Photo Courtesy of Chris Neff
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — New Jersey Audubon is asking citizens to add to the scientific research on bird mortality, as the organization is concerned about the major decline in bird populations over the last 70 years. The breeding bird population in the Americas has declined by 3 billion birds since 1970. In addition to climate change and habitat destruction, there are other major human-related reasons for these declines, and one major cause is that of building collisions, especially during the fall migration period.
New Jersey Audubon has launched a program to ask concerned citizens to contribute to bird mortality research throughout the state. It encourages supporters to become part of the solution by getting involved in community and citizen science programs, like D-Bird, to gain a better understanding of bird collisions and other bird deaths in New Jersey. New Jersey Audubon launched a pilot program in August for the collection of data.
Bird enthusiasts and other environmentally aware persons can visit https://dbird.org/ to post photos of birds that have been killed or wounded and to add key information, such as date, time and location. In addition, participants will be asked to include other useful information, such as species, age and sex, if known; there is also room for notes. This applies to all bird deaths observed. All data submitted through D-Bird helps New Jersey Audubon justify and advance science-driven policies that can prevent future collisions.
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