Disappearing birds:

[kinzel]

So, who remembers Rachel Carson......


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

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Well, this time it isn't DDT. Just too many humans. Easily solved...

[torrilin.livejournal.com]

The article is missing one key point: cats. There is a lot of documentation that the cat population has increased over the last 40 years, and that house cats are very prone to overhunting the local birds.

The loss of habitat certainly matters, but increasing habitat by itself won't remedy the increase in the number of predators.

[(Anonymous)]

In Chicago, we've also seen stories about some populations of birds being affected by diseases traveling humans spread, like the East Nile virus.
B. O'Brien

Our bird friends

[(Anonymous)]

I saw this article in the LA Times this am. The only thing we city folk can do is make sure our backyards are bird havens and give to conservancy organizations that buy land (and sorry to get into politics - get rid of the Bushies.) We are trying here. The vast flocks wild parrots in Temple City get the bounty of our fruit trees, but we have various other feeders if the squirrels don't beat out the birds.

Kelly
TC, CA

[mardott.livejournal.com]

"The Audubon Society, incorporated in 1905, lists five priorities for Congress to consider to slow the decline of these bird species: reduce global warming, support wetlands, fund ecosystem restoration, ensure biofuels are eco-friendly, and improve conservation programs in the next farm bill."

These are all good, but everybody skips over the biggest culprit, which they mentioned in the article: corporate farms. Big Ag needs to be wiped off the face of the earth and replaced with humans living closer to the land. 'Course, our population needs to drop to a sustainable level, too. I suspect that'll happen as the rate of extinction rises. We think we're above it all and some people will be really surprised when humans start dying off, too.

Well this is a cheery good morning, isn't it?
Marlene

[verana1111.livejournal.com]

They mention as a contributing factor loss of conservation land to agribusinesses raising corn for ethanol. I've always been a bit uneasy about that whole concept*, and this is just one more apparent side effect.

Regarding cats: it seems to me since 1. cats stay fairly close to human habitation (while many birds do not), 2. quite a few cats are not allowed outside, and 3. only a certain proportion of well-fed human-owned cats like to hunt, that domestic cats might be somewhat of a contributing factor but are unlikely to be a main one. Feral cats in areas with larger predators are as likely to be prey as predator. For example, there are coyotes in all 48 contiguous states, and by report they are very happy to eat cats, not to mention also happy to eat birds. Again, I'm not saying cats might not be a contributing factor, but I don't see them being the main factor.

*OT on corn-for-fuel production: I wonder what starving people in Africa would feel like if they saw us raising food and f*rting it out the tailpipes of our cars? And how we're going to feel in the future when one-crop agriculture has turned our breadbasket into the New Sahara? I guess that comes under the heading 'payback is a ____'.

[magda-vogelsang.livejournal.com]

I've also seen one news story saying that with so much corn being diverted to ethanol production, the cost of animal feed--and thus the eventual cost of meat--is increasing substantially.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I'm happy to say that our backyard is alive with the chirping of many birds of many species.