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What is the
total number of wild birds on our planet? Consider the pigeons you see on your
route to work the songbirds in your yard and the seagulls at the beach. These
popular creatures are just a few of the tens of thousands of bird species that
exist on the planet. Your avian neighbors will be unique—yet vital—parts of
your local ecosystem no matter where you reside. Estimating the number of
individual birds on Earth is akin to estimating the number of jellybeans in a
huge container. What's your best guess?
If you
estimated around 50 billion, you're on the right track according to a new
cutting-edge scientific study
published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. What method
did the team use to count so many birds? The team began by assessing available
eye-witness data similar to counting visible rows of jellybeans in a container.
The researchers looked over 600,000 bird sightings submitted to eBird,
a network of citizen scientists and birders. The team's big-data methodology is
built around these sitings.
The fact
that there are fifty billion birds on the planet is incredible. The figure is,
however, lower than some of the study's estimates. The median estimate was 428
billion dollars, while the mean (average) was substantially higher. There are
potential biases in any big data technique. Birdwatchers, for example, maybe on
the lookout for specific species and more likely to report them. As a result,
the researchers factored in a "detectability" component when
estimating species-specific estimations. Despite significant uncertainty in the
estimations, they are very detailed and include data for 9,700 different bird
species (92 percent of all avian species on the planet).
Why are
wild bird population estimates significantly globally? This macro-ecological
approach allows for a wide view of world change. To keep track of bird welfare
the researchers plan to repeat their investigation every few years. “We will need to repeat and refine
this effort to keep tabs on biodiversity—especially as human-caused changes to
the world continue and intensify,” said
co-author Dr. Corey Callaghan.
Some bird
species necessitate careful monitoring of population data. The Chinese Crested
Tern, Noisy Scrub-bird, and Invisible Rail are among the 12 percent of species
having populations of less than 5,000 individuals. Others are doing well. The
only four species with populations above one billion are the House Sparrow (1.6
billion), European Starling (1.3 billion), Ring-billed Gull (1.2 billion), and
Barn Swallow (1.1 billion). However, co-author and Associate Professor Will
Cornwell warns that “if
their population numbers are going down, it could be a real alarm bell for the
health of our ecosystem.” for any species. Another useful statistic to
monitor the health of our world and feathered friends is macro-ecology.
According
to the latest groundbreaking study, the total number of birds on the planet is
believed to reach 50 billion.
Photo: Stock Photos from
KUTTELVASEROVA STUCHELOVA/Shutterstock
Source of
the information: ScienceAlert
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