December and early January was Christmas Bird Count time in Central Illinois. The Peoria Audubon Society coordinates three counts in the region. One in Peoria, one near Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, and another in Chillicothe. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is one of the longest running citizen science projects in existence, and this was the 122nd year of the bird count which began in 1900. It is a great time for a birder to be out, keeping track of the species and numbers seen, and play an active role in bird conservation. Since its inception, the count has grown from a handful of counts to more than 1,800 counts in the United States alone.

Data from citizen science projects like the CBC have shown that there is an overall decline in bird populations, and the trajectory of this decline has drastically increased since the 1970s. Particularly, for our region, birds found in forests and grasslands are in sharp decline. However, wetland-dependent species, such as waterfowl, have increased in our region. The increase in wetland birds locally is due to some of the wetland restoration projects, such as Emiquon and Dixon Waterfowl Refuge, along the Illinois River in the last few decades. The population decline of bird species has ramifications beyond that of alarming a CBC participant. Birds are an important piece of the puzzle of life on our planet. They are tiny little metabolic dynamos that eat seeds, fruits, and insects that fly across continents. In many ways they serve a crucial role as a delivery system for biodiversity. They are crucial for our ecosystems to have resiliency when ecological change occurs.

A recent study published by ecologists at Rice University in the journal Science has documented that declines in animal species and numbers have vastly limited the ability of plants to adapt to climate change. Here’s an example where the loss of biodiversity can have devastating results when combined with climate change. As climate changes, many plant species must move to a more suitable environment. Remove animals that disperse seeds, and you severely limit the ability of plants to move. Any birder who watches a flock of Cedar Waxwings congregate around a native crabapple tree will understand this. That flock of birds will carry seeds for miles. The ability of Blue-Jays and woodpeckers to move acorns is the reason that we have oak forests in the Prairie State. The Rice University study shows that the ability of animal dispersed plants to keep pace with climate change has been reduced by 60%. Some plants live for hundreds of years, and their only ability to move is when their seed moves across the landscape.

There is another human influence at work in reducing the ecological resiliency of our earth. Exotic-invasive species have muddied the ecological waters. We have added prolific fruit producing species to compete for the few remaining birds. Things like European Buckthorn, Bush Honeysuckle, and Autumn Olive now vie for the attention of our declining bird species. Native species are becoming less common on the landscape while exotic species become more prominent. It is a double whammy for the ability of our native species to be able to migrate to new and suitable climactic conditions.

But all is not lost. There is inherent resiliency in nature. The increase in the number of waterfowl observed in our region on the CBC shows that if we do the right thing (restore habitats), birds will respond positively. On this CBC, I was birding a prairie restoration along a creek valley. It was previously an old farm field that had been replanted with native species. As I watched, Blue-Jays flew from left to right over the prairie. They were carrying acorns from an oak woodlands, across the creek and prairie, and flying off to the horizon. At the same time, Red-Headed Woodpeckers were doing the same thing in the opposite direction. Genetic plant material was flowing well through this system. Then a flock of more than a dozen Cedar Waxwings came along the edge of the prairie and gathered in a grove of hawthorn to feast on fruits. With great fanfare, they took off and flew past the horizon. These hawthorn trees have figured a way to fly. If the Cedar Waxwings deposit the seeds in a suitable spot along the edge of a woodland, these particular hawthorns now have an insurance policy that their genetic stock will continue on. If we do the right thing (restore native habitats), we benefit native species, the habitats they need, and, ultimately, ourselves.

Aldo Leopold wrote in his essay “The Land Ethic,” published in The Sand County Almanac, “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” It is worth doing the right thing!