Three Billion Birds Lost: The Disappearance Of North American Birds and What We Can Do About It
March 24, 2021, via Zoom The recent publication in Science documented the loss of nearly 3 billion birds from the North American avifauna; loss of abundance is pervasive across biomes, taxonomic groups, and among common and familiar species. The response to this news across wildlife agencies, the media, and the public has been remarkable, signaling that this may be a “moment in time” for bird conservation, similar to the response publication of Silent Spring more than 50 years ago. Ken Rosenberg, lead author on the study, describes changes in the continent’s birdlife, based on long-term monitoring surveys and weather radar. He also points to successful models of conservation and a set of simple actions that all of us can take to protect birds and their habitats. Ken describes a new scientific approach to identifying the causes of declines and advancing species along the road to recovery—a reimagining of bird conservation in the 21st century. The speaker: Ken Rosenberg works at the interface between research, conservation planning, and environmental policy, in a joint position at the Cornell Lab and American Bird Conservancy. His primary role is to synthesize and interpret research on the status and distribution of bird populations, and to engage with wildlife managers and policy-makers to ensure that conservation decisions are based on the best available science. Ken represents the Cornell Lab on the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) U.S. Committee and is the lead scientist on NABCI’s annual State of the Birds Reports. In addition, he studies the critical role that stopover sites and habitats play for migratory birds after they travel south of the U.S. to Central and South America. Dr. Rosenberg is a lifelong birder and attended Cornell University. He then conducted research on desert riparian birds for his Masters degree at Arizona State University, and on foraging specialization in Amazonian birds for his PhD at Louisiana State University. He came full circle back to Cornell, where he’s been applying his bird knowledge to conserve species and habitats for the past 25 years.
