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Decline of the North American avifauna

Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Adriaan M. Dokter, Peter J. Blancher

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John R. Sauer, Adam C. Smith, Paul A. Smith, Jessica C. Stanton, Arvind Panjabi, Laura Helft, Michael Parr, Peter P. Marra

2019 · Science

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From the abstract

Staggering decline of bird populations Because birds are conspicuous and easy to identify and count, reliable records of their occurrence have been gathered over many decades in many parts of the world. Drawing on such data for North America, Rosenberg et al. report wide-spread population declines of birds over the past half-century, resulting in the cumulative loss of billions of breeding individuals across a wide range of species and habitats. They show that declines are not restricted to rare and threatened species—those once considered common and wide-spread are also diminished. These results have major implications for ecosystem integrity, the conservation of wildlife more broadly, and policies associated with the protection of birds and native ecosystems on which they depend. Science , this issue p. 120

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tdb7893
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In the US bird populations are down 30% since the 70s (with many species seeing much more significant declines) and you see similar trends in many other countries. You'll probably see a lot more of these sorts of conservation efforts as people start to realize how dire things are ecologically. Source for decline number: https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aaw1313 I also know the numbers are similarly dire across the animal kingdom. At least birds aren't doing as poorly as amphibians where 40% of species are threatened (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10567568/)
Original comment Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
johntfella
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a concern I'm looking into for a private project (I use hn as a link saver) is fireworks impact on birds. specifically interested in songbirds. however i dont think its a key component in their decline (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaw1313) it is just a side issue to consider that perhaps there is something that can be done along side keeping domestic cats indoors and so forth. The key interest is overall the decline in songbirds and how this effects the tick population and thus lyme disease and other related illnesses. Perhaps banning fireworks would help, though it would be an uphill battle; yet probably easier than say banning neonicotinoids.
Original comment Fireworks likely caused water contamination at Mount Rushmore (2016)
Errsher
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I don't know the specific numbers, and I've only just seen one or two studies (would appreciate an alternative numbers) - but if a three 3 billion bird reduction is almost a third of the total population in birds in North America since 1970s, and cats are killing at least 1.3 billion per year... I guess that's "fine for the most part"? https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaw1313 The predation of cats is also unnaturally controlled as they are domesticated; people view them as pets primarily and thus prevent them from being killed (their predators are also heavily controlled - wolves, coyotes, etc). I don't see how you could compare that niche to previously extinct, naturally local species.
Original comment Increased wind turbine rotor blade visibility to reduce avian fatalities

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