As the climate crisis worsens,
so does pressure on wildlife.
New research says nearly half of
all wildlife species is
declining.
Among the most affected are
birds.
>> If you are accustomed to the
sound of them chirping, you
might not realize birds are in
trouble.
The number of birds in north
America has declined in the last
50 years.
It has hit some species harder
than others with those in
grassland habitats experiencing
the biggest drop.
Joining me now is the director
of climate science, thank you
for joining us.
Two thirds of North American
species are teetering on the
edge of extinction.
Why is this?
>> A lot of the changes we have
seen across North America are
due to human changes such as
loss of forests, so we have seen
a lot of habitat loss which is
really affected the birds in
North America where they have
less habitats than they used to.
>> Much of this is attributable
to climate change?
>> We're seeing these two
effects working together against
the species.
It's making it trickier for
birds to find places that have
ideal places to survive.
We are seen birds trying to find
new locations and it's tricky
when there is not a lot of
habitat because things have been
altered.
>> Tell us about the role the
words play in the ecosystem and
the detrimental effects if their
populations continue to decline.
>> Birds are integral to the
ecosystem.
Birds tell us what is happening
in the ecosystem, they are tied
to changes.
Birds are important for things
like insect control.
They help crops survive.
They keep insects, they are
important for pollination, the
key things we need from
pollination brings a special
bulls and fruits and they also
do other things.
Blue Jays are and ecosystem
engineer because when they pull
acorns off the ground.
They can move those hundreds of
miles to build forests.
There are important for
movements.
Birds to attend for us and we
could lose a lot of ecosystem
services.
>> Talk to about efforts.
It helps protect birds so that's
been a really important act that
has helped birds stay protected
within North America as well as
the endangered species act to
make sure they have the safety
they need in the places they
live.
Those are two important federal
policies that help protect
birds.
A lot of efforts are about
keeping birds off of that list.
What additional steps would you
like to see in terms of
preserving these populations?
>> One of the biggest things we
can do is bring back certain
habitats and restoration efforts
are going to be key so there are
things you can do in your own
backyard.
One of the things that's most
exciting is planting native
plants and reducing the amount
you have in your backyard.
That will provide habitats and
food and has a wonderful side
effect that plants store carbon
in the matter so it helps pull
carbon out of the atmosphere and
it helps with climate change.
It's a win-win to rely on these
ecosystems that will benefit
birds and help stabilize the
climate.
>> The audubon society has been
studying birds for about a
century and now you have open
source resources for folks
including the climate watch
program.
Tell us about that.
>> We study how climate change
affects birds, we put out of it
and 2019 which shows two thirds
of birds in North America are at
risk so we wanted to track how
was happening in real time.
This has volunteers across the
country go out and look for
birds.
We're looking at climate change
as it's happening.
It's not a far-off problem
happening with polar bears, we
are finding where birds are
changing and this is one of the
ways we are understanding
climate changes affecting the
birds we love.
>> Talking about species that
are endangered but there are
some bright spots including the
waterfall population is on the
rise, pretty ironically.
I wondered if you could talk
about the grassroots efforts to
preserve certain species.
>> So wonderful way to make a
big difference in the funding
coming in through hunter's but
anyone can buy a duck stamp.
It goes into the system and it
helps establish habitats to help
water birds do so well.
It's a great model to show if we
know we need to do, we can make
a big difference.
Another great example are the
raptors, eagles.
Those birds were in decline
because of the pesticide and
there are big efforts to remove
that from the system and now
those birds have bounceback and
we can see them all over the
U.S..
It shows that if you know what
to do and take action, you can
make a big difference.
>> Thank you so much for joining
us.