First bees disappear. Now Birds.

[greenman3610]

Last week, the Audubon Society released a new report describing the sharp and startling population decline of some of the most familiar and common birds in America: several kinds of sparrows, the Northern bobwhite, the Eastern meadowlark, the common grackle and the common tern. The average decline of the 20 species in the Audubon Society’s report is 68 percent.

Forty years ago, there were an estimated 31 million bobwhites. Now there are 5.5 million. Compared to the hundred-some condors presently in the wild, 5.5 million bobwhites sounds like a lot of birds. But what matters is the 25.5 million missing and the troubles that brought them down — and are all too likely to bring down the rest of them, too. So this is not extinction, but it is how things look before extinction happens.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/opinion/19tue4.html?_r=1&em&ex=1182484800&en=30a56b535efa087f&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin

[soothsayer]

1. Gee, we cut down all the trees and build on all the fields---who would

have imagined this could happen? Hmmm, that's a real headscratcher.

[Spoonman]

2. The number one factor

in the disappearance of the field sparrows, Northern bobwhites, Eastern meadowlarks and many other ground nesting birds, is the Fire Ant.

Fire Ants are also responsible for the decline of many reptiles and mammals.

[RebelOne]

6. Fire ants have disappeared where I live.

I take my dogs for a walk to a big field behind my house. A few years ago, there were fire ant mounds everywhere. Last year, they have disappeared. Not a one.

[greenissexy]

12. Global warming killing fire ants?

Wow. It's killing bees, birds, and frogs in horrific numbers so I guess it could do that. Just think how many lives have been ended in just that field alone. Locally, one acre plot was estimated to have over 40 million fire ants! In just that one acre, Bush is responsible for ending more lives than Hitler. There are about 37.024.100.960 total acres of land on Earth. You do the math as to the world-wide horror that is happening. Future generations will look back on us in shame.

[RebelOne]

21. And also, the black ants have disappeared.

Every spring and summer, I would be overwhelmed by black ants in the house. I didn't dare leave even a crumb of food in the kitchen. Now for the past 2 years, I have not even seen one ant.

[shanti]

23. hah

come to my house and you'll see plenty of ants! i swear that my development was built on a giant anthill!

[mainer]

38. Read DUST by Charles Pellegrino -- a scary novel about this scenario

I read it about 10 years ago. It's a novel about the insects suddenly disappearing, and then the birds ... and it presages the end of the world.

[Joe Fields]

19. Pesticides have had nothing to do with the alarming decline over the

last several decades? I would wager those over fire ants for the startling decline in numbers.

[AnneD]

27. And West Nile Virus

it has taken a toll too.

edited to add an apology to the other posters-typed first saw later. Distruction of habitat climate patters also play a role. I will saw this-I saw more robins nesting here than I ever have....they usually nest further north. They stayed put this year and that was a shocker.

[havocmom]

42. We don't seem to have a big fire ant problem in Montana but birds are declining.

:shrug:

[Frustratedlady]

3. I have noticed a marked decline in cardinals, blue jays and doves, as well.

Our yards are full of flowerbeds all along this block. The beds are usually full of butterflies, honey bees, bumblebees and birds. I have yet to see a honey bee, this summer. It is obvious that something is happening to the birds, as those were also prevalent. I can't recall the last time I saw a sparrow...they were always pests, so I don't miss them, but this article woke me up to the fact I hadn't seen them for a long time. Gee! Eliminate the birds and the bees and we've got a real problem on our hands.

[gatorboy]

7. You're right about the Cardinals and Blue Jays.

I can't remember the last time I saw one.

[TZ]

14. Blue Jays and Crows have been devastated by West Nile Virus

That virus is almost 100% lethal in those birds. The crow population where I live has been cut in half almost by WNV.

[brook]

4. I live in a bird sanctuary.

A few scant years ago, the afternoons were filled with their songs.Now, not so much. :(

[SpiralHawk]

5. "We don't want to hang with republicon chickenhawks" - honorable birds

"I mean, really, who wants to inhabit a planet ruled by republicon chickenhawk liars?" - Honorable Birds

[CrispyQ]

8. West Nile decimated the corvid population in my area.

The past two years we have started to see the return of Bluejays, but the Magpies & Ravens are no where near the numbers we had previously.

