Why You Should Care About Birds

Biodiversity ensures functioning, sustainable ecosystems that supply all life on Earth with the oxygen, food, clean air and water they need to survive, including to humans, and create natural disease and pest control. Birds comprise a large number of species with important roles to play in habitats throughout the world, adding to biodiversity. Many birds are considered keystone species because their presence or disappearance from an ecosystem strongly affects other species by how they are connected through the web of life.

Insects form an important, fundamental part of the web of life, but when it comes to insect pests the more wild birds you attract around your yard, walkways and garden, the fewer you'll have in these areas, reducing bites, especially from ticks and insect damage to your plants. Birds generally love to eat insects and will scan every inch of ground and branch in the area around a frequented feeder to find them, over time making the area relatively free of ticks and insects that would otherwise bite you or damage your plants. Birds don't just eat what you put in the bird feeder. They also work on the insects in the area around it.

Many plants need birds to eat and carry their seeds to other places. The birds drop them off in their poop or just bury them outright intending to use them later, where the seeds eventually grow and take root, and help the plant species survive. For example, blue jays are credited with seeding the geat oak tree forests which once existed not too long ago across North America until modern man arrived somewhat recently and continues to this day to cut most of it down.

Birds help show us we're not the only life forms on this planet. There are other beings who share it with us and they encourage us to have the empathy and perspective to see that.

The more you watch them, look out for them and see how they live their lives, the more you may realize birds exibit the same kind of qualities that were once thought only unique to humans. They exibit emotions, such as happyness, fear, love and care for one another in their flock (and for humans that repectfully care about them), and are often highly social. Birds have good memory allowing them to have deep, meaningful relationships just like humans, often mating for life and having lasting friendships. Birds as well as a lot of other wildlife also show a high level of intelligence and a learning ability that shows self awareness, abstract thought and self reflecton. As research in this area is showing, you don't have to be human to be a person.

Setting up a bird feeder, watching it, keeping outdoors lights sheilded downward, warm appearing and to a minimum, planting and saving the trees on your property, keeping your nearby groundwater, standing water, wetlands and waterways free of garbage and pollution and keeping non-native pets like dogs and cats under control so your birds and other wildlife friends can be comfortable, safe, have needed habitat, clean water and a place to perch, making your yard more friendly to birds and other wildlife, and caring for the wellbeing and future of your wildlife friends is an easy way to connect with Nature and start to be a good steward of this planet we all share.

This is a big one and where all of the above reasons that have to do with our own character and how we perceive birds need to come into play. As scientists as well as ordinary people all over the world are seeing, the state of the world from an ecological stand point is getting bad with man's continued detruction of our planet, and birds need us to stop destroying their environments so they and a lot of other life forms, ultimately including us, can continue to have a decent life and even exist! One million plant, insect and animal species, including birds are in danger of extinction because of what human beings are doing to the planet. Please support and protect Nature areas and undeveloped land around you and prevent these places from being developed and polluted. Save Nature before it's too late for many birds, wildlife and even us.