Bird Populations Are On the Decline Across North America - Will You Take the Year of Helping Birds Challenge?
Month by Month, Actions You Can Take to Help Birds Repopulate and Thrive
December, 2022 - Welcome to my new monthly series of articles about things we can all do to help birds. Every month in 2023, I will explain a specific issue that is causing Chicago-area bird populations to decline, along with simple changes or actions you can make that will improve birds’ lives. I’m just an average bird lover, probably like you, who mis-identifies gulls and sparrows but whose love of our feathered friends has conjured up a stronger concern for their survival, both as individuals and as species. I’m optimistic, and I believe small changes by individual people can all add up and lead to big positive changes.
At some point in our busy lives, many of us wonder what we can do to make the world a better place. With all of the dire news we hear, it can be overwhelming and confusing and maybe impossible to consider what we could possibly do – as individuals – to make the world a better place.
We might not even know that birds are in trouble, but they are - serious trouble, in fact, and they definitely need our help. Birds are almost everywhere you go, and they seem resilient and fairly tolerant of humans. Maybe you’ve seen a robin nesting near your home, or experienced gulls pestering you on the beach. Even in the middle of a cold Chicago winter, birds will always show up at your feeder: northern cardinals, common house sparrows, black-capped chickadees, juncos, and finches.
So it may be surprising to hear that bird populations in North America have suffered a tremendous decline since the 1970s. It’s been gradual, but there’s nearly 30% less birds now than there were then. That’s about 3 billion birds in 50 years, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This terrible loss has affected many popular species, including several backyard birds that are considered common, such as Blue Jays (1 in 4 lost), red-winged blackbirds (1 in 3 lost), and dark-eyed juncos (1 in 3 lost). They’re seemingly common now, but what about the future? Consider the passenger pigeon. Once the most abundant bird in North America (numbering in the millions), this common bird became extinct in 1914, due to over hunting
Can you imagine a world without cardinals, blue jays and juncos? Is there anything we can do to stop this continuing decline of birds?
There is hope, based on some recent conservation success stories. The Bald Eagle suffered serious population declines with a low of 417 nesting spots in 1963, due mainly to the use of DDT, a commonly used pesticide at the time. In 2020, the count of nests increased to 71,463, due to increased federal protection through the Endangered Species Act, and the banning of DDT.
In another remarkable recovery, the giant canada goose was actually thought to be extinct at the turn of the 20th century. A small remnant population was found in Minnesota during the 1960s, and was protected and restored by private and government conservation efforts. Now, they are especially abundant due to many factors including their adaptable habitat preferences, such as the green lawns of many parks and golf courses.
Closer to home, we can look at our beloved Great Lakes piping plovers - Monty and Rose - and their successful nesting at Montrose Beach in Chicago. It’s estimated that historic Great Lakes piping plover populations numbered between 500-800 nesting pairs, until the 1800s. That’s when sport and feather hunters decimated their populations. In the mid 1900s, piping plover habitats - wide open beaches - were destroyed for housing and industry, or became inaccessible due to recreation. By 1990, the Great Lakes piping plover population was reduced to only 13 nesting pairs.
Montrose Beach was slowly restored, and after decades of work by the site stewardship group along with multiple government agencies, Monty and Rose chose to nest there in 2019, the first time Great Lakes piping plovers had nested at this busy Chicago beach in over 50 years. Monty and Rose fledged 7 chicks in 3 years, contributing to the slow but steady population growth of Great Lakes piping plovers, now 65-70 nesting pairs, due to the dedication and perseverance of hundreds of individuals, along with support from federal and local government agencies, and non-profit organizations.
Poster depicting Monty & Rose’s 7 fledged chicks at Montrose Beach, displayed during the memorial service for Monty held in May 2021. Poster by Ann Gunkel; with plover photos by Ann Gunkel and Tamima Itani. Poster photo: Judy Cheske
So, bringing birds back is possible - but we have a lot of work to do, and individuals play a critical role.
The issues affecting birds are complex, and often depend on the type of bird affected. Habitat loss is currently one of the biggest challenges. Let’s define habitat, a single word that actually describes something very important and complex: it’s where birds build their homes (nests) for breeding and reproducing, and it’s anywhere birds live and feed during non-nesting times of the year, including when they migrate. Different birds have different needs: many birds require certain kinds of trees, shrubs, grasses, or shoreland that they’ve evolved to use for nesting, food, and shelter. Habitat also includes the specific types of food birds need to feed themselves and their chicks. Some birds feed on certain kinds of insects, berries, fish, or some (like piping plovers) feed on tiny crustaceans that live only on beaches.
Habitats are commonly destroyed by humans for agriculture, energy production, the extraction of resources like paper, the establishment of residential areas, animal grazing, recreation, and other kinds of development. Without proper habitat, birds will not survive, and they will not reproduce - which is one of the primary drivers of the current bird population decline.
Collective action by our governments and corporations is needed, and there are also many things we can do as individuals.
Helping birds can be fun, and it can be easy, once you develop new habits. Helping birds can also be empowering; it can provide a glimmer of hope to make the world a better place. Each month in 2023, I’ll provide ideas that we can all try and implement to help bring birds back.
Here’s a running list topics I’ll be covering:
January: Flex Your Purchasing Power
February: Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
March: Provide Habitat
April: Make Migration Safe
May: Avoid Harmful Chemicals
June: Go Birding
July: Become a Community Scientist
August: Be a Responsible Pet Owner
September: Get Involved
October: Share Your Love of Birds
November: Support Bird and Conservation Causes
December: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Follow along and take the challenge to try something new to help birds each month!
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Check out all of our Year of Helping Birds articles
Banner image: Junco photo by Getty images; graphic by Judy Cheske