Some species thriving some dieing Is it mankind causing this?
Posted On August 17 In Cardinal Bird House
I’ve seen destruction of habitat since I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago Illinois most of my life. Our block was 3 houses near remnants of glacier sloughs, natural praries, and rolling hills. Bulldozers scraped away the soils and my home town went from about 500 people to 14,000 today. Gone are the snakes, toads, frogs, native bees, birds, butterflies. All but gone are tumble weeds. Natural flowers along our highways have been nearly replaced by non-natrive invasive species from far off other continents. To see a frog or a snake or a turtle out fishing is like seeing bigfoot or the sasquatch. It is becoming more and more rare to see these. I’m glad bluejays and black capped chickadees and northern cardinals are coming back. All winter I’ve see robins in the thickest brushy areas of the forest preserves. It’s like they’ve never left. You have to look good, but robins are nearby Chicago. Then I go fishing an catch northern pike, sauger, and walleye in somewhat polluted streams.Why?
Comments (1)
Bird Watching is said to be one of the most relaxing and peaceful hobbies that anyone can do.
It’s not all due to human interference. At any time, some species will thrive, and others will struggle. Humans have definitely made the balance more complicated, however.
When a new development goes up or a new parking lot put in, natural habitats disappear. Animals are displaced, food disappears and new habitats become more crowded. The same is true with highways, though rather than dramatically reducing the amount of space, they divide habitats (such as cutting off one side of a forest from the water supply on the other side).
One of the hallmarks of life is adaptability, but some species are less able to cope with changes than others. When habitats drastically change, those more capable of adaptation survive and often thrive. When a less adaptable species is driven out or killed off, the habitat becomes less crowded and food more plentiful. The more adaptable species then have more resources and are better able to thrive.
You may be seeing a return of the birds due to the age of the suburbs. Speaking as someone who grew up on a golf-course-turned-suburb, my childhood was one of large open yards and few trees. As time went on, people planted new trees and shrubs, and began to settle in (more people began putting out bird feeders). Now, where I could once see yards on the other side of the block, I can’t even see past my own yard, through the large trees and bushes. It’s not a natural habitat, but it’s hospitable enough to life that the animals are beginning to move back in.