Bird

Share Top Five November 7, 2018

Birds, also known as Aves, are a group of endothermic vertebrates, characterised by feathers, toothless beakedjaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5 cm bee hummingbird to the 2.75 m ostrich. They rank as the world’s most numerically-successful class of tetrapods, with approximately ten thousand living species, more than half of these being passerines, sometimes known as perching birds,more info:wiki

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#10 Even familiar birds at risk of extinction, new study finds,more info:birdlife

The 2018 State of the World’s Birds report, which provides a comprehensive look at the health of bird populations globally, has found that the extinction crisis has spread so far that even some well-known species are now in danger.

A number of well-known bird species are now at risk of extinction.

This is the chief conclusion of State of the World’s Birds 2018, a new report from BirdLife International which looks at the health of bird populations worldwide. Instantly recognisable and beloved bird species including Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus, Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica, and European Turtle-dove Streptopelia turtur are all now globally threatened with extinction.

The report, which was five years in the making, is BirdLife International’s flagship science publication. The major global assessment uses the health of bird populations to “take the pulse of the planet”. Unfortunately, the global picture painted in the report is a dire one for many birds around the world. Overall, it shows that 40 percent of the world’s 11,000 bird species are in decline, and one in eight bird species is threatened with global extinction.

#9 National Geographic Announces 2018 Year of the Bird Campaign, A Year-Long Effort Dedicated to Celebrating and Protecting Birds,more info: nationalgeographic

#8 Robin Birds Chirping and Singing – Beautiful Bird Sounds and Bird Song,more info: Paul Dinning

#7 A Cup of Joe That’s Also Good for the Birds,more info: insider

Most of us can’t begin the day without a cup of coffee. Coffee is a major agricultural crop in many Central and South American countries and a multibillion-dollar industry around the world. Like many other crops, acres of cultivated coffee plants can have a negative effect on its surrounding habitat and wildlife. Deforestation to clear land for coffee in the American tropics means fewer trees for non-migratory birds and the migratory birds that fly south for the winter, impacting the survival of both.

On Earth Day weekend, April 21-23, the Smithsonian will convene the first Earth Optimism Summit, a three-day event focusing on what is working in environmental conservation worldwide and how these efforts can be advanced and replicated. Bird Friendly coffee, an initiative spearheaded by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC), is one of the conservation success stories that will be shared at the summit.

#6 When It’s Okay (or Not) to Feed Birds,more info:audubon

Whether we identify as birders or photographers or both, we are always looking for ways to get closer to birds, or to bring them closer to us. Offering food—sating the hunger that is such a primal drive for all of us—is an easy way to do that. But knowing what kind of food is okay to supply, and when, and where, can be confusing. Over and over, in nature-photography forums and on social media, I see the following questions: “Isn’t all bird feeding harmful?” and “What’s the difference between feeding birds at a feeder and feeding owls?” and “How can you be okay with handfeeding Gray Jays and opposed to feeding owls?”

These are false equivalences that, in the end, only hurt birds. To paint every species with one broad brush is to ignore or deny the varying needs and circumstances of every kind of bird and the realities of its particular life—realities that depend on population status, habitat, physiology, and the unique challenges it faces. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.