- Credits:
- Photo, Dallas Morning News
Helen’s Place LLC October 31, 2021
Where did the birds go? Every year the starlings arrive by the thousands and spend the night under the glow of Reunion Tower in Citizen’s Garden in Dallas, TX (formerly Belo Garden).
But this year, although mixed flocks of grackles, starlings and black birds landed in some of the trees and rested, no birds stayed for long. Why?
More concerning – the usual swirl and murmurings of starlings dropping from the sky with precision timing at dusk into the garden didn’t happen. Perhaps no one noticed these events.
On March 14, 2021, Laura Bush warned in her Dallas Morning News article – quoting Roger Tory Peterson, “Birds are indicators of the environment. If they are in trouble, we know we’ll soon be in trouble.” Birds are critical, and they contribute to humans’ daily life.
She also noted that “Each year, nearly 2 billion birds migrate through Texas in one of the planet’s great wildlife spectacles.” We don’t often understand what causes bird migration patterns to change around the world, but we know that birds are adapting to survive, and they are falling behind.
When we witness a sudden change of behavior, like the missing birds in the garden, it causes us to wonder – What changed in the ecosystem from last year to this one? What else will be different this year?
In Texas, the fall bird migration is underway from August 15th to November 30th.
Many people have been watching and hoping that Dallas downtown buildings will follow protocols for the Lights Out Texas program and turn the city lights down from 11 to 6 AM, to prevent migrating birds traveling overhead from getting confused and flying into buildings.
According to Laura Bush “Due to urban sprawl, tall buildings, highly reflective glass windows and bright lights, an estimated 1 billion U.S. birds die every year solely from collisions with buildings and structures.”
Readers wishing to participate and/or learn more about how to protect birds, can visit the website for the organization that former first lady founded – Texas By Nature.
At Helen’s Place LLC we often are reminded that “when we learn about birds we discover ourselves,” because birds reflect our human reality and difficulties adapting to change. Perhaps in some small way if we’re able to help migrating birds survive, we’ll be able to find solutions for ourselves.
Related audio/video interview recording:
Incredible aerial displays of starling murmurings above Rome that are so beautiful, until the birds land and the trouble begins:
YouTube, BBC Earth, April 24, 2021, “Ten Million Starlings Swarm (7 Tonnes of Bird Poo)”
Other related article you may be interested in:
An article about the unique relationship in the city between a bird and a person:
Helen’s Place LLC, May 31, 2021, “A Non-Bird Person’s Encounter with Hawk on Fire Escape”
Helen’s Place LLC is an information and educational materials company celebrating English Language Arts, Cognitive Science and the love of birds. Your comments are greatly appreciated. Send them to Helen’s Place LLC via email to info@helensplacenet.com. We’re always interested in learning more about you and the issues that are important to you.
