Post #18 Worrying About Birds… Insects… & Now Trees

I am not a professional gardener; I have been a hobby gardener. Following are: my own beginner layperson thoughts/conclusions after some of my internet research; & some context that I read. You might find these useful as a springboard for observing your own neighbourhood; I go for walks around mine almost every day of the year & some of my observations are included.

The insects; the trees; the birds (their situations interact & will no doubt affect us too, sooner or later). I actually do worry about them all, after what I have read & after observing the city “wildlife” in my local blocks of condo developments. Yes, I know there are lots of other things one can worry about. And: I wish to live in a neighbourhood that continues to have songbirds & trees.

With climate being atypical in recent years; too many of the trees are not thriving here. They seem to be losing their battle with moss (growing on them), which appears to be choking the life out of them. I have spoken with one of my local city arborists. Was suggested: that the moss usually dies back in the strong sunshine of Summer; it didn’t this year. And/or I guessed that the Winter cold could kill the moss; but it didn’t do that last Winter. Currently it looks as if the moss is gaining & winning on too many trees. I haven’t yet found an article about moss growing abundantly on trees; I continue to observe.

Insects & birds in the City. It has been reported that Insects are disappearing at a rapid clip (worldwide, generally). It is not known yet if this is just cyclical. The birds eat insects… And in the Fall around where I live, the gardening services people prune & clip back around the condos. And remove the cuttings, which I think still hold plant seeds (?), which the birds were trying to harvest & eat. Soon after all that Fall gardening is done & the weather grows cold, the birds arrive to stare (anxiously it seems to me) at those of us with bird feeders. These city birds … have food insecurity?

I have read that:

– in recent years there have been some startling reports of insect/bird population declines & more so in more densely populated areas (e.g. Europe, as opposed to Canada);

– a report as of 2019 believed that “40% of all insects species are declining globally … a third of them are endangered”;

– “insect-eating bird species experienced an average decline in population size of almost 10 million … [in] 50 years” (North America)((nearly all songbirds feed their young w/insects);

– “the North American [general] bird population is down by 2.9 billion breeding adults”= quite devastating losses; &

– one in four birds may have vanished in our lifetime.

A next post on this topic: how to help fix it.