jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Don't worry about it! The "authorities" don't. In ten years, they'll start talking about forming a committee to study it. Ten years later, they'll say, "Oh, well, that's nature."

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

1. Warming weather. Many migratory birds are either not migrating or have changed their migratory routes.
2. Development - hard for birds who nest in dead trees to find large dead trees anymore. Clearing of wetlands. This used to be hard to do, but now it seems like they are getting filled in all around.
3. Pesticides. Florida has been drenching the state with pesticides to restrict the spread of Zika, Dengue, and Eastern Equine Encephalitis. Where do they spray? All those wetlands that are breeding grounds for mosquitoes - and homes to birds, bees, and butterflies.
4. Systemic pesticides - fills the plant with poison, so even pollinators landing on the flowers will be poisoned.

I don't buy the "chemtrails" conspiracy. There are enough obvious activities that are destroying our planet to worry about.

Strix

This spring here in Michigan we had terrible weather for migrating and resident birds: very cold and rainy. Insect life suffered as well. The weather trend continued into June, when most birds locally should be nesting. The stress of migration and lack of bountiful food (insect hatches) contributed to the very bad nesting and nesting success that the birds had. As a result, there are just much fewer birds around now. I certainly hope they will recover next year.
Just my read on the subject.... Strix.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

I typed in "what in the world are they spraying" and found: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory

The chemtrail conspiracy theory is based on the erroneous belief that long-lasting condensation trails are "chemtrails" consisting of chemical or biological agents left in the sky by high-flying aircraft, sprayed for nefarious purposes undisclosed to the general public.
Contrails are composed primarily of water, in the form of ice crystals. The combination of water vapor in aircraft engine exhaust and the low ambient temperatures that exist at high altitudes allows the formation of the trails.

No judgement, just what I found
Smile,
JimmyT Sends

ggab Loc: ?

Don't forget the Zombie Apocalypse!
Perhaps the increase in Zombie's is a byproduct of the spraying!

OlinBost Loc: Marietta, Ga.

Cats ..... They are decimating many birds as well as C*****e C****e and habitat loss.

EM

C*****e c****e is affecting bird populations. The disruption of the carbon cycle in the ocean is changing currents and oxygen levels which affects all living things. Insects arriving too early before pollen is available and then no insects for birds. Habitat removal as homes and industry clear land or drain land, etc. affects nesting sits and stopover feeding sites for migratory species. Seed crops are also changing. I found the link for "what are they spraying" and it is typical of many conspiracy theory stuff. Chemists can measure this stuff easily.

Canisdirus

Birds are down everywhere. Fish are way way down.
One can point to this or that ... but in the end ... it's just us being ... us.

If our one galactic job was as a caretaker ... everyone is in big trouble.

louisfisher

It's not only birds that have reduced populations, it's also squirrels. Dare I say other species too. This is not a political viewpoint but a point of fact!

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

I have been where I am in Florida for 41 years now, I can testify to the alarming lack of insects (and I live in and around forest and wildlife preserves) - 40 years ago, if you hung a light bulb from a string (or a bug zapper) in my back yard for several hours after dark, there would be thousands of bugs of all sorts in a 20-30 foot circle around it, and several inches deep in the ten foot circle. Put a light out there now, past my yard boundery and into the woods/forest, virtually nothing, a mere handful....yes, things have changed.

We have multiple feeding stations around our home, and water full time, yes there are fewer birds every year. In fact, global counts show the bird populations dropping by close to 1.5 billion each year, and accelerating (and pollinators as well). They rarely spray for mosquitos anymore in my area, the last warm evening I was sitting out, I had one mosquito land on me - in Florida, in the woods, near swamp, with a light on - nothing - that just isn't right!

As the earth/atmosphere continues to heat up, the sub-tropical and temperate zones are slowly moving north, weather and weather systems are changing. Poisons have been and still are taking a tremendous toll on all critters, they are fully in our food chain now. Clean Water needs, and on the flip side sea level rise will impact upwards of 150 million just in the US, clean water will be even more scarce than it is now. My inland (St. Johns river basin) home may well be beachfront, or in water full time.

The critters and humans are in for some shocking changes, insects, birds, other animals, agriculture, and water are all going to be a big problem. There will be wars brought on by lack of water, food, and a safe place to live, much greater than now. The US Military Services (combined & NASA) recently reported to the President and our Government on the threat through 2050 and beyond, with dire concern about the US military capacity to mitigate and even respond to US, regional, global famine, flood, severe weather events, FIRES, other natural disasters, with potential for severe if not life ending impact for hundreds of millions/Billions of Humans, and any other creatures. If you want to investigate this on your own, start looking up and reading, the information is out there, and it doesn't come from crackpots and doomsdayers.

Many of us will be dead or past caring (some already are!), but our progeny will suffer greatly. They will be the instrument of change, if they want anything near the lifestyle we currently enjoy. For those who feel it is a joke, you are part of the problem. The "END" isn't near, but it is going to be a long slow miserable ride to it, it is time for real change, change for the good.

Cookie223 Loc: New Jersey

Can’t deny that we are contributing to the pollution of the planet. Our planet has been evolving for millions of years, and it continues to do so, but we can’t ignore the fact that the earth is coming out of an ice age too. Plants and animals also evolve, some become extinct, and new species are discovered all the time.

The biggest problem is that mankind will not give up their comforts, but if they do, it will only slow up a process that we can’t control.

Another Hal

Go back to Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" first published in 1962 -- the warning back then was clear -- farmers and others were using lethal chemicals to control unwanted insects that were threats to fruits and vegetables. I grew up on one of those farms in western New York State. In the 50's, very few were anticipating the damage being inflicted to other species including birds and humans. Sooner or later the damage was bound to catch up. Hal Garman

fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

I agree with EM. I've been a member of NH Audubon for almost 30 years and an ongoing theme in their newsletters, is the decline of bird populations in New England due to the reasons EM lists. A root cause analysis of all the environmental and c*****e c****es we're experiencing inevitably comes down to the human population exceeding the earth's carrying capacity. It's tough to blame 4 million years of evolutionary genetics dictating we produce as many offspring as possible but we're overrunning the planet and this is the result.

What we do need to accept blame for, is the political lack of action to stop or reverse the C*****e C****e effects of human overpopulation. I feel bad the Millenials will inherit a planet where adverse C*****e C****e effects will geometrically increase while my Baby Boomer generation recognizes the problem but does nothing about it. I don't want to make this political, but there shouldn't be a Gen Xer or Millenial who would v**e for an administration that vehemently denies C*****e C****e even exists and instead takes legislative actions to increase it...and I don't just mean the Executive Office.

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

Well said, though too careful to avoid mentioning our political "leaders".
We are beyond the tipping point, and the results are all around us. I wish I could find a solid reason for optimism, but it isn't there. I'm old enough so only my children and so forth will pay the price, and I've contributed more than my share to the problem. Governments are the primary but nt the only source of solutions, but I fear it is too little and too late.

All that being said, there are many birds and other creatures still here, and I choose to enjoy them while we still can.

old poet

EM
You are right. And, deforestation in the tropics is destroying winter habitats for migrating birds. Habitat destruction pesticides and c*****e c****e are taking a toll on birds and their food sources as well as nesting sites. I'm a retired vertebrate zoologist at 78 and have seen a dramatic decline. I've noticed this as BIF photography has been one of my post retirement interests.