© Wild Bird Foundation/K. McRae One of the biggest problems facing birds is habitat loss. “Every bird is important”: how city residents can help protect birds Jing Zhang Climate and Environment
Did you know that right this very minute, millions of birds may be silently migrating overhead – and all you have to do is look out your window to see it?
Ahead of World Migratory Bird Day on May 9, UN News spoke with Catherine Quayle, director of communications at the New York-based Wild Bird Foundation. This year’s theme, “Every Bird Matters and Your Sightings Matter,” highlights the urgent need to protect migratory birds and the ecosystems they depend on. It often feels like wildlife is miles away from them. You think birds are part of our everyday life… Catherine Quayle: If you live near a park or just trees, even in the heart of Manhattan, you may hear birds when you wake up. Their songs change throughout the year. You don’t even have to leave home to see the ecological diversity. Birds often migrate at night. In the evening you can see seagulls or herons flying to roost for the night. Look up from the window early in the morning or in the evening – and you will see birds without leaving your home. © Wild Bird Foundation Wild Bird Foundation Communications Director Catherine Quayle holds an injured pigeon. UN News Service: New York is located on the Atlantic Bird Migratory Route – essentially a bird highway. How many birds fly overhead during peak migration? QC: Device BirdCast from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology uses weather radar to track bird migration. It shows how many are flying and when. On peak nights, there can be several billion birds over the US at the same time. Up to a million birds can move in New York City in one night, but most people don’t know about it because it happens at night. UN News Service: What challenges do birds face when migrating? QC: One of the biggest problems is habitat loss. Birds migrate in search of certain foods at certain times of the year. For generations they have learned where it is better to fly in winter. For example, to Central America. But if their habitat is destroyed, developed, paved over, or logged, many other birds will not survive when they arrive at their wintering or nesting grounds. Another major threat in New York City is window collisions. This happens much more often than 50 years ago because modern architecture is focused on glass. Partially glazed building surfaces and all glass windows are extremely popular and very dangerous to birds. © Wild Bird Foundation/T. Glue UN News Service: Are there certain types of buildings that pose the greatest threat to birds? QC: Skyscrapers are dangerous because birds are attracted to the bright light emanating from them. During migration, this is common in downtown Manhattan, where glass surfaces reflect nearby trees. The combination of light and glass is extremely dangerous. Ordinary houses can also be dangerous. Reflections in windows, especially near bird feeders or trees, often lead to collisions. Low-rise buildings actually cause the most collisions, it’s just less noticeable because one or two birds die near one such building, while in the middle of Manhattan they die by the hundreds. Migrating birds are especially at risk because they arrive at night tired, disoriented and immediately find themselves in an unfamiliar place. UN News Service: What we can do every day to contribute to the protection of birds QC: You can turn off street lights at night so that the sky remains dark and birds are not attracted to the light. In a small community, if people turn off the lights everywhere, it makes a big difference. One of the best solutions is to plant native tree species in your garden. Do some research on what species are typical in your area and designate a section of outdoor space for them to attract insects and birds. © Wikimedia/F. Uribe Scarlet tanager. UN News Service: Is there a rescue story that you personally remember? QC: When I go to my local park to birdwatch, I pass several buildings where window collisions are common. During the migration season, I check for injured birds. On one trip, I spotted a bird on the road under a glass bridge – such structures are especially dangerous because the birds do not expect to encounter an obstacle in their path. I ran down the hill and picked up the bird. A few seconds later a car drove through the area. The bird was a scarlet tanager, with beautiful yellow plumage. She was later treated and released. If I had not picked her up then, she would have definitely died. UN News Service: What those who know little about the species and behavior of birds can do? KK: Start watching the birds around you. Be aware of what you see and hear when you go outside. As you pay more attention to what’s going on around you, your interest will grow. You can take binoculars or join a walk with others who enjoy bird watching. During the migration, local parks host many of these free walks, often led by experts, and they’re really fun. When I first walked into Central Park with binoculars many years ago and started looking at birds I’d never seen before, it literally blew my mind. I was so inspired by what I saw that I couldn’t stop. Since then – now for 25 years – I have been birding professionally.
