First frogs start dying from a mysterious fungus, then bees begin dying off too. Now it’s birds (NOTE: Subscribers can still listen to this show)–wild bird populations in the Northwest and Alaska are getting beak deformations that make it impossible for them to eat. Does this have something to do with climate change?read more
Bird droppings don’t just mess up your car, they can also give you a superbug (which is why you should avoid driving behind trucks carrying chickens).
If birds could talk, they’d tell you to beware of seagulls as well: Migratory seagulls carry antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria to Portuguese islands which are a protected wildlife habitat.
In humans, superbugs are caused by overexposure to antibiotics, but this isn’t how seagulls are getting them. Instead, they are eating human garbage and catching them from people (for a change).
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(No, not that kind!) In 2003, a massive heat wave struck and killed some 30,000 people in Europe in an area where heat was not considered a major threat. Similar mass die-offs occur in wild birds and some mammals during heat waves, but unlike humans, birds may not be able to take shelter or find fresh water in order to survive devastating heat. Sometimes science is RIGHT, and if birds could talk, what would they tell us about the changing climate?
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And it’s NOT related to the oil spill! – If we could talk to the birds, what would they tell us? They would say, “Help, we’re shrinking!” US songbirds are getting smaller, becoming lighter in weight with shorter wings. This has happened in the last 50 years, which leads scientists to conclude that it’s a result of climate change. Biologists call this “Bergman’s Rule,” which states that animals tend to be smaller in warmer climates. Even in the same area, animals living at higher elevations (such as on mountains) are smaller than the same animals living down below. In the case of birds, this doesn’t seem to be harmful to them.
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