Study says we’ve lost 1 in 4 birds over the past 50 years, humans at fault

Billions of birds, gone from our skies.

A new study finds in the U.S. and Canada, we’ve lost one in four birds over the past 50 years.

Backyard birders Tim Thompson and Brian Beckner have been friends for six years.

“So we met on social media actually. I saw that Brian was making bird boxes for his career, for a living, and I thought that was fascinating,” said Thompson.

They enjoy keeping their eyes to the sky as they watch for birds, including in what they call “Urban Everglades.”

“This is really just one of the many excellent areas where people like myself can just enjoy birding as a hobby,” said Thompson.

Aside from watching birds, Beckner installs bird boxes in golf courses and communities.

“I handcraft all of the bird boxes myself for a multitude of species that are cavity dwellers. Well over 2,000 of them out in the field that I maintain and manage once I install them,” said Beckner, owner of Native Bird Boxes.

But despite the interest in our feathered counterparts…

“We’ve lost over a quarter of all of the birds in North America since 1970,” says SWFL policy associate for Audubon Florida and Audubon Western Everglades, Brad Cornell.

And Cornell says we’re to blame. “It’s due to pesticides, it’s due to converting habitat, wetlands, and forests into farms and urban development, it’s due to climate change and sea level rise.”

According to Audubon, shore birds in particular have seen a significant decrease.

Cornell says seabirds like black skimmers and least terns are also on the decline.

Not only does human activity contribute to the loss, but Cornell says there is cause for concern because what birds need to survive, humans also need to survive.

“Clean water, wetlands, forests, fertile soil, beaches, you know, just look around us here in Florida and we should be afraid. This is something we need to address,” said Cornell.

But he believes all hope is not lost for birds and points to environmental protection, restoration and program funding.

“These are all things that work, we know they work, we need to invest in them and invest in them heavily and quickly,” he said.

Just as the early bird gets the worm, researchers believe we need to act sooner rather than later.

Audubon officials say several birds were on the verge of extinction in Florida at the turn of the 20th century, which led to the development of our country’s earliest conservation laws.