If you’ve noticed some strangers in your neighborhood recently — ones with wings, feathers and beaks — consider yourself lucky. According to the American Bird Conservancy, World Migratory Bird Day — which was celebrated last month — was the height of the annual spring migration as millions of birds make their way north to nest and raise their chicks throughout the Western Hemisphere. While the loss of habitat is a big problem for birds, so is the loss of insects, especially due to the use of pesticides to kill them.
That’s why this year, American Bird Conservancy’s theme will be “insects,” an important source of food for 96% of all terrestrial birds in North America — especially for young migratory birds that need a steady diet of protein-rich insects, like caterpillars, to help them grow and fuel up for migration. American Bird Conservancy is asking bird lovers across the country to take simple steps to transform their gardening practices to protect insects and the birds that eat them. Choose eco-friendly garden products Pesticides are big contributors to declining insect populations, and they don’t just affect insects, but birds and other animals, too.
Among the worst pesticides, says the American Bird Conservancy, is a group called neonicotinoids, or neonics, that are so toxic that a single seed coated in the chemical can kill a songbird. Neonics are banned in Europe but they’re popular in the United States, and found in an array of products like in.
