Dramatic Decrease in US Bird Populations
Some of our most common and widely spread bird species are disappearing according to this story in the The Philadelphia Enquirer.
Yesterday, the National Audubon Society quantified what birders and other outdoors people have known for years: Many of America’s most common bird populations have plummeted over the last 40 years, the bobwhite, the biggest loser, by 82 percent.
“If even the commonest, most widespread birds are having trouble thriving, it’s a pretty clear warning that we need to take action,” said nature writer Scott Weidensaul.
I’ve posted on various endangered creatures before here, here and here. But there is a difference with the birds. When it comes to the birds, frogs, lizards and some other creatures, what many of them eat is the insects. The bugs. And they eat so many of the bugs, millions upon millions of bugs every day, that the bugs have to hatch even more little bugs than that to keep up. If this food chain is disturbed, if the birds and the frogs and the lizards disappear, we could have an insect infestation of astounding proportions with no good way to control it. Think about swarms of flies, gnats and mosquitoes everyday, everywhere. Now go enjoy your lunch.
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