Pleasure hunters leave pieces of shot embedded in the birds, making the meat impossible to eat. They destroy an important source of food for native people living in the area.
It is not surprising that with activities like this there are fewer species at our feeder each year. Birds have rapidly been losing the habitat they need to live, find food, rest, and raise their young in safety. According to an article in USA Today, there are three billion fewer birds in North America than there were in 1970. They are being threatened by pesticides, free-roaming cats, wind turbines, insect decline, and disease. While the nation was concerned with COVID-19, Pine Siskins were also falling ill and passing their infection on to other birds. Early spring the Audubon Society asked people to stop filling their bird feeders. I found two dead Pine Siskins on my deck. Since then we regularly clean our water tray and feeder.
Birds are also killed by moving vehicles that hit them when they are seeking food from road kills. It is a common end for Condors newly introduced into the wild. They land on large animals like deer and are not fast enough to escape a vehicle driving seventy miles an hour. Birds are struck by planes more than 40 times a day and they fly into windows on houses and high-rise buildings. This was a problem at our house until we put an image of a hawk on our large picture window to stop birds from hitting it.
All of the problems mentioned are being accelerated by climate change. Two-thirds of the continent's bird species are at risk of extinction. In 2015, nearly 1 million common murres died at sea and drifted ashore, blighting beaches between California and Alaska. It was the largest mass die-off of seabirds in recorded history. When I was vacationing on the Oregon coast, my dog licked over a half-dozen murres on the beach before I could pull him away. The next day my beautiful poodle was dead and I was in tears.
A warmer planet and expanding population are causing more wilderness land to be converted into farmable pastures. Breeding and nesting grounds are becoming agricultural fields and housing developments. "It's a bird emergency," says David Yarnold, CEO and president of Audubon. Yes, it is, I agree. And it's like the canary brought into a coal mine to warn of what will happen to those who don't pay attention.
While out walking, the raven I saw did not vocalize but used body language to communicate with me. Rather than through words, he had a more concrete, sensory way to reach me. By doing so, he captured my attention and invited me to take him seriously. If I want to continue hearing birds sing for a mate and be warned of predators that might harm my cat by agitated Robins, I will have to do more than I currently do to see that they survive.
