How Birdwatchers, Others Can Help Migrating Bird Populations

鸟类观察者和其他人该如何帮助鸟类迁徙

 

The kinds of birds coming through your neighborhood are probably changing, and so is the timing of their migrations.

 

从你附近飞过的鸟类种类可能在一直变化，它们迁徙的时间也在改变。

 

Birdwatchers noticing these differences are playing a big part in understanding how climate change and severe weather events are affecting bird populations.

 

鸟类观察者注意到这些差异可能对于他们理解气候变化以及恶劣天气事件如何影响鸟类种群方面发挥了重要的作用。

 

John Rowden is director of community conservation at the National Audubon Society, which aims to protect birds and their environments. He said, “Birders have to be much more alert to when birds are coming through than they used to be, since birds may be coming through much earlier or much later…”

 

约翰·罗登是美国国家奥杜邦协会的社区保护主任，该协会旨在保护鸟类及其生存环境。他说:“观鸟者必须比以往更加警惕鸟类何时会飞来，因为鸟类可能来得更早，也可能来得更晚……”

 

Birdwatchers are increasingly seeing birds in their area that are usually found elsewhere, Rowden says. And, they are seeing fewer of the birds that usually travel through.

 

罗登说，鸟类观察者越来越多地发现他们的地区经常出现其他地区的鸟类。此外，该地区经常出现的鸟类反而更少了。

 

“... Just because we’ve seen these birds year after year doesn’t mean they’ll always be there. They are declining in numbers because we’re throwing so many things at them, so we need to do what we can to help them,” Rowden said.

 

“……我们年复一年地看到这些鸟并不意味着它们就会一直出现在那里。它们的数量正在下降，因为我们向它们扔了那么多东西，所以我们需要尽我们所能来帮助它们。”

 

At least 314 species of American birds are expected to lose 50 percent or more of their range by the end of the century. Those species are listed by the Audubon Society as climate-threatened or endangered, Rowden added.

 

到本世纪末，预计至少有314种美国鸟类将失去50%甚至更多的活动范围。罗登补充说，这些鸟类被奥杜邦协会列入受气候威胁或濒危的物种。

 

A United Nations science report issued Monday says 1 million species of plants and animals are at risk of disappearing from Earth.

 

周一，联合国发表的一份科学报告表示，有100万种动植物面临从地球上消失的危险。

 

Scientists who issued the report blamed development that has led to loss of habitat as well as climate change, overfishing, pollution and invasive species.

 

发布该报告的科学家指责称，发展导致栖息地丧失、气候变化、过度捕捞、污染和物种入侵。

 

Environmentalists say there are a few easy steps people can take to help struggling bird populations. These include planting native species, which leads to more native insects for the birds to eat.

 

环保人士表示，人们可以采取一些简单的措施来帮助苦苦挣扎的鸟类种群。这些措施包括种植当地物种以产生更多的当地昆虫供鸟类食用。

 

The Audubon Society’s Plants for Birds website provides plant suggestions for people in the United States, based on where they live in the country.

 

奥杜邦鸟类协会的“鸟类可食用植物”网站为居住在美国不同地区的人们提供了植物种植建议。

 

During spring and fall migration seasons, people can help migrating birds by keeping outdoor lights turned off and covering reflective surfaces like large windows. People also should make indoor plants less visible to passing birds.

 

在春、秋两个鸟类迁徙的季节，人们可以通过关闭户外灯光和遮盖大块反光玻璃等方式帮助鸟类迁徙。人们也需要隐藏室内植物，避免路过的鸟类看到。

 

The Audubon Society also runs a community science program called Climate Watch. It aims to collect data on how bird ranges – or the places they are found – are changing. Rowden says the program asks people to count the numbers of each species they see. The program goes from May 15 to June 15.

 

奥杜邦协会还进行着一项名为“气候观察”的社区科学项目。目的是为收集关于鸟类活动范围（或它们被发现的地方）如何变化的数据。罗登表示，该项目要求人们记录所看到的每个种类的数量。该项目从5月15日持续到6月15日。

 

Geoff LeBaron, director of the Christmas Bird Count at the National Audubon Society, says he has seen the effects of climate change firsthand.

 

美国奥杜邦协会的圣诞鸟类统计主任杰夫·莱巴龙说，他亲眼目睹了气候变化所产生的影响。

 

“I’ve been a birder since I was a little kid,” he said. “It’s clear that climate change is affecting and will continue to affect birds on a global scale, and it’s a question of whether or not they can adapt to what the climate is throwing at them.”

 

“我从很小的时候就爱观察鸟类，”他说。“很明显，气候变化正在并将继续影响全球范围内的鸟类，问题是鸟类能否适应气候变化给它们带来的影响。”

 

Record droughts, floods, hurricanes and more are having a major effect, he said. Hurricanes usually happen during migration season, LeBaron noted. They have an especially big effect on sea birds, whose migration paths might change by thousands of kilometers as a result.

 

他说，创纪录的干旱、洪水、飓风等也产生重大影响。莱巴龙指出，飓风通常发生在迁徙的季节。飓风对海上鸟类的影响特别严重，它们的迁徙路线可能因此改变数千公里。

 

Experts say sea birds and grasslands birds are most at risk from climate disasters. Birds known as aerial insectivores are also at risk because the insects they eat are getting harder to find.

 

专家表示，海上的鸟类和草原上的鸟类最容易受到气候灾害的威胁。空中食虫的鸟类也处于危险之中，因为它们吃的昆虫越来越难找到。

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