Wild bird populations in the continental US and Canada have declined by almost 30% since 1970, representing a loss of nearly 3 billion birds. This loss astounded Cornell Lab of Ornithology conservation scientist, Ken Rosenberg. Rosenberg led an international team of scientists from seven institutions in the analysis of population trends for 529 bird species. The journal Science published the study results in September. 

A few years ago, while I was at the dentist’s, I looked out the window and saw a welcome distraction: a Northern Mockingbird landed on a telephone pole, jumped a few feet in the air, and then gracefully fluttered back down. It repeated this behavior for several minutes.