hours to band species of sparrows a long-term research project aimed at gaining a better understanding of the avian species that inhabit this rapidly-developing sea island. A 'broken' program
The Fish and Wildlife Service determined in 2019 that the saltmarsh sparrow might warrant listing on the Endangered Species Act. If granted, the listing could lend the bird a raft of special protections — including ecosystem safeguards and a dedicated pool of funding to support restoration efforts. The listing process has been severely backlogged for several decades, and now takes an average of
nine to 12 years — or up to six times a legally-mandated two-year turnaround enacted by Congress in the 1980s. At the heart of that backlog is a tangled knot of bureaucracy, lawsuits, funding, and political interference in scientific decisions stretching back nearly half-a-century. At risk are hundreds of species with pending applications. The Center for Biological Diversity submitted its own petition in April 2024
to add the sparrow to the Endangered Species Act List, an effort to nudge the Service along in making their decision. Fish and Wildlife has already missed two deadlines — one in September 2023 and the other in September 2024 — to propose whether to list saltmarsh sparrow, the Center alleges. According to the federal agency's webpage for the birds, they're still planning on a decision
"by the end of 2024." "The listing determination for the saltmarsh sparrow is still under review and we are working to publish our findings on the species' status as soon as workload and schedules allow," an agency official wrote in an email late last year. The backlog is a dilemma that has befuddled both Republican and Democratic presidential administrations. The Endangered Species waitlist has existed since at least the 1970s, Greenwald said — which makes the problem nearly as old as the list itself, which was created in 1973 by President Richard Nixon. Greenwald said the Biden administration was only slightly better at paring down that backlog than the Trump administration. During the four years of the previous Trump administration,
22 species were listed , according to Fish and Wildlife. The Biden administration listed a little more than 60. For comparison, the Obama administration listed 334 species. "So, not great, given that there's a backlog of hundreds of species," Greenwald said. He predicted the Trump administration now will emphasize commerce and politics over conservation. "The folks who get promoted aren't the ones who are committed to sticking to the science," he continued. "They're the ones who are willing to compromise the science and compromise conservation for political or for industry interests." Aaron Given, town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, checks his nets while bird banding Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Aaron Given, town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, slowly moves sparrows into his net to be banded and recorded for data Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. A sparrow is trapped in a net for banding Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. From left, Michael Gamble, Aaron Given and Ann McLean trap sparrows into nets for their research Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Aaron Given, town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, blows on a sparrow to check the belly fat while banding sparrows Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. From left, Aaron Given, Ann McLean and Jeff Marshall remove sparrows from their net while bird banding Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. David McLean releases a sparrow into the marsh Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Seaside Sparrow Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Aaron Given, town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, checks his nets while bird banding Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Aaron Given, town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, (center) reaches to help volunteer Jeff Marshall while chasing sparrows into nets to be banded Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Saltmarsh Sparrow Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Aaron Given weighs a sparrow Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Michael Gamble and Aaron Given with the town of Kiawah Island, track sparrows for data research Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Nelson’s Sparrow Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Michael Gamble (left) looks at a sparrow’s belly fat Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island.
Photos: Town of Kiawah biologists band birds including South Carolina's Saltmarsh Sparrow
Aaron Given, Town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, works in the early morning hours to band species of sparrows a long-term research project aimed at gaining a better understanding of the avian species that inhabit this rapidly-developing sea island. Aaron Given, town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, checks his nets while bird banding Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Aaron Given, town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, slowly moves sparrows into his net to be banded and recorded for data Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. A sparrow is trapped in a net for banding Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. From left, Michael Gamble, Aaron Given and Ann McLean trap sparrows into nets for their research Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Aaron Given, town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, blows on a sparrow to check the belly fat while banding sparrows Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. From left, Aaron Given, Ann McLean and Jeff Marshall remove sparrows from their net while bird banding Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. David McLean releases a sparrow into the marsh Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Seaside Sparrow Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Aaron Given, town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, checks his nets while bird banding Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Aaron Given, town of Kiawah Island's wildlife biologist, (center) reaches to help volunteer Jeff Marshall while chasing sparrows into nets to be banded Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Saltmarsh Sparrow Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Aaron Given weighs a sparrow Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Michael Gamble and Aaron Given with the town of Kiawah Island, track sparrows for data research Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Nelson’s Sparrow Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Michael Gamble (left) looks at a sparrow’s belly fat Tuesday, January 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. While the federal government struggles to address the backlog, humans are pushing more species towards extinction. An exact extinction rate is difficult to determine, but the Smithsonian Institution reports an estimated 15,000 endangered species globally. The Center for Biological Diversity contends that the current extinction rate, even if it's up for debate, is still significantly higher than the prehistoric estimate of one species out of 1 million annually. In a
2011 testimony before a congressional subcommittee, then-Fish and Wildlife Service director Dan Ashe called it an "extinction crisis." "With the pace and extent of environmental change threatening the continued existence of more and more of our nation’s biological wealth, we must manage limited resources to carry out our mission," said Ashe, who now leads the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
How to handle a sparrow
Still stunned, the saltmarsh sparrow offered little resistance while Given studied it with headband magnifiers. He rattled off data and measurements as Ann McLean noted them down. The bed of a black pickup parked on the side of Kiawah Island Parkway had been turned into a makeshift field research station. Morning traffic whizzed past, a constant din of unnatural sound accompanying the scenic views. Prior to this season, Given had banded about 540 saltmarsh sparrows since the early 2010s. Just three of the 38 total birds Given capture on this January trip were saltmarsh sparrows, with the others being Nelson's and shoreline sparrows. "We normally catch more saltmarsh sparrows here," he said. "That first group of birds that we flushed, a lot of those were saltmarsh sparrows. We lost a lot of them, and I don't think we ever got them back."
From left, Aaron Given, Ann McLean and Jeff Marshall remove sparrows from their net while bird banding Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island. Given's data is some of the only long-term information on the species' population health in the Southeast. Most research focuses on their breeding sites up the coast. The saltmarsh sparrow's decline in its Northeastern breeding
habitats is stark and concerning to observers, but Given hasn't noticed significant drop-offs in the population here — likely because of the prevalence of relatively healthy salt marshes along the sea islands. The data he is collecting will tell a fuller story. "I think there's still a long way to go," he said. Even if they aren't added to the federal endangered species list, Rogers still has hope for the saltmarsh sparrows' future, even if it's shrouded in uncertainty. "Obviously, I think listing is warranted based on all of the evidence," Rogers said. "But even if it's not granted, not all hope is lost. There are a lot of people working towards the conservation of this species." The Atlantic Joint Coast Venture in 2020 released a comprehensive, state-by-state plan
for protecting the birds. Audubon is also involved in preserving stretches of their
northeastern breeding marshes. The Fish and Wildlife Service has undertaken its own breeding ground restoration projects
in recent years. "We need all the tools we can get," she said.
Michael Gamble and Aaron Given with the town of Kiawah Island, track sparrows for data research Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 on Kiawah Island.
