Page 6 - North Haven Magazine Issue 39 Summer 2025

Do Y
ou Kno
Do You Know... by Sally Brockett
...
w
THe State of Our Birds?
THe St a te of Our Birds?

It May Surprise You

Have you thought about the current state of our birds compared to hundreds, or even millions of years ago? We know
conditions change and many different things can impact on the survival of various species on earth. Let’s go back in time
and see how bird life has changed.
PAST COMMERCIAL BUSINESS STUDY OF BIRDS
Birds inhabited our earth even be- However, as civilization developed, In 1915 Arthur Allen created the
fore the era of dinosaurs. In fact, the use of birds for feathers and Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the
following the asteroid strike which food, as well as sport hunting, in- concept of studying the birds in the
seemed to wipe out the dinosaurs, creased. Trains and the telegraph field with binoculars, cameras, and
researchers theorize that the helped create a commercial busi- slow and fast motion video. Public
smaller, toothless birds survived ness. Farmers killed the passenger interest and conservation were en-
because they could eat seeds, pigeons because the huge flocks couraged, laws were enacted, and
fruits, and nuts to survive. Gradu- consumed a lot of grain. The possi- the National Audubon Society was
ally, birds evolved into newer spe- bility of extinction was not consid- created. The feathered hat craze
cies, and their numbers grew due ered because birds were so abun- ended, but three hundred million
to their ability to adapt, evolve, dant. birds had died. Only 5% of the
and thrive. The population of birds great egrets remained in America,
grew into billions and billions. and the Great Auk, Labrador Duck,
and Imperial Woodpecker were
The early settlers and Native decimated.
Americans found that birds were
plentiful and hunted different
bird species for food. This did not
endanger the population. It is be-
lieved that the passenger pigeon
was the most abundant bird in
North America, and perhaps the
world. A flock flying overhead
could take hours to pass a single
spot, and the earth would darken
from the lack of sunlight.

In less than a human lifetime, a third of
our birds have been lost.
Birds were even used to decorate hats. www.allaboutbirds.org
thegraphicsfairy.com/victorian-hat-lady-image/

The Victorian era brought about
the hat craze when hats, and oth-
er accessories, were adorned with
feathers, and even whole birds!
Hunters killed 30,000 - 80,000
birds of paradise annually. Collec-
tions of hundreds of thousands
Bird collision victims from a Chicago build- of eggs and specimens decimated
ing, October 5, 2023, Field Museum. Photo species. Extinction was not given Losses in birds commonly seen at our feeders.
courtesy of Taylor Hains www.allaboutbirds.org
any thought.

6 North Haven Magazine - Summer 2025