![]() On a larger scale, conservation groups are fighting the use of neonicotinoids or “neonics” – a pesticide used not only on crops but engineered into seeds and used in some backyard plants. “Birds are pretty good pesticides,” says Parr. Parr says instead of pesticides and herbicides, let birds do their job to eat insects and grass seed in your garden. Many birds eat insects, but a huge die-out of insect populations worldwide is making food scarcer. Solutions: Organic gardening, planting native vegetation, setting aside wild areas Many birding groups are working at the national level to promote bird-friendly building designs and “ lights-out” nights during high migration periods. “You can usually identify the windows which are the most problematic.” The American Bird Conservancy has labs which have tested products and deemed them bird-friendly.Īlso if you are building a new home or having windows installed, you can install bird-safe glass. You don’t necessarily need to put them on all your windows, says Parr. Most reflect ultraviolet light- which we can’t see but really stands out for most birds. You can add see-through decals that are peel-on/peel-off, to your windows. The good news is there are ways to prevent these deaths. US and Canada have lost 2.9 billion birds since 1970, study says Collisions are most frequent during spring and especially fall migration but happen year-round.Ĭourtesy Matthew Pendleton/Cornell University In fact, nearly half of all collisions occur at home windows according to the American Bird Conservancy. Birds not only hit high-rise office buildings but home windows as well. Birds see a reflection of sky and trees and think it’s habitat they can fly into. Nearly 1 billion birds die every year in the United States due to collisions with glass. Things you can do to help save birds from extinction “Unfortunately, wildlife doesn’t have its own voice.” So, rather than waiting until the last second, from a conservationist point of view- you just don’t want to see the bird get there in the first place,” Parr says. Third, they are just beautiful- filling our sky with bird song although a little less every year. Bill Weir/CNNĬlimate change threatens hundreds of North American bird species with extinction, study says That list includes such flying beauties as the Golden-winged warbler with its stunning yellow cap and black mask.Ī tern sits across Hillsborough Bay from a coal-fired power station. These tiny creatures are one of 70 bird species on the “Tipping Point” list that will lose another fifty percent of their populations in the same time frame if conservation doesn’t improve. The Rufous hummingbird lost two-thirds of its population since 1970, according to the 2022 State of the Birds report. They fly an astonishing 3,900 miles (one-way) from Alaska where they live in the summer to Mexico- one of the longest migratory journeys of any bird in the world compared to its body size, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.Ĭalifornians enjoy them in the spring and Rocky Mountain residents in the fall as the birds feed on flower nectar and tiny insects in high mountain meadows, backyard flowers and hummingbird feeders.īut the Rufous hummingbird, like hundreds of other species, is teetering on the edge. They are one of the smallest hummingbirds at just over 3 inches long- but one of the feistiest. ![]() “When they just turn their head and suddenly their throat catches the light – it lights up with this amazing color. It was almost like a religious experience,” says Parr with awe and reverence. “It was just one of those other-worldly sites. ![]() The first time Mike Parr, president of the American Bird Conservancy, saw one, it was feeding on blossoms of a lemon tree in California. The male’s iridescent throat glows brighter than a shiny copper penny and like most hummingbirds, whizzes through the air curiously hovering right in front of humans who ponder them.
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