Here is the news of the week we couldn’t cover in more detail.
Migrant bird populations are significantly declining in Britain
Britain is noticing the disappearance of many migrant bird species, including cuckoos, willow tits, turtle doves and many others, according to Metro.
Although they are not 100 percent sure of the causes, scientists attribute the decline largely to habitat destruction, illegal hunting and climate change. They view all these threats as the major problems that need to be stopped in order to save these birds.
In an effort to find out more about the habits of these declining birds, scientists have decided to put small GPS devices on 5 cuckoos migrating south.
The birds are now in Africa and some even flew down past the Sahara, which is usually a dangerous journey over one of the most inhospitable places.
Scientists will analyze the data they receive from this experiment to make conclusions about the birds’ behavior.
Plans for garbage station near airport called dangerous
The plans to build a garbage dump near La Guardia Airport in New York has sparked a huge controversy because opponents say it will attract birds and make bird strikes more likely, according to The USA Today.
Bird strikes are a major problem around New York airports because there are a lot of Canada Geese in the area. In fact, Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who crash landed a plan in the Hudson River after a bird strike disabled the plane, criticized the plan.
Here’s what he had to say about it:
“One of the things we’ve learned is that one of the few ways to mitigate the bird problem is to not put anything near an airport runway that’s likely to attract birds,” Sullenberger said on CBS’ “Early Show.” “And so putting a trash facility this close to one of the busiest runways in the nation just doesn’t make sense. It’s really a terrible idea. It should be put much farther away.”
Putting a garbage dump near the runway of an airport is bad for both airplanes and birds. It increases the danger of planes going down and the risk of birds dying.
Government officials are defending their decision by saying moving it would be expensive and there’s simply no place else to go.
