Ornithologists Talk about Changes Brought to Bird Population by Climate Change and Urban Habitats

New sports venues have become convenient hunting grounds.

Chair of the Department of Bioecology, Hygiene and Public Health, Chairman of the Russian Bird Protection Union Ilgizar Rakhimov told us, «Contemporary buildings are made of glass, concrete, and plastic. They are easily heated and therefore attractive to insects. Birds have found that out and adapted to hunting there».

Ornithologists have also been meeting more wagtails at parking lots recently. It appears that birds collect insects which become trapped in radiator grills. “I am calling wagtails “parking-lotters”. Those birds have become used to easy prey and scan every car for insects”.

Another interesting story is about swifts, “We have noticed that they hunt during night at stadiums with open lights. Heated atmosphere at the stadium is created thanks to spectators, and insects are drawn to that area. A cloud of insects is hanging over them. Swifts just have to collect what's in front of them, and nighttime is not an obstacle”.

As Professor Rakhimov noted, a new ecosystem has emerged in areas of water reservoirs created in 1950s. There is food supply there. He said, “We are witnessing a boom of Laridae. They are quickly populating Kuybyshev and Nizhnekamsk reservoirs. This year we have registered nests of moorhens, great crested grebes, and Eurasian coots”.

If a scientific approach to environmental management is used, birds can easily adapt to new conditions and increase their population.