Nearly 3 Billion Birds Have Disappeared from North America for Unknown Reasons

Over half a century, the bird population in North American countries has declined by 29%.

Since 1970, 29% of the bird population has disappeared in North America. Today, there are 2.9 billion fewer birds in the wild there than half a century ago.

These conclusions were reached by American and Canadian scientists led by Kenneth Rosenberg from Cornell University (USA) after analyzing results of long-term observations by ornithologists and data from weather radars, the article says, published on Thursday, September 19, in the journal Science.  

The researchers processed information on 529 bird species and found that over 48 years their population has declined significantly.

"Almost 3 billion birds, or 29% of the 1970 population, have disappeared. The continent-wide network of weather radars also shows a sharp decline in the passage of migratory bird biomass over the last 10 years. This loss of bird numbers indicates an urgent need to combat threats to avian fauna and the associated loss of ecosystem integrity and function, — the scientists said.

The exact causes of the population decline are unknown, but researchers suggest that pesticides, the expansion of agricultural land, environmental pollution and urbanization may have played a role.

Nearly 90% of the disappeared birds belonged to the most widespread families, such as sparrows, swallows and finches. In the future, this could have a particularly serious impact on the normal functioning of ecosystems.

Earlier, the US declassified information about animal and bird spies.

In New Zealand, the remains of an ancient parrot were found that was more than a metre tall.