Birds Keep The Insect Population In Check
Birds Keep The Insect Population In Check
Birds eat 400-500 million tons of insects a year. this includes agricultural pests. thankfully birds keep us from being knee-deep in invertebrates.
Birds Pollinate
Birds Pollinate
We think of pollinators as being Butterflies or Bees. But a big contribution is made by hummingbirds and honeyeaters. Some flowers which lack scent attract bird-pollinators because they favor sight over the scent.
Birds Change Our Environment As Planters And Scavengers
Birds Change Our Environment As Planters And Scavengers
Birds take the seeds they eat along with them and disperse them through their droppings creating new plants in new areas. They even carry plants across the sea to new landmasses. Birds shape the plant life we see around us. In New Zealand's forest, 70% of the plants have seeds dispersed by birds.
Vultures' speedy thoroughness in cleaning up carcasses helps keep our environment free of deadly diseases.
Birds Maintain Balance
Birds Maintain Balance
Without birds, many of the forests, wetlands, and marshes would not exist. These areas store carbon, keep the climate stable, and oxygenate the air. Cordgrass thrives here filtering the water and protecting against erosion. If it weren't for birds maintaining the delicate balance between plant and herbivore, cordgrass would be eaten up by Periwinkles and we would be left with mudflats.
Can You Imagine?
Can You Imagine?
What if all the birds all went extinct. There would be no sweet bird song on a Spring morning and the absence of feathery creatures flying overhead. The sight of a wild bird hatching out of the egg is a miracle to witness and an image you hold dear. How we would mourn the loss. What could ever replace the beauty and the color of our parrots? But the loss of birds goes even deeper. Human life and other wildlife would change forever. The environmental impact would be devastating.
So do birds go extinct anymore? Sure they do. Remember the Dodo Bird, the Carolina Parakeet, and the Passenger Pigeon.
In fact, according to the Red List compiled by the International Union For Conservation Of Nature And Natural Resources, there are 159 extinct bird species
5 species extinct in the wild
22 possible extinct birds
1,481 in danger of going extinct
What can you do: Help in community efforts (Cornell Lab of Ornithology conducts events you can join), keep your pet cats indoors, go organic and stop using pesticides, provide financial support, put reflective stickers on your windows, and support bird-friendly policies.
You can find out more about parrot conservation by going to www.parrots.org and help World Parrot Trust save our parrots.
