Anyone who’s experienced a house fire probably knows how Perry is feeling right now: scared, confused, lost, maybe hoping for the best for others who might be involved. Fires are a serious issue here in California, for birds and humans alike. Thanks to someone’s barn, Perry found a safe place to stay, miles from the fire, but not all animals are so lucky.
Click on “Read More” below to check out Episode Eight and learn about the challenges Perry faces at the eighth leg of his journey and how you can help. Click here to read Episode 7. Click here to read Episode 9.
Fires, by themselves, are not bad. Long before there was agriculture humans were using controlled burns to manage lands. Controlled burning, also known as prescribed burning, involves setting planned fires to maintain the health of a forest. These burns are scheduled for a time when the fire will not pose a threat to the public or to fire managers. In addition, forest conditions should call for a controlled burn and weather conditions should be right to allow burning but not enable a fire to spread out of control. Mother nature was doing ‘controlled burns’ long before we ever showed up, but with our own forest management practices as well as human development, we have thrown off the system. Now, instead of a shrubby hill burning down, providing fertilized soil and systems of seed dispersal, it’s millions of dollars’ worth of property burning
However, when a fire gets out of control and decimates millions of acres it becomes a serious issue. For instance, The CZU Lightning Complex that burned Big Basin was only one of many fires in 2020 which took out a total of over 4 million acres.
Why are we seeing an increase in fires? The simple answer is not enough rain and snow in the winter plus extremely dry summers with windy lightning storms, the broader answer is climate change. One of the science outreach interns here at SFBBO did a special communications campaign about the effects of climate change on birds that you can check out one our social media. Guest speaker Maya Khosla also did a wonderful Birdy Hour on the topic for SFBBO.
Forest fires and climate change are state-wide, nation-wide, world-wide problems. The answer to these big problems takes communities working together with legislation to make a long-term impact (for the better). But we can all take Smokey the Bear’s advice and protect our forests from forest fires: make sure your campground fires are completely out, don’t discard lit cigarettes, and don’t set off fireworks anywhere there is even the smallest chance of anything catching on fire.
It’s important we understand that just because birds can fly over it all, doesn’t mean they aren’t affected by what’s going on down here on the ground. The population of North American birds has dropped by nearly 30% since the 1970s, that is a total of almost 3 billion birds. Gone.
Birds are incredibly important to the balance of our ecosystems: they are essential as pollinators and for seed dispersal, particularly for native plants, and they feed on and help control a variety of critters we consider pests like insects and rodents. Bird studies teach us about climate and the environment, and the birds themselves are key indicators of environmental change. And, most simply, birds are beautiful, and they provide us with music and joy.
The protagonist of this story, Perry, is doing his part as a bird, migrating to his northern breeding location to hopefully pass on his little brown bird genes. It’s all he can do. Perry’s Journey illustrates the important journey of birds like him across the globe, who are doing their parts to help.
Migrating birds are disproportionately affected because they need not just one habitat, but multiple habitats that can serve as stopping points along their journeys. We call these migration corridors and it’s important that they are protected: for the birds’ sakes as well as our own. Birds like Perry can’t control what happens on the ground, or in the water and air, but we can. During Perry’s journey over the couse of ten posts, we will go into some of the main issues facing not just migrating birds, but all birds, and what you can do to help. To support SFBBO’s work to conserve birds and their habitats through science and outreach, please make a donation to our Spring Appeal!
Katrina McCollough is from the Bay Area and is a science outreach intern with SFBBO and the creator of Perry’s Journey. Her interest in birds stemmed from an internship she had at SFBBO’s Coyote Creek Field Station where she got firsthand experience working with the banders and volunteers at the station. That was the first time she ever held or released a bird, and she’s fallen in love with them since, and her favorite bird is the Bushtit. Previously, her interests were directed toward the ground, instead of the sky, hunting for mushrooms or insects. Katrina is currently a college student with a major in Biological Sciences, and she hopes to continue her schooling in mycology and bioremediation.