PHOTO VIA WIKIPEDIA, CC BY-SA
The picture
Birds are vital pollinators, seed-spreaders and pest controllers, but North America alone has lost around 3 billion birds since 1970. Simple home fixes - bird-safe glass, native plants, keeping cats in - make a real difference.
The science
Class Aves. Many songbirds migrate thousands of kilometres, navigating by stars and magnetic fields.
In numbers
Worth repeating at dinner
North America has lost roughly 3 billion breeding birds since 1970.
- Cornell Lab
Native plants can double the insect food available to backyard birds.
- Our World in Data
Some Arctic terns migrate pole to pole each year.
- WCS
What they face
Reflective glass kills large numbers of birds.
Cornell Lab
Free-roaming cats are a major human-linked cause of bird deaths.
American Bird Conservancy
What is already working
Decals and patterned glass prevent collisions.
Native gardens rebuild insect food webs.
Reasons for hope
Native-plant gardens and protections boost some local bird numbers.
Meet them
Small actions that reach them
People doing the big work
Hopeling is also a pocket companion: one fact, one small act a day. Open the app