Ornithologists, Birdwatchers Uncover Staggering Magnitude of Bird Population Decline

https://cornellsun.com/2019/09/26/ornithologists-birdwatchers-uncover-staggering-magnitude-of-bird-population-decline/?fbclid=IwAR3i2QQN9gdJghUgxbmTaSSjtocsX_AJuWDkLvcr3zOcGv9nrEnMNcO4Yls

By Ari Dubow
September 26, 2019

Cornell Lab of Ornithology conservation scientist Dr. Ken Rosenberg led an international team of 12 scientists in an analysis of decades of data on bird population — and the conclusion is disturbing. In the last 50 years, one in four birds in North America has disappeared.

Pesticide use and loss of habitat to farmland are some of the most significant contributors to the decline in bird populations, according to Rosenberg. Although scientists have known for a long time that certain bird species were threatened by human activities, this study reveals that these issues apply to birds of nearly all species.

“Seeing this net loss of three million birds was shocking,” Rosenberg said.

The infographics show that while all bird communities in almost ecological zones have suffered, grassland birds have suffered the greatest, experiencing a 53 percent decline over the past 50 years. Some specific species have been particularly hard-hit. In the same time frame, six out of every 10 wood thrushes, three out of every four eastern meadowlarks and nine out of every 10 evening grosbeaks have vanished.

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