[TZ]

15. Same here

Crows are way down. Also a lot of Owls in particular have been killed by West Nile in this area (Maryland-Va-DC)

[JCMach1]

9. Silent Spring-- Someone should turn it into a feature film...

I'm afraid it's becoming reality...

[Uncle Joe]

32. I believe that's a good idea JCMach1.

:thumbsup:

[EFerrari]

10. Why can it never be aphids.

[unpossibles]

11. don't forget the frogs

they've been on the decline for some time now.

[Bitwit1234]

13. So there's no global warmning and no pollution huh.

[txaslftist]

16. GM insect resistant crops.

They kill the bugs that eat the crops, they compromise the immune systems of the bees that pollinate them and the birds don't get enough to eat.

But Monsanto makes millions!

Who cares about birds when you can have profits?

[TZ]

17. ummm song birds and migratory birds have had population issues for years

Long before GM crops have been introduced. In other words, there is no connection between the bird issues and Monsanto.:eyes:

[txaslftist]

18. Uh huh.

The crops that are killing bees have no connection to bird losses?

Well, the planet has been getting warmer for over a hundred years, too. I guess it's okay to get that big SUV that runs on burning tires, then.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

20. Have you got any evidence crops are killing the bees?

I mean, besides what you read in your horoscope.

[txaslftist]

26. Try this link

http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2007/04/08/collapsing-colonies-are-gm-crops-killing-bees/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spiegel.de%2Finternational%2Fworld%2F0%2C1518%2C473166%2C00.html&frame=true

[txaslftist]

29. Apart from my horoscope, there's this study...

Haefeker recently sent a researcher at the CCD Working Group some data from a bee study that he has long felt shows a possible connection between genetic engineering and diseases in bees.



The study in question is a small research project conducted at the University of Jena from 2001 to 2004. The researchers examined the effects of pollen from a genetically modified maize variant called “Bt corn” on bees. A gene from a soil bacterium had been inserted into the corn that enabled the plant to produce an agent that is toxic to insect pests. The study concluded that there was no evidence of a “toxic effect of Bt corn on healthy honeybee populations.” But when, by sheer chance, the bees used in the experiments were infested with a parasite, something eerie happened. According to the Jena study, a “significantly stronger decline in the number of bees” occurred among the insects that had been fed a highly concentrated Bt poison feed.

According to Hans-Hinrich Kaatz, a professor at the University of Halle in eastern Germany and the director of the study, the bacterial toxin in the genetically modified corn may have “altered the surface of the bee’s intestines, sufficiently weakening the bees to allow the parasites to gain entry — or perhaps it was the other way around. We don’t know.”

[TZ]

24. Some ACTUAL facts about bees

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19212480/
And here in Maryland we have had some of the worst bird die offs from things like West Nile Virus.
Try actually using a real FACT sometime instead of a paranoid rant with no scientific reality.

On edit; a lot of these birds are eating things like fruit and seeds and worms, not all eat insects which makes your little theory bunk! There are plenty of insects in this country as well. Geez.

[txaslftist]

28. Here's a pull from internet surfing to bolster my paranoia...

Haefeker recently sent a researcher at the CCD Working Group some data from a bee study that he has long felt shows a possible connection between genetic engineering and diseases in bees.


Monsanto’s bt Corn. It’s caused
controversy the world over. Could it
be a bee killer too?
The study in question is a small research project conducted at the University of Jena from 2001 to 2004. The researchers examined the effects of pollen from a genetically modified maize variant called “Bt corn” on bees. A gene from a soil bacterium had been inserted into the corn that enabled the plant to produce an agent that is toxic to insect pests. The study concluded that there was no evidence of a “toxic effect of Bt corn on healthy honeybee populations.” But when, by sheer chance, the bees used in the experiments were infested with a parasite, something eerie happened. According to the Jena study, a “significantly stronger decline in the number of bees” occurred among the insects that had been fed a highly concentrated Bt poison feed.

