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Habitat Loss:
The Biggest
Cause of
Bird Declines

Western Meadowlark by Brian Sullivan

If you were alive in 1970, 29% of breeding birds in the U.S. and Canada have disappeared within your lifetime. These data signal an urgent need to repair the very fabric of our ecosystems — and bring birds back.

Habitat loss and degradation are the biggest reasons for the rapid and staggering loss of birds across the continent. What are other leading causes of bird deaths because of humans? Every year, more than 2.6 billion birds are estimated to be killed by cats, and up to 1 billion birds are killed by window strikes in the U.S. and Canada alone.

Birds need urgent help, and everyone can do their part. At the Cornell Lab, we work daily to advance solutions, from engaging people in their own backyards to generating the scientific information needed to inform decisions and actions that protect birds and habitats across the hemisphere.