WHY ARE BIRD POPULATIONS DECLINING ?

WHY ARE BIRD POPULATIONS DECLINING ?         As someone who has championed the preservation and  restoration of our green spaces to protect our bird population,  I was quite disturbed by Trump’s rant where he identified wind   turbines as “killing fields” for birds.  I decided to check the stats from the Trump’s own government’s  Fish and Wildlife Service.

I was stunned beyond belief!

Feral, stray, and domestic cats kill more than  2 BILLION and  400 MILLION  birds each and every single year! 

So if Trump really cared about birds, he should have been urging cat owners never to let their cats outside!

I also discovered that 599 MILLION BIRDS are killed in collision with glass-clad buildings like the Trump Towers! 

 When we add the number of birds  killed by cats and  glass clad towers we reach an  astounding  2 BILLION and  999 MILLION BIRDS KILLED EVERY SINGLE  YEAR! ( US Fish and Wildlife Statista , 2017)

Here in Canada cats kill between 100 million and 350 million birds annually  - 38% are killed by pet cats not feral cats.  

That means  more than 10 million birds are killed by well- fed cats that owners allow to roam outside. 

No wonder our bird populations have plummeted by 29 % in North America in the last 50 years.  (Nature Canada)

 Keeping in mind, Trump’s obsessive rants about the dangers of wind turbines, I assumed the numbers would be in the hundreds of millions!

The report from the 2017 US  Fish and Wildlife  Stats  stated the 234, 012 birds had been killed by wind turbines.

Right now grassland birds are the most imperiled groups of birds in the US as their population had declined by more than 50 % since 1966!

Should cat owners who let their cats roam outside be fined?

Should all new buildings being built use “bird friendly” glass with dots patterns to prevent bird collisions?

Since 2010, new Toronto buildings must include design features that reduce bird collisions with buildings - one of the few cities in North America .

Lets urge our local government to ensure all new Condos and other building include design features  that will prevent bird fatalities!

Other factors greatly impacting the decline of birds are habitat loss and the dramatic and sudden change in the climate all around the world in the last few decades. 

 We are connected in the fragile web of life. 

The value and importance of each of each strand may not be obvious until it is destroyed. 

The extinction of one species can ripple right through the web of life and negatively impact the health and well being of all of us.

Those who are trying to protects bird, bees, flowers, and trees cannot win if those trying to tackle global overheating lose!