According to Hans-Hinrich Kaatz, a professor at the University of Halle in eastern Germany and the director of the study, the bacterial toxin in the genetically modified corn may have “altered the surface of the bee’s intestines, sufficiently weakening the bees to allow the parasites to gain entry — or perhaps it was the other way around. We don’t know.”

[dysfunctional press]

31. no link...?

nt

[txaslftist]

33. I'm generally opposed to links. I figure you got google.

That said, the link is posted above as well.

[dysfunctional press]

35. without a link there's no credibility to the post...

you could easily have just typed it all out yourself.

and where is the link you mentioned...? still not seeing it.

[txaslftist]

43. It's under the post that says "here's a link"

I guess expecting you to be able to find that would be like expecting you to be able to use google.

[txaslftist]

30. Your "ACTUAL FACTS" is an article that says it's "Likely" ....

...that the die off was caused by weather?

I guess your citing someone elses best guess as to the cause trumps the actual research study I posted.

[TZ]

41. as for your research...

there are plenty of quack researchers in this country. There is plenty of data showing that bee deaths are due to MULTIPLE issues--including weather, mites, and possibly pesticides. Also did you know that africanized bees don't suffer from CCD? And before you start on this topic there are many beekeepers who are NOW keeping and using (to some extent) africanized bees. If it was GM crops they would be suffering the same problems and they are not, in fact they are THRIVING. Only the european honeybee (which is actually not native here either) is suffering CCD. Nor are other pollinators suffering-, bumblebees etc...

[Javaman]

22. You know what follows right?

no sex...

no more birds and the bees...

Okay, I'll shut up now.

[dysfunctional press]

36. that's IT!!! it's a neocon/fundy whackjob conspiracy....

wipe out the birds and the bees, and those abstinence programs will finally start to WORK! :crazy:

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Book title. Silent Spring

yep it's comming

[TX-RAT]

34. 31 million bob whites

I wonder how they came to that conclusion? Did they do a head count? Bob Whites population rise and fall in tremendous numbers, due to a variety of cause's. Too much rain, too little rain, to cold, too hot, disease, and ants. Fire Ants in particular have caused the most damage. Since quail nest on the ground, their hatch lings are vulnerable to ant attack as soon as the shell opens. On my place the quail seem to go in cycles, 1 year it's 70-30 blues to bobs, the next it may be just the opposite. 8 years ago we had an out break of Ulcerative Enteritis. It took out almost 95% of the quail and about 80% of the turkey. Both have since rebounded and we now have a healthy population. A study done at A&M found that quail have about a 75% mortality rate per season.

[pitohui]

37. quail haven't rebounded in louisiana, glad to hear they survive in texas

bobwhites went from being a common bird to being almost extinct in my parish, maybe they are extinct since katrina, i don't know, just know that i haven't heard them

i'm glad they rebound in texas, although this takes away our theory of why they disappeared here (fire ants) -- they have even disappeared completely from areas where there is no hunting, such as subdivisions where they still could be seen and heard in the early 1990s

i don't know what is going on but something is

keep in mind, the former most common bird in the world, the house sparrow, the symbol of the english cockney, is now virtually extinct in its london home, you won't find it there, it's gone

there is "stuff" going on and the birds are paying the price of our carelessness

[TX-RAT]

40. The majority of the quail hunters on my place are from LA.

From what i here from them, it's fire ants thats caused the demise of the bob whites in LA. My place is in west TX, we don't have a fire ant problem here, too cold and dry. East TX is having the same problem as LA, fire ants kill the chicks before they can even break free from the egg's.

[originalpckelly]

39. "Dad what are the birds and the bees?"

"Well son, both do not exist anymore. Bees were flying insects that used to pollinate flowers and make a sweet treat called honey, they also kept big houses where thousands and thousands of bees lived.

Birds were flying animals that used to sing beautiful songs, make nests, and raise cute little baby birdies."