Image: Blackpoll warbler (one of the declining species), © Simon Barrette CC BY-SA 3.0 via wikimedia.org
You saw the headline (and maybe you read the study): three billion lost birds. Three billion fewer birds in North America than there were in 1970. It’s eye-catching, isn’t it? There are (as is usually true) some reasons to interpret the result with nuance, but that isn’t my point today – Brian McGill has covered that with admirable thoroughness over on Dynamic Ecology. Instead, I’ll dig briefly into what the study told me about my own ignorance. Three billion is the change. How many birds remain – and could I have answered that question before seeing the study? Continue reading