Interior Secretary Ken Salazar put the focus on birds Thursday, the first time in a long time the creatures that bring joy to almost every one of us got such high-powered attention. It's appropriate today, the first day of Spring, to bring our attention to source of the songs of life.

Salazar released the first ever comprehensive State of Birds report on bird populations in the United States, showing that nearly a third of the nation’s 800 bird species are endangered, threatened or in significant decline due to habitat loss, invasive species, and other threats.

He especially targeted the crisis in Hawaii, where more birds are in danger of extinction than the rest of the country. Grassland bird populations like the prairie chicken have declined by 40 percent in 40 years and desert birds like our beloved sage grouse have dropped by 30 percent.

But the report also has hope. It shows dramatic increases in many wetland birds such as pelicans, herons, egrets, osprey, and ducks, due to cooperative conservation partnerships that have resulted in protection and restoration of more than 30 million wetland acres.

“Just as they were when Rachel Carson published Silent Spring nearly 50 years ago, birds today are a bellwether of the health of land, water and ecosystems,” Salazar said. “We must work together now to ensure we never hear the deafening silence in our forests, fields and backyards that Rachel Carson warned us about.”

I have struggled through the rain forests of Hawaii to follow the plight of its enchanting forest birds that are threatened most my invasive species and habitat encroachment. I have watched Idaho’s population of sage grouse slowly drop due to widespread fire, poor grazing practices and mismanaged farmland and development expansion.

But I also helicoptered into forest refuges where pineapple farmers and native hunters were protecting their water source and forest birds by killing weeds and feral pigs. I watched Idaho ranchers and the Sand County Foundation organize cooperative projects to reduce sage grouse habitat degradation and an army of volunteers help the Boise-based Peregrine Fund bring the raptor back from the brink of extinction to recovery.

Since birds migrate and depend on many different ecosystems their conservation is complex and getting tougher because of the changing seasons documented around climate change.