Loss of wetlands and industry pollution result in climate change that makes difficult conditions for American bird species to survive.
A study presented top-20 list of Pennsylvania's state bird populations that have increased by more than 50 percent in 40 years. Northern pintail, several sparrows, whip-poor-will, eastern meadowlark, ruffed grouse, bird all are included in the list.
"These are not rare or exotic birds we're talking about," said Carol Browner, the Audubon Society's chair and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency in the Clinton administration. "These are birds that visit our feeders and congregate at nearby lakes and seashores, and yet they are disappearing day by day."
The study compared about 550 bird species' database from two different bird surveys and found that the situation is dramatic. There were 31 million northern bobwhites in 1967, now in 2007 there are only 5.5 million bobwhites.
"Things we all think of as familiar backyard birds ... they appear in books and children's stories and suddenly some of them are way less familiar than they should be," said John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell ornithology lab.
Another study in May presented seven species of birds that declined because of West Nile virus, and these birds are different from the birds included in the previous study.
40 years ago evening grosbeak were crowding feeders and eating about 50-pound sacks of sunflower seeds in a few days, but now their number has decreased by 78 percent.
While these birds are dying, the others, who were at risk to completely disappear and got proper treatment, are successfully increasing the population.
"The robins, the Carolina wrens, the blue jays, the crows, those kinds of birds, are doing just fine, thank you," said Greg Butcher of the National Audubon Society. "They really get along in suburban habitats, most of them even like city parks, so they are not as susceptible to the human changes in environment."
These studies only show how hopeless the environmental situation is, and that we need huge efforts and projects to help the dying birds that suffer from environmental change cause by human industry pollution. By Ruzan Harutyunyan For HULIQ
Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.
