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3 Billion Birds Have Vanished from North America

lemonlime

By lemonlime
in Daily Texan

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lemonlime

lemonlime 5503

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We are fucked.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/science/bird-populations-america-canada.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

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The number of birds in the United States and Canada has fallen by 29 percent since 1970, scientists reported on Thursday. There are 2.9 billion fewer birds taking wing now than there were 50 years ago.

The analysis, published in the journal Science, is the most exhaustive and ambitious attempt yet to learn what is happening to avian populations. The results have shocked researchers and conservation organizations.

In a statement on Thursday, David Yarnold, president and chief executive of the National Audubon Society, called the findings “a full-blown crisis.”

Experts have long known that some bird species have become vulnerable to extinction. But the new study, based on a broad survey of more than 500 species, reveals steep losses even among such traditionally abundant birds as robins and sparrows.

There are likely many causes, the most important of which include habitat loss and wider use of pesticides. “Silent Spring,” Rachel Carson’s prophetic book in 1962 about the harms caused by pesticides, takes its title from the unnatural quiet settling on a world that has lost its birds:

 

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Texaskimo

Texaskimo 135

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59 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

I blame people who own cats.

This is the correct answer I think. If you want the bird populated to recover, immediately execute all cat owners and their cats. It's the only way to truly test if this is correct, but I'm pretty sure it won't have any negative side effects. 50/50.

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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 30016

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I think about half the weight in fish caught every year goes to cats as well. 

We're idiots. We crack wise and hoot, but we're still idiots. 

Too many of us cruise along and shrug off everything from the bee disaster to the fall in bird population to the depleted fisheries.

Nothing bad ever happens to us. Nothing bad will ever happen to us. Stop being an alarmist.

Oddly, Mt. St. Helens blowing up was a key event in my young life. It was just so weird that a volcano was erupting in the lower 48 states and causing mass damage. 

We better start listening to that Nordic teenager. It's not just a big joke.

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hookem2010

hookem2010 2625

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Cats are a problem. They're basically a globally invasive species, but habitat destruction is huge too, not to mention totally not real global warming. Grassland species especially have plummeted like crazy. Texas' own Attwater's prairie chicken numbered around a million in the late 1800's and now there are several dozen wild individuals remaining that are not self-sustaining. Sage grouse are being wiped out all over what is remaining of the plains for that precious oil. Longspurs populations are down over 90% over a few decades. That is just a handful of grassland species off the top of my head.

Then there is Hawaii, where numerous species are already extinct and essentially every native Hawaiian bird is at risk of the same fate within the next couple of decades. I'm a birder, so I pay extra attention to this stuff and it really sucks to look at the data of any species I've observed to find out its declined by 40+% since the 60's, as almost any non-urban specialist has.
But really, this isn't surprising given that I believe there has been a 50% reduction in all wildlife globally over the last 40 years. We may bump up tiger or panda numbers by 10 or 20%, but overall everything else is dying. We can joke about birds all we want, but it's a pretty big indicator of the overall health of the environment, and it doesn't look particularly good. We are about to kill off a fucking cetacean for fucks sake, and no one gives a shit.

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hookem2010

hookem2010 2625

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Think a decline in total numbers might be related to a massive increase in the population of birds of prey?  They don’t just eat rodents.
There were ZERO bald eagles in the lower 48 in the 70’s and early 80’s. Now they are common.
 
The fact that DDT is not killing off massive numbers of birds and their populations are still dropping by the tens of millions is not a good thing. Some wading birds have made a recovery to some degree too, since we aren't sticking their feathers in hats any more, but the vast majority of birds are vanishing, and it's not due to natural predation.

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Reagan1k

Reagan1k 3024

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Migratory Waterfowl numbers are rising, dramatically in most cases.  Considering that they nest in the tundra and winter closer to the equator it would seem to me that were climate change a leading factor- these species would be most affected.  They’d be facing the most serious extremes.

Fluffy the cat doesn’t swim.  

I blame the cats. 

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ImissWallyPryor

ImissWallyPryor 9046

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13 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

Saw some insane stat that cats kill around 2-3B+ birds and small animals each year (then hundreds of million more die from building/glass, electrical line collisions, poison, etc).  Little fucking monsters.  

 

So, in other words, “an unknown number of” birds....

Edited by ImissWallyPryor
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hookem2010

hookem2010 2625

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Oh, I definitely blame the cats. They have no business being outside. I imagine many of those birds are actually able to nest sooner, and then end up wintering a bit farther north, as I believe has been demonstrated. I also don't think it's any coincidence that the birds that we most like to kill, as well as icons like peregrine falcons and bald eagles, have maintained or increased in number while songbirds and shorebirds that don't provide as obvious an economic impact, continue to plummet. To some degree, that is a testament to hunting as a conservation tool, but those species will be affected as well as the less heralded species and waterways suffer.

Montane birds will likely have more difficulty adjusting, as they can only go so high up. And if we drill the fuck out of the ANWR, that is going to eliminate a fair amount of breeding ground for waterfowl, as well as shorebirds, gulls and terns that also rely on such places to breed. Doesn't matter, got paid, I guess...

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ImissWallyPryor

ImissWallyPryor 9046

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4 hours ago, Steel Shank said:

What about prairie chickens?

I assume you’re talking about the Atwater’s Prairie Chickens in Texas? If you’re talking about Greater Prairie Chickens, they aren’t faring as well or as widely as they did prior to agriculture taking away much of their habitat, but they are doing relatively well in their current range. In fact, GPCs are hunted in most if not all of the Northern Great Plains states. Hunting isn’t nearly as big of a problem for birds as is habitat loss as long as hunting is managed before it’s too late.  Game bird populations will normally recover enough to be hunted if given proper habitat.

Edited by ImissWallyPryor
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