Feeding Wild Birds

[sourland]

I imagine this crazy weather is throwing all the wild things normal behavior way off.

I noticed yesterday that the maple trees are starting to color up and think about flowering.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I noticed yesterday that the maple trees are starting to color up and think about flowering.

We are still buried in snow.

 

[sourland]

We are still buried in snow.

We've had a total of 6" all winter, but still have the potential for a major storm.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We've had a total of 6" all winter, but still have the potential for a major storm.

We just got about another foot on Sunday. I'm hoping for an early spring. It seems like we have less birds this month than last, so I'm hoping that's a sign they are moving on to their spring homes already.

 

[CapricornFarm]

We have huge flocks of birds arrive every evening here at the river to roost for the night. The racket is amazing! Hubby said he figured there must have been a million last night, biggest flock ever!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I haven't read through this whole thread so I don't know if this has been mentioned but a study by Cornell and the America Bird Conservancy over 50 years shows populations are down nearly 30% or 3 billion birds.
Main culprits are habitat destruction, use of pesticides and climate change. In addition to declines of endangered species, there were pervasive reductions in a broad range of common species across all environments, including backyard birds. These losses reflect similar numbers of avian species around the globe.
It also said that human impact has caused a species extinction rate increase of a thousand fold over pre-human history.
https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/...E-OF-NORTH-AMERICAN-AVIFAUNA-SCIENCE-2019.pdf
https://nypost.com/2019/05/06/1-million-species-at-risk-for-extinction-thanks-to-humans-un-report/

 

[CapricornFarm]

I haven't read through this whole thread so I don't know if this has been mentioned but a study by Cornell and the America Bird Conservancy over 50 years shows populations are down nearly 30% or 3 billion birds.
Main culprits are habitat destruction, use of pesticides and climate change. In addition to declines of endangered species, there were pervasive reductions in a broad range of common species across all environments, including backyard birds. These losses reflect similar numbers of avian species around the globe.
https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/...E-OF-NORTH-AMERICAN-AVIFAUNA-SCIENCE-2019.pdf
https://nypost.com/2019/05/06/1-million-species-at-risk-for-extinction-thanks-to-humans-un-report/

Yes, we are currently in the 6th great extinction.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

This is the study authors'
One Sentence Summary: Cumulative loss of nearly three billion birds since 1970, across most North American biomes, signals a pervasive and ongoing avifaunal crisis.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A couple points I found most interesting in the UN biodiversity report signed onto by 109 nations noted that some nations were harder hit than others.
Small Island nations wanted more in the report. The United States wanted less.

The report’s 39-page summary highlighted
five ways people are reducing biodiversity:

• Turning forests, grasslands and other areas into farms, cities and other developments. The habitat loss leaves plants and animals homeless. About three-quarters of Earth’s land, two-thirds of its oceans and 85% of crucial wetlands have been severely altered or lost, making it harder for species to survive, the report said.
• Overfishing the world’s oceans. A third of the world’s fish stocks are overfished.
• Permitting climate change from the burning of fossil fuels to make it too hot, wet or dry for some species to survive. Almost half of the world’s land mammals — not including bats — and nearly a quarter of the birds have already had their habitats hit hard by global warming.
• Polluting land and water. Every year, 300 to 400 million tons of heavy metals, solvents and toxic sludge are dumped into the world’s waters.
• Allowing invasive species to crowd out native plants and animals. The number of invasive alien species per country has risen 70% since 1970, with one species of bacteria threatening nearly 400 amphibian species.

 

[Breakfast for dinner]

The one female who was feeding was flat out ignoring the courting males.

just playing hard to get. Them boys need to step their game up