They are the soundtrack of our days, especially mornings, yet I wonder how many people just don't acknowledge the presence of birds?
It's coming to a time when we'll all need to ask, how important are birds? Research published this week shows that many birds are going to vanish as a result of climate change. This finding supports earlier research by the RSPB (Our Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds), which predicted some birds will simply run out land to support them as our climate changes.
A few birds may vanish from London. But they're the lucky ones that will have land north of here to provide the comfortable surroundings they need to survive. Birds in Scotland will find there's nothing between John O'Groats and the North Pole, and it's these birds that could die out.
The birds are being forced to move by climate change. They are early victims of the global effect of CO2 emissions into our atmosphere. At what point do we dial the removal company to head north I wonder?
So how much do we care if some birds vanish? Personally, I care a lot. Tackling climate change requires well thought through, long-term solutions. Solutions like this are not instant and are rarely cheap. King Canute demonstrated that mere humans cannot turn the tide. Halting the juggernaut of climate change may or may not be possible, but we believe we can, indeed MUST do something to lessen its impact.
Please don't take our birds for granted. They struggle to survive on a daily basis and have developed all sorts of tricks and techniques to help them get through bad spells. Some of them have the equivalent of superhero powers, like the ability to see things more than a mile away. Our world would be a poor and barren place without birds to fulfill the eco-services they provide us.
To help wildlife threatened by climate change we need to do more, much more. We need to:
The RSPB is advocating all of this, and more. But our voice is too quiet compared with the cacophony coming from those with vested interests in polluting industries and technology. Join us today so we can shout louder for wildlife. Call me on 020 7808 1260 and I'll go through the joining papers with you over the phone; before the dawn chorus becomes the dawn silence.