Sales of pesticides in France have climbed steadily.
Credit: Alain Jocard/AFP
Bird populations across the French countryside have fallen by a third over the last decade and a half, researchers have said.
Dozens of species have seen their numbers decline, in some cases by two-thirds, the scientists said in a pair of studies – one national in scope and the other covering a large agricultural region in central France. (emphasis added)
“The situation is catastrophic,” said Benoit Fontaine, a conservation biologist at France’s National Museum of Natural History and co-author of one of the studies.
The common white throat, the ortolan bunting, the Eurasian skylark and other once-ubiquitous species have all fallen off by at least a third, according a detailed, annual census initiated at the start of the century.
A migratory song bird, the meadow pipit, has declined by […]
The same is happening here in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
My husband and I have been feeding the birds for years and we noticed this winter that the customer population at our bird feeders has dropped significantly. We used to pour out at least 300 or more pounds of bird seed into our bird feeders per winter. This winter, we have poured less than 100 pounds. Birds that should be flocking to our feeders right now at the Spring Equinox are nowhere to be seen.
The same thing has happened with our pollinators. Our yard used to be a haven for all kinds of pollinators. In the last 3 years they have all but disappeared, and this past year, I noticed that the dragonfly population plummeted as well.