{"id":11077,"date":"2022-06-03T16:54:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T15:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/petpedia.co\/blog\/?p=11077"},"modified":"2024-02-18T14:16:31","modified_gmt":"2024-02-18T14:16:31","slug":"bird-population-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/petpedia.co\/blog\/bird-population-decline\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Awareness-Raising Bird Population Decline Stats for 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"
Unless you live in the center of a metropolitan city, you\u2019re probably used to seeing birds all around you. However, depending on your age, you might have noticed there aren\u2019t as many birds as there were decades ago.<\/span><\/p>\n Unfortunately, this is true \u2014 the population of birds is dropping all around the world. If you\u2019re interested in the numbers and reasons, keep reading.<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, there is. According to a study from 2018, almost 40% of all known bird species are in decline. Moreover, one out of every eight species is critically endangered \u2014 likely to go extinct in the next 10 years or three generations.<\/span><\/p>\n Below, we\u2019ll go deeper into the numbers and factors affecting them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (AllAboutBirds, 2018)<\/span><\/p>\n Have you ever wondered <\/span>how many birds are in the world<\/span> in <\/span>2022<\/span>? We\u2019ll try to answer that question in the following stats, as well as share some other general details about birds.<\/span><\/p>\n (PNAS, 2021)<\/span><\/p>\n In order to protect birds, we must know how many birds there are. Of course, calculating this number is difficult, as birds have much greater freedom of movement than many other animal species.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, by taking into consideration the estimated bird population of 9,700 species, which is 92% of all known bird species, scientists have come up with the number above.<\/span><\/p>\n (OurWorldInData, 2022)<\/span><\/p>\n Such a number is hard to determine with exact accuracy. After all, there could still be bird species that we haven\u2019t discovered yet. At the same time, some endangered bird species have <\/span>not been spotted in a long time<\/span><\/a> and could possibly be extinct.<\/span><\/p>\n (OurWorldInData, 2022, Duke Today, 2006)<\/span><\/p>\n Similarly to the stat above, it\u2019s possible that some species have gone extinct without us even knowing about them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Moreover, it\u2019s important to note that more than half of the known bird species were discovered only after 1850 \u2014 in 1815, only about 5% of the world’s birds were known to researchers. With that in mind, this number is likely to be much higher.<\/span><\/p>\n (Duke Today, 2006)<\/span><\/p>\n This is still not a positive statistic, though, especially considering that without human-related factors, only one bird species would be lost in 100 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Moreover, in 2006, experts warned that even with all the conservation efforts, due to increased human influence, we could expect about 1,200 fewer bird species by the end of the 21st century.<\/span><\/p>\n The US is home to many birds, but unfortunately, not as many as it used to be. Considering the factors below, it\u2019s safe to say that when it comes to <\/span>bird population decline<\/span>, people can only blame themselves. Keep reading to learn why.<\/span><\/p>\n (Boston Herald, 2020, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2016)<\/span><\/p>\n Some of the most common birds in the US are<\/span> Sparrows, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, And American Robins.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Moreover, research about the <\/span>decline of the North American avifauna<\/span> from 2016 shows that 37% of US bird species are at risk of extinction if nothing is done to prevent it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The most endangered are seabirds and species that live in Mexican tropical forests, which are being destroyed for<\/span> large-scale agriculture and cattle ranching<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n (Science, 2019, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2022)<\/span><\/p>\n A study released in 2019 emphasizes that all bird species are in danger, not just the rare ones. So, this loss of 29% translates to nearly 3 billion birds from various biomes around the US. Forests, for example, lost about 1 billion birds, while grasslands lost 720 million.<\/span><\/p>\n (American Bird Conservancy, 2013)<\/span><\/p>\n In the US, <\/span>42.7 million households have at least one cat<\/span><\/a>. Unfortunately, many of those cats are free-ranging \u2014 allowed to explore their environment without their owner\u2019s supervision. While this may be fun for the cat, it\u2019s not so fun for all the wildlife they hunt.<\/span><\/p>\n Together with stray cats, they cause substantial damage to the bird population.<\/span><\/p>\n (Plos One, 2019)<\/span><\/p>\n According to research published in 2019, this mostly happens in cities where there are many residential and commercial buildings. Also, it\u2019s more common in spring and fall, when birds migrate.<\/span><\/p>\n Additionally, this number is only a part of much more significant <\/span>bird death statistics<\/span> \u2014 up to 1.5 billion birds die annually from collisions with vehicles, buildings, energy infrastructure, and communication towers.<\/span><\/p>\n (Plos One, 2020)<\/span><\/p>\n Wind energy is considered one of the most sustainable types of energy today. Unfortunately, it\u2019s not entirely safe for everybody, and thousands of birds pay the price every year.<\/span><\/p>\n Moreover, since those estimates were given,<\/span> more wind turbines have been built in the US<\/span><\/a>, so the numbers today could be much higher too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (FAA, 2022)<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note that while 97% of those strikes are with birds, other animals, like deer, bats, and coyotes, can get in the way of planes too.<\/span><\/p>\nIs There a <\/span>Bird Population Decline<\/span>?<\/span><\/h2>\n
Top 10 Stats And Facts About Birds<\/span><\/h2>\n
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General Bird Population Stats<\/span><\/h2>\n
1. Research from 2021 estimates there are around 50 billion birds in the world.<\/span><\/h3>\n
2. According to<\/span> bird statistics<\/span>, there are 11,158 bird species in the world.<\/span><\/h3>\n
3. Scientists estimate that 159 bird species have disappeared in the last 500 years.<\/span><\/h3>\n
4. Thanks to conservation, about one bird species is lost every 3\u20134 years.<\/span><\/h3>\n
Stats About <\/span>Bird Population<\/span> Decrease in the US<\/span><\/h2>\n
5. In North America, there are around 2,059 bird species.<\/span><\/h3>\n
6. Since 1970, there has been a 29% decrease in the number of birds in the US.<\/span><\/h3>\n
7. According to research from 2013, free-ranging cats in the US kill 1.3\u20134 billion birds every year.<\/span><\/h3>\n
8. In the US, 365\u2013988 million birds die every year from colliding with windows and other reflective surfaces.<\/span><\/h3>\n
9. <\/span>Wind turbine bird death statistics<\/span> show wind farms kill between 140,000 and 679,000 birds in the US each year.<\/span><\/h3>\n
10. Between 1990 and 2019, there have been about 227,005 wildlife strikes by planes in the US.<\/span><\/h3>\n