Centennial bird scourge in the United States, annual lossesHundred million!
The fascination of Shakespeare's plays is well known, but at the end of the 19th century, an American fanatic of Shakespeare's plays caused an unprecedented disaster. It is rumored that the 100 birds he released 132 years ago are now causing $800 million a year in losses to the United States, which is a headache.
Next, I will reveal a fascinating story: one hundred and thirty-two years ago, a Shakespeare fanatic named Eugene Schiffeling brought the "talking" bird of Shakespeare's plays to America.
His original intention was to show the world his love for Shakespeare's plays, while also contributing to increasing biodiversity in the United States, as he was president of the American Domestication Society.
Eugene Schiffelin released sixty starlings in the first year and forty more in the second year, a feat that attracted a lot of attention at the time.
Eugene introduced starlings to the United States in response to an attack of agricultural pests. Although the sixty starlings released in the first year did not achieve the desired results, Eugene did not give up and decided to release them again the following year.
So, let's get to know this bird from Europe, but distributed all over the world, the starling. Currently, there are 107 different species of starlings, and they also have their distribution in northern Africa and northwest Asia.
Experts have found that although starlings originated in Europe, they do not survive in Europe and are thriving in their habitats in North America. According to statistics, there are more than 300 million starlings in the world, two-thirds of which live in North America.
This is because of the American we mentioned David Eugene"Feat", he opened up new habitats for starlings.
Although migratory bird migration is widely regarded as a beauty, for the United States, the mass breeding of starlings in the United States is a disaster. Due to the starling's activity in the United States, the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as an "invasive species," a not-so-good title.
So, what harm has been done to the United States by the more than 200 million starlings living in groups in the United States? One of them is the destruction of species diversity.
Although starlings were originally introduced to increase the number of avinith species native to the United States, the large number of starlings living in large numbers today has left living space and resources extremely scarce, threatening the survival chain of avians.
As a species at the top of the food chain, starlings are at risk of extinction for native ornithniths. At the same time, due to their special body structure, starlings can cause damage to crops on the ground, and when food cannot be found, a large number of starlings will attack farmers' crops, causing local agricultural production in the United States to plummet.
Despite the precautions taken by U.S. farmers, yields are still not returning to normal levels. To make matters worse, starlings can also carry viruses that pose a threat to agricultural production and human health.
Starlings are not only potential spreaders of disease, they have a large number of parasites inside and outside their bodies, and their droppings contain viruses. Although a small amount of starling droppings has little impact on the environment, a large number of 200 million starling droppings can be powerful enough to threaten the survival of living things.
In addition, a large number of starlings flying in the air also pose a threat to aircraft flight, not only obstructing the pilot's vision, but also causing an electric motor failure that can lead to a crash.
Finally, starlings' calls can also contribute to noise pollution, affecting the health of humans and animals.
There's a reason why Shakespeare compares starlings to a talking bird in his plays. Experts point out that starlings have beautiful voices and have a strong ability to imitate sounds.
However, a large number of starlings congregate in the United States, resulting in a very serious noise problem that seriously affects the daily lives of residents. The United States certainly did not expect this.
Moreover, the colony of so many starlings in the United States has led to economic losses of up to $800 million. Therefore, the United States must study the habitat conditions of starlings, change the environment, and eventually reduce the number of starlings, otherwise, a large number of starlings inhabit the United States, and the consequences will be unimaginable.
As the global bird population is shrinking, we need to focus not only on endangered species, but also on anomalous species like the American starling.