Birds Thrived Where Humans Feared To Tread During The Pandemic, Scientists Say

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A bald eagle perches on a tree at Sunset Park in Rock Island, Ill., in March. A new study says that many species of birds increasingly moved into urban areas as human activity waned during the pandemic.

Joel Lerner/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images

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Joel Lerner/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images

Science
North America Has Lost 3 Billion Birds, Scientists Say

Not all species saw upticks

In the latest research, just over a quarter of the bird species studied showed mixed trends, with a few, such as house sparrows and the type of pigeon typically seen around cities, spotted less often in urban areas during the pandemic.

Another caveat: It’s possible that birds moved into some areas during the pandemic because they were relatively quiet and free from human activity. But as Schrimpf explains, «if a bird shows up there, but it didn’t come along with, say, the right kind of food … or if a predator like a coyote or a raccoon was also attracted to those areas because of lack of activity, what looks like a haven for a bird might wind up being a dangerous place.

The trend noted in the latest study is not just for the birds either. A paper published last year in Nature noted: «Anecdotal observations indicate that many animal species are enjoying the newly afforded peace and quiet, while others, surprisingly, seem to have come under increased pressure.

Birds might prefer the shift to work from home

It’s difficult to say what will happen once the pandemic and the lockdowns are finally over, but Schrimpf says he is hopeful.

«We hope that it might be a lesson for us that we can take away in a post-pandemic world, he says, suggesting that people who prefer to continue working remotely might even use «helping the birds as a rationale.

«I think that there is an opportunity to adjust how we live, to slow down, he says. «For example, if people that could work from home, maybe not all the time, but you know, a couple of days a week, that could reduce our human activity.