World Migratory Bird Day highlights decline of insects as a threat to birds’ survival

World Migratory Bird Day is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. It has a global reach and promotes action and gives inspiration to conserve both birds and their environments through education, public engagement, and joint activities across borders. The day triggers hundreds of educational events […]

World Migratory Bird Day is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. It has a global reach and promotes action and gives inspiration to conserve both birds and their environments through education, public engagement, and joint activities across borders.

The day triggers hundreds of educational events around the world that are united by their common goal of raising awareness and advocating for international bird protection.

The 2024 World Migratory Bird Day, with the theme ‘Protect Insects, Protect Birds’ aimed at educating and promoting conservation efforts for migratory birds and their journeys across borders. It raises awareness about the challenges birds face and encourages conservation actions worldwide.

This year, the focus is on the importance of insects for migratory birds. Present in almost all the world’s ecosystems, insects are essential food sources for migratory birds on their long journeys. Migratory birds often time their migrations to align with insect abundance. They depend on these insects for food during migration stops and for breeding success and feeding their young.

The United Nations said insects are an essential energy source for many migratory bird species during the breeding seasons and their extensive journeys and significantly affect the timing, duration, and overall success of bird migrations.

During their migration, birds actively seek out insects in fields, forests, wetlands and various habitats during stopovers. The timing of bird migration often coincides with peak insect abundance at stopover locations, supplying nourishment for birds to replenish their energy reserves before continuing their journeys.

Loss of insects has severe consequences on bird survival

The loss and disturbance of insect populations at breeding sites and along avian migration routes threaten bird survival and well-being. Natural spaces like forests and grasslands that have been transformed or endangered by intensive agriculture or urban development and its effects, such as light pollution, can result in a decline in insect populations.

In marking the day, experts raised concern about the relationship between migratory birds and insects amidst alarming declines for both.

According to submission by experts, insects are essential sources of energy for many migratory bird species, not only during the breeding seasons but also during their extensive journeys and greatly affect the timing, duration, and overall success of bird migrations.

Also, it was noted that due to intensive agriculture and urban development and its effects, such as light pollution, the loss and disturbance of insect populations at breeding sites and along avian migration routes threaten bird survival and well-being.

While noting that birds play crucial roles in pollination and pest control, and a lack of insects disrupts these ecosystem functions, the experts said, overpopulation of certain insects, without natural predators from birds, can also cause outbreaks that damage plant health and agriculture.

Speaking at an event to mark the Day, the NCF/Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands Conservation Project Officer, Harry Hanson descript Bird Migration as “changes of habitat periodically recurring and alter¬nating in direction, which tend to secure optimum environmental conditions at all times”.

He said birds migration occurs during a particular period of the year and the birds usually follow the same route.

According to him, Insects are essential sources of energy for many migratory bird species, not only during the breeding seasons but also during their extensive journeys and greatly affect the timing, duration, and overall success of bird migrations.

He streased that intensive agriculture and urban development and its effects such as light pollution, the loss and disturbance of insect populations at breeding sites and along avian migration routes threaten bird survival and well-being.

“Pesticides and herbicides designed to protect crops harm insects that birds rely on for food. A scarcity of energy- and protein-rich insects can hinder bird migration and breeding, leading to weakened immune systems, reduced reproductive success, and increased mortality rates for both adult birds and their offspring, he said.

He also noted that overpopulation of certain insects, without natural predators from birds, can also cause outbreaks that damage plant health and agriculture.

Hanson said that Insects provide useful services to mankind and the environment in a number of ways.

“They keep pest insects in check, pollinate crops we rely on as food, and act as sanitation experts, cleaning up waste so that the world doesn’t become overrun with dung, insects help keep ecosystems in balance.”

Mr Hanson  stressed on the need for proactive conservation measures among farmers of the wetlands which includes and not limited to reducing the use of pesticides and fertilizers, and where possible, switching to organic farming.

In his Presentation, Mr Ladan Galadima said whether insects crawl, fly, squirm, or slither, insects get the job done:

“They maintain healthy soil, recycle nutrients, pollinate flowers and crops, and control pests,” he said.

Accorring to him, by the end of the century, up to 40per cent of the world’s insect species may go extinct owing in part to habitat loss.

He said many insect populations bees, grasshoppers, moths, butterflies, beetles, and ants are already plummeting in ecosystems such as the Great Plains, where over 30 million acres of grasslands have been plowed up since 2009.

While noting that  gardeners, homeowners, policy-makers, ranchers, and others are finding ways to protect insects, from planting native gardens to avoiding pesticides to conserving habitats, he said some benefits of Insects to the Environment to includes fruits of their labour, bird bites, farmers friends, digging in the dirt and crowd control among others.

The representative of the Nguru Local Government Education Secretary, Mr Kachala Mohammed, expressed gratitudes to NCF for organizing the event in the wetlands with the involvement of School Children in paper presentation which has created an opportunity for them to carry out individual research on the Theme of the event, helping them to be well informed about our Environment.

However, experts have suggested some actions to fight the decline of insects, including planting native gardens to create suitable habitats for wildlife, selecting organic products, thereby avoiding harmful pesticides and reducing habitat destruction linked to property development or landscaping practice.

Other suggestions are educating friends and family about the role insects play in our ecosystem, supporting educational efforts aimed at insect conservation, including promoting their conservation at the community level, creating laws and regulations to protect insects and migratory birds and encouraging local conservation activities to maintain natural habitats for insects, birds and other wildlife.