5 Things You Can Do To Help!
While climate change and habitat loss & degradation are key factors in the decline of our birds (See State of the Worlds Birds) there are a number of things that we, as individuals can do TODAY to help slow the decline:
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Make Windows Safer, Day and Night
The challenge: Up to 1 billion birds are estimated to die each year after hitting windows in North America.
The cause: By day, birds perceive reflections in glass as habitat they can fly into. By night, migratory birds drawn in by city lights are at high risk of colliding with buildings.
The solution: Please take immediate action by visiting our dedicated WINDOW STRIKES page
- Keep Cats Indoors
The challenge: Cats are estimated to kill more than 2.6 billion birds annually in North America alone. This is the #1 human-caused reason for the loss of birds, aside from habitat loss.
The cause: Cats can make great pets, but more than 110 million feral and pet cats now roam in North America. These nonnative predators instinctively hunt and kill birds even when well fed.
The solution: Save birds and keep cats healthy by visiting our dedicated BIRDS AND CATS page.
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Eat Organic
The challenge: More than 1 billion pounds of pesticides are applied in North America each year. The continent’s most widely used insecticides, called neonicotinoids or “neonics,” are lethal to birds and to the insects that birds consume. Common weed killers used around homes, such as 2, 4-D and glyphosate (used in Roundup), can be toxic to wildlife, and glyphosate has been declared a probable human carcinogen.
The cause: Pesticides that are toxic to birds can harm them directly through contact, or if they eat contaminated seeds or prey. Pesticides can also harm birds indirectly by reducing the number of available insects, which birds need to survive.
The solution: Choose organic food – a healthy choice for you, your family and birds. Please visit our dedicated THE NEED TO GROW page.
- Protect Our Planet From Plastics
The challenge: It’s estimated that 4,900 million metric tons of plastic have accumulated in landfills and in our environment worldwide, polluting our oceans and harming wildlife such as seabirds, whales, and turtles that mistakenly eat plastic, or become entangled in it.
The cause: Plastic takes more than 400 years to degrade, and 91% of plastics created are not recycled. Studies show that at least 80 seabird species ingest plastic, mistaking it for food. Cigarette lighters, toothbrushes, and other trash have been found in the stomachs of dead albatrosses.
The solution: Reduce your plastics: Avoid single-use plastics including bags, bottles, wraps, and disposable utensils. It’s far better to choose reusable items, but if you do have disposable plastic, be sure to recycle it.
- Drink Coffee That’s Good for Birds
The challenge: Three-quarters of the world’s coffee farms grow their plants in the sun, destroying forests that birds and other wildlife need for food and shelter. Sun-grown coffee also often requires using environmentally harmful pesticides and fertilizers. On the other hand, shade-grown coffee preserves a forest canopy that helps migratory birds survive the winter.
The cause: Too few consumers are aware of the problems of sun-grown coffee. Those who are aware may be reluctant to pay more for environmentally sustainable coffee.
The solution: Enjoy Bird Friendly® shade-grown coffee: It’s a win-win-win: it’s delicious, economically beneficial to coffee farmers, and helps more than 42 species of North American migratory songbirds that winter in coffee plantations, including orioles, warblers, and thrushes.
Bird Friendly® shade-grown coffee is available from all of these suppliers in Metro Vancouver
Bird Friendly® shade-grown coffee is available in Canada from Birds and Beans either in shop or by parcel post where they support growers who defend forest habitat in Latin America. Please Check this link out for more information on shade grown coffee.
Other Things You Can Do!
Check out the links below for other ways to help birds and the environment
