Canary meet coal mine. Common birds disappearing.

[alfredo]

It could be several factors, but global warming has to be putting stress on bird population.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/06/14/bird.decline/index.html

Some of the most common birds seen and heard in American back yards are becoming a less frequent sight and sound in much of the United States, according to a study released by the National Audubon Society.

Twenty common birds -- including the northern bobwhite, the field sparrow and the boreal chickadee -- have lost more than half their populations in the past 40 years, according to the society's research.

"These populations are not yet on the endangered species list, but it is noteworthy, and we need to take steps to protect their habitat," said Carol Browner, Audubon chair and former Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

And like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, the health of a region's bird population is often a harbinger of the health of other wildlife and of human populations as well.

We've wasted seven years, or rather bush has wasted seven of our years.

[Sequoia]

1. In California also.

This story was in the SF paper (I think) and it was blamed on loss of habitat because of human enroachment. That and the other for sure. I hate a world without songbirds.

[alfredo]

5. I've been doing my best to make my yard bird friendly as possible.

I make sure there is water and shelter for them.

[Booster]

8. Me too. I never go to the store anymore without bringing home a

huge bag of birdseed - I better check to see if it's made in China though.

[alfredo]

12. I do most of my feeding in late winter early spring when the food

supply is low for the birds. It seems many people stop feeding too early. I cut back on the feeding when it appears the normal food supply starts appearing (bugs and such).

[G_j]

2. K&R

:-(

[Zomby Woof]

3. One day a parent will try the "birds and bees" talk

And their kid will say "what are those?"

Because they're both disappearing.

[salinen]

4. Today was horrible

my dog killed a baby bird. I feel sick about it. I didn't do anything to my dog because she was just being a dog.

[alfredo]

6. Feral cats kill a lot of birds.

My cats learned to stay away from birds at an early age. I had pet birds. To keep the cat away I would spray the cat with water whenever it showed interest in the birds. It worked. After that the only animals they brought home were mice and snakes.

[salinen]

9. Don't get me started

on the topic of feral cats. There should be a bounty on feral cats.

[alfredo]

13. They are a real problem.

[blondie58]

17. the problem is that people should spay or neuter their animals

One mama cat and her offspring, in the period of seven years will produce 500,000 kids.

Here in the Denver area, there is a group called Alley Cat Alliance, whose goal is to trap them, fix them, and then they are rereleased, as a truly feral cat will not accept humans too easily.

The animals can't help it.

[ourbluenation]

29. god - my two domestic cats are bird killers. Drives me nuts. Ringy bell collars

don't seem to work. The good news is that they're old farts now and couldn't catch their tails if they tried. But jeebus - nothing like coming home and seeing a bird head on the rug when you walk in the door, feathers everywhere. poor birds.

[tmlanders]

10. My dog killed a baby cardinal a few years ago.

The bird parents had built a nest in the hemlock by my front door. I checked every day until I heard the baby bird, but didn't want to check the nest closer because I did not want to disturb the birds. So the first time I saw the baby was when it was in Ruby's mouth. I was so upset! :cry: But like your dog mine was only doing what dogs do. But I was still sad. The cardinal daddy was in a branch watching the whole thing but couldn't do anything. I took the baby bird out of Ruby's mouth but I couldn't do anything. I was holding it when it passed...

[Skidmore]

7. What's with all the feathered roadkill I've been seeing this summer anyway?

I have seen more squashed birds than anything else. Normally, we have our share of coons, possums, skunks, field mice, and deer. However, this summer it has been birds. Also, I've seen birds just walk across the road. Several times I have had to slow down completely or go to the shoulder to avoid hitting one. Did they forget how to fly?

[pitohui]

11. west nile is a neurological disorder, they can't fly, they bumble about and then die

any chance this is what you're seeing?

[alfredo]

14. And what part of the country?

[pitohui]

20. west nile is now endemic throughout north america north of mexico

what part of the country? may have been a fair question when it was only seen in the northeast, and then only the northeast and the southeast, but it has since marched across the entire nation to the pacific ocean and is even seen in california -- it occurs throughout the lower 48 and i am not sure how far it goes into canada/alaska but inhabits of those states can probably speak up -- there are LOTS of mosquitoes in the northern tier and this is a mosquito borne encephalitis

sorry

in other words, maybe you won't see it in hawaii

[alfredo]

24. Thanks, but I was asking your location. Where are you seeing this?

[Robbien]

27. We've been seeing quite a bit of west nile in the great lakes region

Here North of Chicago it has been a problem.

[alfredo]

30. I find that mosquitos are more of a problem up in the north

than down here in central Ky.

The drought has depressed the mosquito population here.

[StarryNite]

19. Some birds seem suicidal

the way they swoop down right in front of cars. We have unfortunately hit several that way. We hit one a couple of weeks ago. It's really upsetting.

:cry:

[Maru Kitteh]

15. Bobwhites used to grace the telephone wires running over my childhood driveway

On this rolling prairie I stood small and imagined I was in a canyon, listening to the Bobwhites bounce and echo around each other in the evening light.



I don't hear them anymore at all.

[pitohui]

21. you can't lose 3 percent of a population year after year after year

there doesn't seem to be much chance for the bobwhite at this point, its collapse is both precipitous and poorly explained

[upi402]

16. I used to see tons of Robins when I was a kid

Now I am happily surprised to see one rarely.

[alfredo]

18. You can have some of our Starlings

[pitohui]

22. there is no shortage of robins, where do you live?

robins don't like hot weather much, and perhaps global warming is having its way, while i still see the robin flocks who migrate here to louisiana in winter, i haven't seen a nest in many years in summer, however, i don't think southern louisiana was ever a favorite breeding ground for them and there are still tons and tons of robins breeding in such areas as southern alberta (canada)

[alfredo]

26. You near Edmonton? I have a friend that works with the Sierra Club

there. She was with Green Corps when I worked with her.

[Chipper Chat]

28. My grandmother was born when Grover Cleveland was president!

I remember her talking about all the colorful songbirds in the early 1900s when she was a little girl in New Waverly Indiana. She loved Baltimore Orioles and "tons of bright yellow birds."
Now all of the birds are black - crows, starlings, sparrows. A cardinal is about all the color we have now and they are growing more scarce.

[Dragonbreathp9d]

23. pesticides are also a large contributor

[orleans]

25. that west nile virus knocked out tons of blackbirds around here a few

years ago. everyone was finding the dead birds in their yards, on the street, etc.

it was terrible.