US and Canada have lost 2.9 billion birds since 1970, study says
"Bird populations in the United States and Canada have dropped by 29% since 1970, signifying 2.9 billion birds lost in almost 50 years, according to a new study.
"The scientists involved in the study warn that like a canary in a coalmine, birds reveal environmental health. This steep loss of bird populations, including some of the most common birds like sparrows and finches, shows that human impacts on the continent's environment mean it can no longer support the wildlife systems it once did.
"Normally, it's hard to track animal populations this way. But birds are much easier to monitor. The study combines almost 50 years of data, including information collected by citizen scientists and weather radar data of migratory birds from 143 stations across North America. Observations by people were shared with the North American Breeding Bird Survey at the US Geological Survey, the Canadian Wildlife Service, the Audubon Christmas Bird Count and Manomet's International Shorebird Survey.
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"Almost 90% of the birds lost came from 12 common songbird families like sparrow, blackbirds, warblers, finches and swallows. Shorebirds have also lost one-third of their population, and grassland birds lost more than 720 million, resulting in a 53% population reduction. Forests across North America lost more than 1 billion birds.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/19/world/north-america-bird-population-loss-scn/index.html
"chief climate corespondent bill weir" points out how trump has gutted numerous protections but not for water foul b/c even the most conservative of duck hunters are all for regulations to protect wetlands!
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