We share our world with birds. And what affects them, affects us. Birds are losing their habitat, dying in large from disease, and ingesting toxic chemicals. And if we think it is just birds that are being affected by those environmental changes, that's naive. We live in these places, too.
In Michigan Public's new documentary, The Bird Connection, environment reporter Lester Graham and editor Rebecca Williams visited the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York to find out why. They headed to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to check on piping plovers and hear from scientists with the Sault St. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians about why we should pay attention to what birds can teach us. They stepped inside a wildlife lab to find out why lead is still a problem for birds – including bald eagles. And we meet a falcon in Kalamazoo, Michigan, who Williams was happy to find out is named…Rebecca.
You can listen to the documentary in full through the audio player above, or you can listen to it in its three distinct parts in the posts below. The posts will be publishing through May 30, so not all posts may be available at your time of viewing.
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This is part one of a three part series on the reasons behind declining bird populations and how they are connected to humans. -
The second part in a series about waterbirds in the Great Lakes region and the pollutants that are contributing to their population declines. -
The loss and degradation of wetlands has had a profound effect on many birds. There are efforts to restore them, but the rate of loss is greater. -
Audubon Great Lakes members held an advocacy day for the first time in Michigan. Wetlands topped the agenda, but was just one item in a list to improve the environment.
