Following the climate crisis that has hit the planet in recent years, there has been a 30% decline in the number of birds worldwide. According to Yaron Cherka, KKL-JNF's chief birder, the main reason for this difficult phenomenon stems from the rapid changes in the global climate.
"This decline is a flashing warning light for the future of the other species on Earth, including that of humankind," Cherka said. The information is based on citizen science, on the basis of which several studies on birds in Europe and the United States have been published.
Biblical Eagle, Photo: Judith Goldfarb-Yanus
Cherke also said that due to climatic conditions, the migratory birds adapted to the situation through natural selection. "For years, countless different species have migrated in the spring to their nesting sites, so that just in time for the abundance of food in their nesting territories, the chicks will hatch from the eggs and the next generation can be produced."
Over the course of evolution, birds that knew how to migrate at the right time in order to reach nesting sites were able to reproduce and raise more chicks, which caused them to develop over many years. "It's an environment that was stable for many years, so what was appropriate 100 years ago is not necessarily appropriate today," he added.
Cerke concluded: "There are a variety of reasons for this, but apparently the rapid changes in the global climate have also made the timing of migration less successful."
Eagle, Photo: Judith Goldfarb-Yanus
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