You can line the cage with it, readers.
"Study finds steep drop in Bay State’s native birds" by David Abel, Globe Staff / September 19, 2011
“Unmistakable markers of climate change.’’
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The report, which surveyed more than 300 birds, notes that some declines are to be expected as Massachusetts continues to lose its agricultural lands to development and suburbs replace farmland, but it also cites warming temperatures, toxic chemicals, and feral cats and other predators for the changes in the bird population....
The report bases its findings primarily on three surveys that for years have tracked the state’s birds. The surveys involve trained birders walking the same routes in different years around the same time, counting all the birds they encounter.
In one of the surveys, the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlases, volunteers counted birds by dividing the state into 9-square-mile blocks. By comparing data from two survey periods, 1974 to 1979 and 2007 to 2011, the report identified that 60 percent of state birds were increasing, 24 percent declining, and the rest were deemed stable....
???????? That's a steep drop?
In another study called the North American Breeding Bird Survey, which provides bird counts from numerous 25-mile routes across the state going back to 1966, nearly half of all birds were found to be declining, while only a third were increasing. Two-thirds of all the birds surveyed in the state are breeding birds.
In a tally of winter birds called the Christmas Bird Count, the report found that between 1963 and 2008 the birds that remain in Massachusetts through the cold increased by nearly 60 percent, while more than a quarter are declining....
I think the Globe is hearing birds because the surveys simply mean no one knows how many birds are out there!
The researchers said the proliferation of birds that were once only found in small numbers in the southern part of the state suggest climate change may be playing a role. They note that as winter temperatures have increased by 1.3 degrees every decade since 1970, it appears to be affecting the timing of migrations, the food available, and the type of trees suitable for nesting.
PFFFFFFFFFTT!!!!
They said the changes in the state’s bird population are likely to increase over the next century as the state’s climate becomes more like Baltimore’s.
Related: Global Warming is For the Birds
The report recommends the state do more to mitigate climate change, preserve critical habitats in wetlands and other areas, and protect undeveloped land.
Yeah, I KNEW THERE was an AGENDA in here somewhere!
“The most important take-away of the report is to realize that we do have an impact on birds, and for some of them, we have an ability to increase their population,’’ said James DeNormandie, a conservation planner at Mass Audubon and an author of the report. “It’s our responsibility as stewards of the environment to help preserve and create the habitat they need. Birds act as indicators of the quality of the world we live in.’’
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Also see: Wind Power Not For Birds
