Massacring Farmland Birds

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  The Article "UK's wild bird population continues to decline", written by Fiona Harvey on Thursday, October 17th (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/17/wild-birds-uk-decline) brings to attention the shocking plight of these defenseless animals.

   Many European farmland birds have been affected, such as Turtle Doves, Lapwings, and Skylarks. Since 1970, populations of all of these birds in Europe have significantly decreased. This is believed to be primarily caused by the destruction of their habitats as more and more of the forests bordering farmlands are cut down. Another serious issue arises from the extermination of their prey, mainly through pesticides. Unable to find food or shelter, these birds are all slowly going extinct.

  The concern isn't that nothing is being done to protect these birds, and in fact there are already regulations in place regarding the protection of their habitats, but that not enough is being done. While the birds' rate of decline has been dropping since the measures were put into effect, their numbers are still dropping, making these species grow ever closer to extinction.

  One issue is that enforcing these regulations requires money, and as Martin Harper (a conservation director at RSPB, a bird charity) says, "The decline has slowed... but if we are all going to... bring wildlife back to our countryside, then the funding must be there." He is pointing out that things are not going to continue to improve unless people continue to support the cause.

  This relates to what we recently learned about DDT. DDT is a persistent organic pollutant, which has been found to cause shell thinning in eggs.This may have led to part of the birds' original decline, as DDT is a pesticide that was used, among other places, on farms. This also happened in The Lorax, where the geese were driven out by all of the smog surrounding the factory. 

  The original article isn't very controversial, but it does contain a strong sense of urgency, as the birds are going to be gone before long if we don't do something to stop it. I think that this could become a huge problem, because with no birds on the farms, insects would flourish, driving farmers to use more insecticides. The increased use of such compounds would cause more pollution in oceans, which would ultimately affect us even here in the United States. One thing that I would like to know, is whether or not this is an issue here in the United States.