ST. LOUIS — The bird population in North America is taking a nosedive.
According to recent research from the journal Science, there are almost 3 billion fewer birds than in 1970.
A zookeeper for the St. Louis zoo says, "Overall, across all the different bird species, there's been decline of about 30%."
Matt Schamberger has been working for the zoo since 2011 in the bird department. He says habitat loss and pesticide use are just a few reasons why we're seeing this dip.
But the big factors: domestic cats and windows.
"Millions of birds a year across the U.S. and Canada are killed by cats and even across the world. Reflections the birds don't recognize that and they think they can go through," Schamberger says.
As our human population gets larger, so does the problem. More people, more buildings, more pets.
Schamberger said birds are essential to our ecosystem.
"They are pollinators of food crops that we need to eat, they help control insect populations, they help control a variety of populations. Raptors help control the rodent population, birds do a variety of things for us all the time," he adds.
He said we can all do our part, so these birds can continue to soar.
"Every little piece of the puzzle is important and if you start losing a piece of the puzzle," he said. "You may not start the see the impact until later down the line, but you will feel the impact eventually."
There are several things you can do:
- Keep your cats inside
- Stripe your windows
- Put more native plants in your backyard that's more habitable for birds
- You can head to the American Bird Conservancy for more tips, as well
Schamberger said that locally, they are also working on some improvements:
- The bird curator at the St. Louis Zoo is working with the Association Zoo and Aquariums and they formed a North American Migratory Bird Committee to help native birds
- Forest Park has become a natural environment, rather than an urban park, so they see more native bird species visiting their area