Stories: Stories

“If you take care of birds, you take care of most of the environmental problems in the world” - Thomas Lovejoy, Biologist and Godfather of Biodiversity Celebrating the 2018 Year of the Bird This year nature lovers around the world join forces to celebrate the year of the bird and commit to protecting birds for the next hundred years. 2018 marks the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the most important bird-protection law ever passed. Birds are hunters and gatherers; they range in size from the tiny hummingbird to the ostrich that can weight up to 100 Kilos. Their feathers include all possible shades and tones. They have mastered the art of flying, having migrated since the beginning of time: birds were the first travelers. There are more than 10,000 species of birds alive today in every continent.  Their incredible variety explains their importance for the preservation of ecosystems, providing provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services. Provisioning services refer to birds as commodities or sources of food for humans; regulating services include their roles as pollinators, controlling populations of pest species and dispersing seeds; supporting services are those that relate to processes such as nutrient cycling, soil formation, ecosystem engineering and even cleaning up; cultural services place birds as central in human society as expressed in art, religious and other leisure activities such as birdwatching. A collaborative effort The Year of the Bird is an initiative led by National Geographic, the National Audubon Society, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and BirdLife International joining forces with more than 100 other organizations and millions of people around the world.  Participating organizations also include nonprofit and conservation groups, state and federal agencies, zoos, nature centers, and ornithological societies that are working together to raise the visibility of birds and inspire action through throughout