I love birds.
But here is the thing.
The bird populations are declining mostly because of us dumb, dumb humans and our numb-skulled treatment of the Earth.
The biodiversity crisis has come directly to our backyards. I recently read that in less than a single human lifetime, 2.9 billion breeding adult birds have been lost from the United States and Canada.
This comes across every ecosystem including familiar birds. Take for instance the Dark-eyed Junco. They have lost an incredible 175 million individuals from its population. The White-Throated Sparrow has lost 93 million.
When we lived in Eaton, back in 1990, I saw these cute Juncos in our yard every day. Numerous groups of them, all scouring the ground. Now, it is a rare occasion when I spot one.
It’s not just birds as you already know. But birds are signaling a broader crisis in the natural world. We have global losses of insects, amphibians, mammals, and other wildlife.
Of the nearly 3 billion birds lost, 90% came from just 12 bird families. This includes sparrows, warblers, finches, and swallows.
We all know how it has gone. And where it is going.
However, some time ago, The Washington Post wrote a great article about all of this. They let us search the bird populations. With this tool, we can see what the case might be in any city in the United States.
They’ve also included a search tool to tell us how our favorite birds are doing.
For instance, I can type in Camden, Ohio, and it will tell me that my favorite Tufted Titmouse is on the decline by 2%. And the Goldfinch population has declined by 11%.
In the other search field, I can type in “crow” and see where the biggest population fails all across the U.S.
The link is just below. But PLEASE NOTE: You have to enter your email address to read the article, which means they will probably start emailing you their newsletters and such.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/bird-population-decline-united-states-maps/
It is an interesting but sad little exploration if you choose to proceed.
I truly wish we could fix this problem. But I’m not sure we can ever go back.
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“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” – Robert Lynd
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“I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.” – Mary Oliver
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“What we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves.” – Chief Seattle
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Oh, our dear, sweet birds
