Birds have an intrinsic and planetary value. Plus they‘re pretty.
Have you heard? It’s the year of the bird! In honor of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, National Audubon Society, National Geographic, BirdLife International, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and other partners have launched a yearlong celebration of birds.
In 1918, the United States and Great Britain for Canada entered into an agreement making it illegal for anyone to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid permit issued pursuant to Federal regulations. This is one of the first U.S. conservation laws ever authorized. In 1938, Mexico signed on as well.
The MBTA is an important tool. For example, it’s illegal to possess an Eagle feather without a permit for religious purposes. Thanks MBTA. When the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred killing many birds, Exxon was fined. Thanks MBTA. This act has effectively protected songbirds for 100 years.
Presently a relaxing of enforcement interpretation will allow more bird deaths. For example, industry will be excused from putting protective netting over toxic ponds now causing so-called incidental bird deaths. Also the Arctic Wildlife Refuge has been approved for oil and gas drilling. More than 200 bird species depend on that land.
As weather warms, spring migration has begun. Our area sits on the Eastern flyway. Sandhill Cranes have arrived in Birchwood. A Brainerd Levee walk yields views of migrating waterfowl plus some that just think Tennessee is the place to be all year round.
Songbirds show up in their colorful spring plumage. We hear cheery songs as they vie for mates and establish territory. Robins have become subdivision lovers as lawns provide earthworms opportunities.
My granddaughter once asked me while she was helping fill birdfeeders, “Why do you like birds so much?” I answered, “Because it’s a wild thing that you can get to come to you.”
But more than that, birds are indicators of planet health. And they are incredulous marvels of life. A ruby-throated hummingbird, the weight of a nickel, can hover, fly backwards, and make an annual round trip over the Gulf of Mexico to Central America.
The Carolina Wren, 5.5 inches long and weighing in at one ounce, produces an amazingly loud sound. The white-breasted nuthatch perches upside down on a tree trunk hacking on seeds it has lodged in bark crevices.
Broadwing Hawks catch thermals along Walden’s Ridge. During migrations one can see warblers and other birds just passing through.
We now find that birds are smart too. Recently PBS aired National Geographic ‘s “Bird Brain”. Research shows that while birds obviously have smaller brains than humans, their neurons are packed more closely together.
Just as psychologist Jean Piaget identified levels at which children learn behaviors, we find that birds too can delay gratification, respond to eye signals, transfer knowledge, recognize individual faces, have empathy, plan ahead, cooperate in social groups, and solve complex problems. Who knew? Calling someone a birdbrain is a compliment.
Birds do matter. Protect them from threats primarily cats. Collisions with buildings such as UTC’s library glass wall, pesticide exposure, and loss of habitat due to urban sprawl and fragmentation present dangers too.
Set up birdfeeding. Look for birds wherever you venture even if you don’t know their names.
Take up birdwatching. Contribute to bird research by participating in the Audubon Society’s Great Backyard Bird Count February 16-19 for 15 minutes each day. Learn how at the website.
Join the local Tennessee Ornithological Society. Attend their Spring Symposium workshops and walks coming up April 20-22. The evening dinner speaker on April 21 is Dr. Christopher Haney well known for his Defenders of Wildlife blog.
Let’s celebrate birds every year! They can entertain and teach us. As a dead canary signaled coal mine danger, so too birds tell us in which ways life is changing and whether it’s exuberant or losing its complexity and sustainability. It’s good to pay attention.
Sandra Kurtz is an environmental community activist, chair of the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway Alliance, and is presently working through the Urban Century Institute. You can visit her website to learn more at enviroedu.net