Trivia: What are some of the man-made threats to birds? Birds have been around much longer than the things man has created that cause their death. Many birds are lost each year to collisions with buildings, windows, radio and TV towers, lighthouses and other objects. Man's introduction of animals and insects to different parts of the world has had a devastating impact on bird populations. Pet cats and feral cats, for example, kill an estimated 2 billion birds in North America each year. Development of land removes habitat areas such as wetlands, forests, fields, beaches and other areas that birds depend on for food and shelter, especially on long migrations. Many species of bird are now extinct due to these factors. Many more species are threatened with extinction. Each of us must do our part to preserve important habitats if we and future generations are to enjoy these interesting creatures. What can you do to help conserve birds and their habitats? Locate and become active in a local Audubon group or other environmental group. Study the problems that birds have in your area and work with people who can make a difference. Education is a key activity. Learn as much as you can and develop ways to share what you learn with others. Pet cats that are allowed to roam free account for some 4 MILLION bird deaths EACH DAY in North America. Cats are efficient predators, and even capture some of the most secretive birds, such as Yellow Rails. SOLUTION: By simply controlling the activities of our favorite pet cats, we can make a significant contribution toward conserving populations of songbirds. As many as 80 million songbirds are killed each year by collisions with plate glass windows. Most die of skull fractures and internal injuries. Birds see reflections of trees, and fly directly into the window, often at high speeds. SOLUTION: This problem can be minimized by placing silhouettes of falcons on the outside of the plate glass windows. Falcons are natural predators on wild birds, and will usually cause a bird to veer away from the window, thus avoiding a collision. More than 57 million birds are killed each year from collisions with vehicles. This averages out to about 15 bird deaths per mile per year. SOLUTION: Most of these are probably not avoidable, but many can be prevented by careful driving, especially in local areas where birds are known to cross roads frequently. As many as 5,000 birds can be killed in one night at a single tower site. Communication towers are particularly hazardous to birds that migrate at night. Many species of birds migrate just above the treetops, and collide with towers and guy wires. On misty overcast nights, the lights on the towers disorient the birds, and as they fly around the towers, many are killed by collisions with the guy wires. Nearly a million songbirds are killed each year by collisions with lighted tall buildings. Once again, birds that migrate at night suffer the most. Southern exposures present the greatest risk to birds coming north during the spring migration. Northern faces of buildings are the greatest risk during fall migrations. SOLUTION: Darken high rise buildings during the spring and fall migratory period. The continued loss of critical breeding and migratory stopover habitat to human development poses a devastating threat to wild bird populations. The construction site pictured has been totally wiped clean of the mature secondary forest that once existed here. Without suitable breeding habitat, birds cannot maintain their populations. Without key migratory stopovers, birds cannot even reach their breeding grounds. As human populations increase, this problem will likely worsen. SOLUTION: Thoughtful land use planning can go a long way toward identifying and conserving those habitats that are critical to birds and other forms of wildlife. Development that does occur can be planned to preserve some habitat areas.
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