disappearing birds - human impacts on earth systems

Disappearing Birds - Human Impacts on Earth Systems

Human activities affect the Earth’s biosphere, as we harvest resources and develop areas for

our growing global population. As we change, damage, and even destroy habitats, we have

begun to discover how these actions affect the world’s climate and populations – including us.

Oneclassofanimalsthathasbeensignificantlyaffectedbythechangingplanetarebirds.

Scientists believe that 25% of all birds have disappeared from North America in the last 50

years. This is happening for many reasons. Birds have been affected by pesticides used

on agricultural crops, parks, lawns, and gardens. They are killed flying into obstructions,

such as turbines, power lines, skyscrapers, cell towers, and vehicles. Bright lights used to

warnofflowflyingplanes,affectabird’sabilitytoseeobstructionswhenflyingatnight.Light pollution blocks their ability to use the stars as a guide while migrating. House cats and feral

cats are thought to kill billions of birds every year.

Migrating birds face even stiffer odds. They are using a lot of energy to travel from winter

feeding grounds to summer breeding grounds and back every year. They are often hunted as

they stop at familiar annual feeding grounds or they might discover that the habitats on which

they depended for food and rest have been destroyed (habitat loss). Climate change has

madetheseproblemsworsewithdroughts,floods,fires,andmoreintenseseasonalstorms.

As the planet heats up, migrating birds will have to travel further north tofindsuitablebreeding habitats to raise young, further depleting their energy reserves. Another strange

effect of climate change is food timing. As spring temperatures arrive earlier, the emergence

ofcaterpillarsandflyinginsectsoccursearliertoo.Theseinsects,onwhichmigratingbirds

feed, may soon come too early for them to use as fuel in their travels.

©Sheri Amsel • www.exploringnature.org

ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems - Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging or destroying natural habitats and causing the extinction of other species. But changes to Earth’s environments can have different impacts (negative and positive) for different living things. (MS-ESS3-3)

The Dangerous Migration of Birds Birds populations around the world are dropping, especially among migrating birds. Migrating birds use a lot of energy to traveling every year. They are often hunted as they stop at familiar feeding grounds or discover that the habitats on which they depend for food and rest have been destroyed (habitat loss). Climate changehasbroughtdroughts,floods,fires,andmoreintenseseasonalstorms.Migratingbirdshavetotravelfurthernorthtofindsuitablebreedinghabitats.Anotherstrangeeffect of climate change is food timing. As spring temperatures arrive earlier, the emergence of caterpillarsandflyinginsectsoccursearliertoo.Theseinsects,onwhichmigratingbirdsfeed,may soon come too early for them to use as fuel in their travels.


Northern Breeding Grounds

Southern Wintering Grounds


Besides for the fact that birds are beautiful and fascinating members

of our animal kingdom, they also play an important roll in maintaining

healthy habitats. Birds are important seed spreaders, consuming

seeds at one location and “depositing” them later somewhere else

in their droppings. Some birds play a role in pollination. Both

pollination and seed spreading result in more plants and trees,

which supports different industries, including wood products and

agriculture and can help prevent erosion and deforestation. Birds

consume mosquitoes and other insects and invertebrates that

humans consider to be pests, and which can carry and spread

serious diseases, such as malaria. Birds are part of countless

predator-prey relationships keeping a healthy balance in a myriad

of habitats. They can be important scavengers, consuming dead

animal tissue left on roadways. They are an important food source

for human populations as meat and eggs. They are also a draw for

ecotourism, attracting hundreds of thousands birders to locations

around the world every year, supporting hotels, restaurants, and

shops. Birds are sensitive to environmental changes in their habitats.

This is helpful because, as we monitor bird numbers in different

locations, their decline is in important indicator of environmental health or degradation. This can affect other wildlife and human

health as well. It was the drastic decline of birds, described in Rachel

Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring, that led to the public’s awareness

that pesticides were endangering entire habitats and food webs. To

this day, researchers use birds to monitor toxins, heavy metals and

pesticides in different habitats as an early warning system to protect

habitats and human health. Scientists call this ecosystem services,

because birds, in their natural roles, support and improve human life.

MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Why Should We Care About Birds?


10 Ways to Minimize Human Impact on Birds - Critical Thinking There are things that people can do to minimize the threat to birds worldwide. 1) Gardeners and home owners can plant more native species of plants, shrubs and trees in your yard to provide food, cover, and nesting areas for birds. 2) Put up appropriately made bird nesting boxes in your garden. 3) Stop using pesticides and herbicidesonlawnsandgardens.Inturn,birdswillfilltheyardwithacacophonyofsong,helppollinateflowers,andeatpestinsects.4)Keep house cats inside, especiallyinthespringandearlysummerwhenbabybirdsarefledging.5)Birdshittingwindowsisbelieved to kill millions of birds every year. If your home has a lot of large windows, do some research about how to make windows safer to avoid bird collisions. 6) Get involved with one of the many annual bird counts to help scientists keep track of declining populations. Learning to identify birds and watching for them in an annual bird count can become a life long citizen scientist project to share with friends and family. 7) Support bird friendly products. As habitat destruction grows, there are more companies that specialize in bird (and other wildlife) friendly products. These are products that do not damage wildlife habitats. 8) Leave birds alone to live their lives. It is okay to view them from a distance, but disturbing them frightens them off the next and uses up their energy as well as exposing their young to potential predators. 9) Never buy endangered birds for pets, as this supports the illegal capture of wild birds. 10) Lastly, and maybe most importantly, never litter and use less plastic. Plastic waste has made its way into all our waterways, habitats, and even our food supply. Birds and other wildlife consume plastics thinking it is food. They also become tangled in plastic nets, bags, and packaging. It’s important to understand that plastic take hundreds of years to decompose, so our plastic waste problem is growing every year. The only way to stop the accumulation of plastics is to stop manufacturing it, using it, and throwing it away. It may seem a daunting task with all the plastic we use in daily life, but products made with alternative materials to plastics are growing as people become more aware.

Performance Task1) Choose one or more of these ways to minimize human impacts and do some research on them. 2) Find out how severely these human activities are impacting bird populations. 3) Give more details about how one (or more) of these ideas can help protect birds. 4)Readaboutoneofthebirdmonitoringplansandcreateavisualaidtopromotetheideatootherstudents (or people in your community).

MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

disappearing birds - human impacts on earth systems

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