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PHOTOGRAPHS BY LINCOLN KARIM, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
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By Rachael Bale, ANIMALS Executive Editor
We all saw those stories last year about wildlife reclaiming the land amid coronavirus lockdowns. Some were true; some not so much. But we knew it’d be a while before we could say just how significant they really were.
Scientists in North America have been particularly interested in how birds responded. That’s because two years ago, research showed that the continent has lost three billion birds since 1970—mainly because of pesticide use and habitat loss, but also from collisions with glass windows, cats, and other causes.
There’s been hope that one silver lining of the pandemic would be the positive ripple effects of the “anthropause”—last spring’s period of reduced traffic, air pollution, and noise. Now, the data are coming in, and it’s good news.
Using observations submitted to the popular eBird app, scientists discovered that 66 out of the 82 bird species they looked at changed their behavior during that time, Elizabeth Anne Brown reports. In particular, warblers and sparrows started taking advantage of human habitats within a matter of weeks, coming closer to major roads and airports than ever before. That’s especially good news because these two groups account for nearly half of the bird decline since 1970, says study author Nicola Koper, a professor of conservation biology. More habitat gives these beleaguered birds a better chance of survival—if only for this season. (Pictured, a red-tailed hawk leaving its nest in New York City, above; gliding over a city street, below.)
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