Superhero Birds: 4 amazing facts about the ecosystem services birds provide

• 400-500 million tons of insects per year

Tinnitus, woodpeckers, blackbirds, starlings and other birds actually save our forests, fruit trees and parks. Many birds feed on insects. To determine how significant the impact of birds is, scientists isolated individual trees or entire groups of them from birds, and saw that where there are no birds, the number of insects damaging trees can increase by up to 90%.
Insectivorous birds around the world consume 400-500 million tons of insects per year. They regulate the number of insects not only in forests, but also on agricultural lands. Recent studies have shown that if birds were not allowed into the fields, the number of pests and the damage they caused was greater, and the harvest was lower. Therefore, to increase the number of birds and yield, it is recommended to leave semi-natural areas among the fields.

• 5 to 18 rodents per day

Buzzards, harriers, hawks and many others from the hawk (Accipitridae) and falcon (Falconidae) families, as well as owls (Strigidae) play an important role in reducing the number of rodents – especially mice and voles. Birds of prey can consume 5 to 18 rodents per day. An idea of ​​the appetite of some of them can be given by calculating the amount of food eaten per year. Thus, an Australian barn owl hunted 1,407 mice, 143 rats, 7 bats, 5 rabbits, 375 sparrows, 23 starlings, 24 various small birds, 4 lizards, 174 frogs, 25 large moths.

• They plant new forests and are engineers of nature

1. Birds are the best spreaders of plant seeds:
2. when they feed (seeds fall when they are collected),
3. when they make reserves and forget about them,
4. when they feed (the juicy parts of the fruits of elderberry, viburnum, buckthorn, honeysuckle, common yew, narrow-leaved hogweed, sweet cherry, bird cherry and others are digested, and the seeds pass through the digestive tract intact).

The nuthatch, preparing reserves for the winter, spreads the fruits of cedar pine and hazel.
The transfer of acorns by jays from under the canopy of oak forests to other places, usually more open, contributes to the formation of new forest communities.

• “Sowing” devastated lands

Birds shape landscapes. The role of birds as an ecological factor in the restoration of wasteland, where birds play a leading role in the “seeding” of such areas with plants, is particularly valuable.

In Europe, about 20 million birds disappear every year

The decline in bird numbers is staggering. Since the 17th century, about 120 species of birds have become extinct. Currently, about 1,200 species are threatened with extinction due to human activity, despite efforts to preserve them.
The number of half of all bird species on earth is declining. The number of birds in Europe decreases by about 20 million individuals every year.
Birds are under threat, and therefore the ecosystem services they provide are also under threat.

How can we help?

• feed birds in winter, in extreme cold;
• hang artificial nesting boxes;
• behave quietly in the forest (especially during the bird breeding season);
• do not allow burning of dry vegetation residues in bird resting places;
• limit the use of pesticides for processing trees and vegetables, especially in spring;
• do not mow grass during nesting of birds that build nests on the ground;
• keep hunters (domestic cats) under control, etc.

Birds are also affected by war. Physically destroyed habitats, degraded objects of the nature reserve fund that have fallen into occupation or a combat zone, explosions and heavy equipment, loss of migration corridors, etc. All this significantly affects wildlife.