LETTER: Keep birds in mind when it comes to circle of life

BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please contain your daytime cell phone quantity and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The subsequent letter from Barrie resident Gwen Petreman is about chicken populations. 
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Scientists estimate that there are between 50 billion and 400 billion birds in the entire world. The number of species is estimated to be about 9,700.

In this article in Canada, we have 696 species of birds. We have 501 species of birds just here in Ontario. The most frequent bird in the planet is the domestic rooster.

Around 75 for every cent of wild birds are living for fewer than a 12 months. The bigger the chicken, the extra probably it is to reside longer.

Each and every 12 months, trees are attacked by billions of insects. Often, the bug attack is so frustrating the trees will die. The good news is, insect-taking in birds will occur to their rescue.  

Scientists tell us that birds consume close to 500 million tons of insects, which include 15 million larvae every solitary year.

Farmers have discovered if they plant fruit orchards in close proximity to woodlots, the birds from the woodlot will devour most of the bugs ready to attack the fruit on the trees. Birds need to have trees, but it turns out trees require birds as well.

As birds fly all about the forests and somewhere else, the tree seeds in their poop are dropped on the forest floor.  Employing the fertilizer from the poop, the seeds will swiftly sprout into a tree sapling.

Birds’ importance in dispersing tree seeds and other individuals can’t be overstated. An astounding 92 for each cent of woody plants are developed from the seeds dropped by birds in their poop.

Each 12 months, billions of animals are killed by automobiles and left on streets or roadsides. Fortunate for us, vultures attack the bodies of the dead animals and try to eat every little thing but the bones. The acid in the vultures’ stomachs destroys germs, spores and harmful toxins. The acid is so corrosive that they can digest carcasses infected with anthrax. 

In countries where vultures have declined thanks to disease, feral dogs have taken above the part played by vultures.

We want to maintain vultures healthier as feral puppies spread rabies, which is fatal if still left untreated.

Can you guess what is the greatest risk to birds today? 

If you guessed buildings/houses or automobiles, or wind turbines, or pesticides, or power strains, or searching you would be erroneous. Cats are liable for killing an astounding 196 million birds each and each one year in Canada — more than power strains, residences, pesticides, vehicles, hunting, and structures blended.

Domestic cats destroy over 200,000 birds every day — a minimal over 8,000 birds every solitary hour of the day.

As well as killing birds, cost-free-vary cats, together with pet cats, cause unimaginable harm to our fragile ecosystem by competing with native predators for foodstuff, carrying illnesses to other species, and mating with native wildcats.

Cats are an example of an introduction of an invasive species wreaking havoc on our ecosystem. 

Gwen Petreman
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Barrie
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