I believe we could well follow the pattern of our feathered friends.”
William Shakespeare
What’s a songbird without its song? Sadly, we are finding out.
Australian regent honeyeaters are failing to learn their species’ tune due to dwindling populations, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, and this is thwarting the male birds’ ability to attract females.
Like humans and other species, young songbirds need to learn their culture’s way of communicating, but researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) discovered that the critically endangered birds (Anthochaera phrygia) are losing opportunities to learn from their own kind, with spiraling ramifications for their survival.
“The fact that regent honeyeaters are losing their ability to sing is a warning sign that the species is on the very brink of extinction,” says lead author, ecologist Ross Crates from ANU.
Natalie Parletta, Cosmos Magazine
I get as excited about vernal equinox more than anyone I know, and celebrate it all sorts of ways.
Yet my focus now is not on barbeques, restaurants, bars, concerts or gawking at the latest piece of goofball “experience” entertainment. The rate of extinctions is skyrocketing on our watch. Though it began under the pleasure-obsessed boom babies, their “millennial” offspring have only accelerated the environmental freefall.
We need to rethink all uses of energy, technology and chemicals from the bottom up and the top down. Total overhaul time. Planeticide is not a good look on your resume.
Spring into action and save life.
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