Avian Beauty Podcast #17
08/23/19 • 2 min
Why should birds matter to you or me? Simple - birds can save us - but only if we can save them first.
Beyond culture, color and the enrichment that they offer all of us, birds offer practical help. My goal this week is to get you thinking about all of this and why birds matter.
Birds offer something for every constituency. They offer ecosystem services. Because they are an “umbrella” species, their protection ensures good habitat for many others.
Birds disperse seeds, helping to revegetate habitats and allow the survival of many species. They even protect drinking water by preventing erosion.
Do you like flowers? Thank the birds. Hummingbirds pollinate individual flowers, flowering shrubs and blooming trees. Just think if YOU had to do all that work.
They also help slow the spread of disease by eating carrion. Those vultures may be ugly, but they are saving lives.
Birds consume 98% of the most harmful pests, giving farmers a chance to grow the crops we all depend on.
They also directly stimulate the economy. According to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, birding created more than one million new jobs. There are at least 45 million birders in the USA, contributing $80 billion to the US annually.
Birds have important cultural relationships with humans. In addition to occasionally being someone's pet, birds have a role in folklore and in certain religions. Commanders used birds during time of war to communicate with troops. Birds are used to find food. Birds inspire art and design. Their feathers are used to produce more than 100 products.
Beyond all these practical matters, birds bring us song and beauty which both nourish our souls.
They face lots of challenges and more than 1,200 species face extinction over the next century which is alarming. Because as birds go - so do we.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Avian Beauty. Thanks for listening.
Be sure to visit avianbeauty.com for more bird inspiration and information and please consider subscribing (for free) to our blog and podcast. I’m Scott Bourne. Happy birding.
If you’d like to show your appreciation for this site, please consider the purchase of prints or gifts featuring Scott’s bird art, visit scottbourne.photos for more information.
Why should birds matter to you or me? Simple - birds can save us - but only if we can save them first.
Beyond culture, color and the enrichment that they offer all of us, birds offer practical help. My goal this week is to get you thinking about all of this and why birds matter.
Birds offer something for every constituency. They offer ecosystem services. Because they are an “umbrella” species, their protection ensures good habitat for many others.
Birds disperse seeds, helping to revegetate habitats and allow the survival of many species. They even protect drinking water by preventing erosion.
Do you like flowers? Thank the birds. Hummingbirds pollinate individual flowers, flowering shrubs and blooming trees. Just think if YOU had to do all that work.
They also help slow the spread of disease by eating carrion. Those vultures may be ugly, but they are saving lives.
Birds consume 98% of the most harmful pests, giving farmers a chance to grow the crops we all depend on.
They also directly stimulate the economy. According to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, birding created more than one million new jobs. There are at least 45 million birders in the USA, contributing $80 billion to the US annually.
Birds have important cultural relationships with humans. In addition to occasionally being someone's pet, birds have a role in folklore and in certain religions. Commanders used birds during time of war to communicate with troops. Birds are used to find food. Birds inspire art and design. Their feathers are used to produce more than 100 products.
Beyond all these practical matters, birds bring us song and beauty which both nourish our souls.
They face lots of challenges and more than 1,200 species face extinction over the next century which is alarming. Because as birds go - so do we.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Avian Beauty. Thanks for listening.
Be sure to visit avianbeauty.com for more bird inspiration and information and please consider subscribing (for free) to our blog and podcast. I’m Scott Bourne. Happy birding.
If you’d like to show your appreciation for this site, please consider the purchase of prints or gifts featuring Scott’s bird art, visit scottbourne.photos for more information.
Previous Episode
Avian Beauty Podcast #16
What's the most popular bird in the United States? Well if you guessed Bald Eagle - you'd be right. But what about the second most popular bird? Believe it or not it is the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus).
There's a reason that the Snowy Owl is so popular. Firstly, raptors in general and owls specifically are some of the most popular birds worldwide and have been the subject of attention by poets, authors and artists going back to the cave paintings in Europe.
These owls are often used in movies and other popular culture to depict wisdom or strength. (Remember Hedwig in Harry Potter?) Those are admirable qualities that most people can identify with.
And the snowy owl has other qualities that make it attractive. Their white color makes them striking and easy to identify.
Another reason that people like snowy owls is that they are diurnal - you can see them at all hours of the day. The reclusive nature of most owls makes them hard to adore. Snowy's are considered more approachable.
My favorite thing about snowy owls is that there are many stories, most of them true, about the feats of these magnificent birds.
No less than John James Audubon said he once saw a snowy owl lying at the edge of an ice hole where it waited for fish and caught them with its feet.
Another story about snowy owls tracks one young bird that flew from its nest in Victoria Island in the Canadian Arctic and flew all the way to Hudson Bay.
I hope you've enjoyed this episode of Avian Beauty. Thanks for listening.
Be sure to visit avianbeauty.com for more bird inspiration and information and please consider subscribing (for free) to our blog and podcast. I’m Scott Bourne. Happy birding.
If you'd like to show your appreciation for this site, please consider the purchase of prints or gifts featuring Scott's bird art, visit scottbourne.photos for more information.
Next Episode
Again Beauty Podcast #18
Last week we talked about why birds matter. But some people have birds that they just don't like. What are some of the least popular birds in the USA?
It may seem unusual to find someone who hates birds of any kind but it's common to at least dislike certain bird species. Most of us who are birders spend our time looking for our favorites and don't give much thought to the species we don't enjoy. But there are people who really don't like some birds. Call it a bird phobia - still others just find themselves disinterested in certain species.
On the least favorite list would be Couch's Kingbird (a bird that is very successful in south Texas but doesn't travel to other part's of the country and therefore isn't very popular. The MacGillivray’s warbler is near the bottom of the list because it is very shy. It skulks under thick vegetation most of the time. You will most likely never see one in your lifetime unless you are really searching for one.
The European Starling is universally disliked because it is one of the most prevalent species in the USA and it's an invasive species. It's very destructive to native wildlife. For instance, these birds can damage crops and their waste can spread invasive seeds and spread disease.
One more unpopular bird is the Lucy's warbler. It's a small, dull-colored homebody, that hates social interaction. Those aren't necessarily factors that make birds popular.
Another bird that is low on the list - and I confess, one of my personal least favorite is the obnoxious plain chachalaca, a pheasant-like bird with ugly brown feathers. Its favorite activity is hopping up into a tree and screaming at the top of its lungs. At best these birds are a nuisance.
I hope you've enjoyed this episode of Avian Beauty. Thanks for listening.
Be sure to visit avianbeauty.com for more bird inspiration and information and please consider subscribing (for free) to our blog and podcast. I’m Scott Bourne. Happy birding.
If you'd like to show your appreciation for this site, please consider the purchase of prints or gifts featuring Scott's bird art, visit scottbourne.photos for more information.
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