Birds in the United States are not only declining, but they are declining faster, especially in areas with intensive agriculture, according to new research. Overall drops in bird population, measured from 1987 to 2021, were sharpest in warm and warming areas, suggesting that climate change may play a role.

. “What we found is that any metric of agricultural intensity was always the best predictor of acceleration of the decline.”

  • mr_anny@sopuli.xyz
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    2 hours ago

    I think this decline concerns only the nice birdies.

    Definitely not them flying rat ones like Black Geese, Gulls and Feral Pigeons. They seem like multiplying. And shitting everything.

  • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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    2 hours ago

    I’ve got nine laying hens and will probably get a few more this year. I’m doing my part.

    Also I have all sorts of bird feeders. I’ve got one of those ones that sits in the window, and a damn squirrel keeps on coming into it and taking all the seeds. My dogs growl at him…and he fucking growls back, the little shit.

    It’s an ongoing feud.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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      1 hour ago

      Make the seeds spicy. The squirrel will stay away after an attempt or two and the birds don’t have the receptors for the spice to bother them.

      • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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        34 minutes ago

        Oh that’s brilliant. I should’ve thought of that. I usually rub my pumpkins with Frank’s Red Hot (I put that shit on everything) to keep the squirrels from eating them.

  • whelk@retrolemmy.com
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    3 hours ago

    The next time my cat glares at me for keeping her inside, I’ll point her to this and argue that birds already have enough problems. She can chase me and the string around the house to get the hunties out of her system

  • reddig33
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    5 hours ago

    That happens when you kill all the insects these animals normally eat. Maybe we shouldn’t be spraying pesticides by the metric ton.

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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      3 hours ago

      All the insects that are gone

      Cats!

      Territory disappearing faster

      Pollution

      Insecticides / pesticides

      It’s a wonder there are any birds left

      We’re all fucked :)

  • Mulligrubs
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    6 hours ago

    When you kill all the bugs, you kill all the birds who eat bugs, too?

    UNFATHOMABLE

      • robocall
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        5 hours ago

        Cats are the cutest, most precious little cuddly things. But they need to all be indoors. Every single one of them.

          • saltesc
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            4 hours ago

            In contrast my dogs have become pals with our neighbours up in the back tree.

            Every afternoon around the same time, the birds land on the back porch and call them out,. Even if the dogs are snoozing they instantly get up and sprint outside, then a round of chasey-swoopy happens for a few mins before they all come up and sit on the back porch together for a while. This happens every day about an hour before sunset for a couple years now.

            Cool birds too. If I go out there and sit with everyone, the bravest bird some times perches on my arm with the temptation a small bit of ham.

    • ThrowawayOnLemmy
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      6 hours ago

      Part of me tries to rationalize the current state of the world as a last gasp by those who know we’re all doomed and can’t change anything. The elite and powerful. And instead of trying to fix anything, they’ve all decided they’re gonna go balls to the wall before it’s all fucked beyond repair.

      • HasturInYellow
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        48 minutes ago

        Unfortunately, they did it. They won if that was their goal. We could still get vengeance but we’re not preventing anything.

      • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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        6 hours ago

        And they think they want to live forever too. Like Zuck with his bunkers, who tf is going to take care of him when it all goes to shit? Money isn’t going to be worth anything. Maybe that’s why he trained for MMA, lol.

      • Boomer Humor Doomergod
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        6 hours ago

        We will end up as an oily radioactive smear in the geological record. And that’s fine with me.

      • _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works
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        6 hours ago

        Seems like that would just piss off 99% of the population and ensure those responsible a terrible fate once billions of desperate humans get so fed up they’ll become capable of pretty much anything. I’m guessing a lot of these people are already so old they don’t care or so insulated the don’t understand the danger they’re putting themselves in.