In a move some consider to be self-destructive, waterfowl have begun to boycott playa lakes citing poor working conditions.
"We've been doing this job for eons and no one appreciates the effort," said an unidentified member (probably a female teal) for Waterfowl Workers of the World. "For example, I flew in last night, tired wings and all, there was no place suitable to forage or roost, so I spent the night on a wheat field with pronghorn."
WWW members have been staging strikes at playas up and down the southern end of the Central Flyway, most recently on April 1 at Bird City, Kansas. They are demanding increased conservation of the wetlands and say sedimentation and pitting have destroyed more than half of all available playas, and they "aren't going to take it anymore".
"Well that is all fine and good," said Mike Carter, Coordinator for the Playa Lakes Joint Venture. "But we consider WWW to be the fringe element of waterfowl interests, some even say quacks. We're more attuned to moderate interests like Association of Foraging Waterfowl."
When contacted, representatives of the AFW said they were not honoring the boycott, but did cite playa sedimentation rates and water quality and quantity problems in the playa lakes region. "We believe that once waterfowl understand how important playas are, that they will flock to the cause," said spokesdrake Thomas Webb.
In a related story, Ring-necked Pheasants cited inundation of their working areas as one of the main issues concerning their union.
"Seems to us, the WWW and AFW have too much power and there has got to be an adjustment to working conditions and pay scales. We feel like we are under the glass on this one. We're thinking of forming a coalition of terrestrial species," said spokeshen Rhonda Feather.
Other disenfranchised birds, such as Lark Buntings, were more conciliatory, saying there is too much conflict among the bird groups and what was really needed was unified effort to keep habitat. The Association of Songbirds for Unity President Sally Singer said all birds need to limit the infighting among bird groups, and that the real problem is the number of humans.
(By the way, there is a real town of Bird City, Kansas, and it does have a huge playa just to the east. Happy April Fools!)