It’s been called a portent, a sign, and even “aflockalypse.”  2011 started with dead birds mysteriously falling from the sky, not just in one area, but literally all over the world. Thousands of birds have been falling from the sky in Arkansas, hundreds of birds were found dead in California and Missouri. This phenomenon has also been observed in Italy, Sweden, and Brazil. And it’s not just birds. 40 thousand dead crabs washed ashore in England, large numbers of fish have been dying off in Chicago, in Arkansas, and elsewhere. Problem is this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The media picked up on this because of widespread coincidental observations. Animal mortality is actually a far larger problem than these numbers might suggest. Just one surprising example: in the U.S. there are some 70 million feral house cats. Each year they kill off hundreds of millions of native birds and more than a billion small mammals such as rabbits, chipmunks, and squirrels. The numbers are staggering. But they tend to go unnoticed, except by ecological researchers. The resulting reports seldom make it to mainstream media. It’s actually controversial because so many people distrust science, and consider our non-native, invasive pets to be doing what comes “natural.” Ergo: no problem.

Some of the bird deaths on January 1st were blamed on “blunt force trauma” attributed to New Years Eve fireworks. The dead fish in Arkansas were theorized to have been victims of an earthquake along the New Madrid fault zone (1.8 on the Richter Scale in January). It was thought toxins may have been released. While it’s not exactly rare for large numbers of critters to die off due to the caprice of weather, lightning generated fires, the impacts of volcanism, seismic activities, or other natural threats, all of these hazards pale in comparison to us hazardous humans. We have become by far the most significant factor in the deaths of individual animals, or entire species over the past several centuries. There are many lethal artifacts of civilization. These range from agricultural toxins, to industrial pollution, to lawn care chemicals, to windows and glass buildings (which attract birds to collide with reflections), to predatory pets, to wires to loss of crucial habitats.

I got a call many years ago at the Nature Center from a lady who had found dead robins and blackbirds scattered in her yard, and wanted to know why. Sometimes birds collide with windows, but you wouldn’t be likely to find dozens. Turned out she lived adjacent to a golf course, so I called and asked whether they had put out any pesticides recently. They had been applying fungicides. There’s a good chance these chemicals were responsible for the bird deaths, particularly if they’d managed to concentrate into the food chain. The birds in question were predatory and could have gotten an enhanced dose from their food.

Back in the 60’s it was noted that our nation’s symbol, the Bald Eagle, was disappearing. It took a while to figure out why. It was chemical pollution in the environment. Farmers had been spraying a pesticide called DDT to kill off bothersome insects. Nobody knew, or would admit, that this “estrogen mimicking compound” could persist in the environment and do a lot more than just kill insects. It impacted birds of prey to such a degree that it caused their eggs to weaken so that they couldn’t reproduce. Eventually it was also suspected to play a causal role in human breast cancer. Like the CO2 issue today, it was alleged that we couldn’t afford to clean up this mess. Truth is, we couldn’t afford not to. Those who stand to gain financially too often successfully suppress crucial scientific information. Think lung cancer and its connection to cigarette smoking. For decades tobacco manufacturers succeeded in suppressing this “smoking gun.”

It’s not always “collateral damage” in our war against weeds. Sometimes it’s direct consumption that can kill off critters. With sonar fish finders and GPS technology, fish harvesters are decimating swordfish, tuna, and a host of other “food species” as our world population swells to 7 billion. In our consumptive enthusiasm we’ve made the environment increasingly unfriendly to life.

I received an email in which one of the more wacky explanations for the bird deaths was put forth: ersatz prophet Cindy Jacobs suggested they were caused by God, in response to the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” Apparently her peculiar deity has a real issue with sexual behavior, and doesn’t much care for birds.

Unfortunately our intelligence can be our undoing. This is explained well by Dr. Michael Soule’, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies, University of California at Santa Cruz (and founder of the Society for Conservation Biology). “We’re certainly a dominant species, but that’s not the same as a keystone species. A keystone species is one that, when you remove it, the diversity collapses; we’re a species that when you add us, the diversity collapses. We can change everything, dictate everything and destroy everything.” Bumper sticker slogans about “Pro Life” seem ironic if you pay attention to what we’re actually doing these days.

Clearly, for the sake of our and our grandchildren’s and great grandchildren’s future, we need to drastically change our ways while there’s still something left.  But what can we do? Where can we start?

As Mahatma Gandhi so wisely stated… “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  To make our city, our state, our nation less toxic, start by making your yard less toxic. Practice organic yard care. You don’t need herbicides and pesticides. Clover is beautiful. The toxic chemicals you don’t apply… can’t foul the food chain, banish the birds, or ruin the river.

Write to your representatives and urge them to support a clean healthy environment. The League of Conservation Voters posts a list called “The Dirty Dozen,” highlighting politicians who consistently oppose conservation and clean energy. Keep informed, check out:  lcv.org or sierraclub.org or nrdc.org