Songbird Protection Coalition

10/04/2026

There’s been a catastrophic 73% drop in global wildlife in the last 50 years.

The find comes from World Wildlife Fund's “Living Planet Report,” and shows global wildlife populations plummeted by an average of 73% between 1970 and 2020.

This alarming decline spans nearly 35,000 population trends of over 5,000 vertebrate species, with freshwater ecosystems suffering the most devastating losses at an 85% drop.

Driven heavily by habitat destruction, unsustainable food systems, and the accelerating impacts of climate change, these losses are not just an environmental tragedy. They represent a fundamental threat to the stable ecosystems that provide humanity with clean air, fresh water, and arable soil.

The report cautions that we are on the verge of crossing irreversible ecological tipping points. These include the potential collapse of the Amazon rainforest, the mass die-off of global coral reefs, and the widespread destruction of vital pine forests.

The consequences of passing these thresholds would reverberate globally, causing massive disruptions to food security, local economies, and weather patterns. While localized conservation efforts show some promise, experts emphasize that only a coordinated global push over the next five years to reform food production and curb carbon emissions can avert a full-scale ecological catastrophe.

source: WWF. “Living Planet Report: A System in Peril.“ World Wildlife Fund.

09/27/2026

Every September, something happens at Baker Sanctuary near Battle Creek that looks less like a nature walk and more like a scene from another planet.

Tens of thousands of sandhill cranes stage in the shallow marshes here before their fall migration south, gathering in numbers that can top thirty thousand birds on a good evening. They spend the day feeding in nearby cornfields, then return to the marsh at dusk to roost standing in shallow water, safe from predators that cannot sneak up without splashing. The sound alone is unforgettable, a rolling, rattling chorus that carries for miles across the flat farmland of southern Michigan. Sandhill cranes are also one of the oldest bird species on earth, with fossil records showing they have existed in roughly their current form for millions of years, which makes watching a sky full of them feel less like birdwatching and more like time travel.

Locals call it the crane fly-in, and longtime birders plan their whole autumn around catching the peak week.

Have you ever caught the crane fly-in at dusk? Describe the sound to someone who has never heard it.

09/06/2026

When one shows up in your Pennsylvania yard and you actually stop to notice it, there is more to take in than a plain gray bird.

08/31/2026

08/25/2026

This morning I told you about a hunter who has publicly announced his intention to kill Yellowstone wolf 1090F when Wyoming's hunting season opens.

But I don't want his story to become her story. So let's talk about this elderly wolf.

1090F is the 12-year-old matriarch of Mollie's Pack, believed to be the oldest living wolf in the Yellowstone area. Twelve doesn't sound particularly old until you understand life as a wild wolf.

Wild wolves face injuries, disease, conflicts with other wolves, prey that fights back, starvation, humans, and simply the physical punishment of surviving winter after winter.

Many never reach old age. She did. And she didn't spend those years alone.

Mollie's Pack has an extraordinary history of its own. Its lineage stretches back to the wolves brought to Yellowstone during the original restoration effort in 1995.

That means 1090F isn't simply an old wolf wandering around Yellowstone. She's part of a family story scientists have been following for decades. And she's still contributing to it.

This year, at 12 years old, 1090F has five pups. Think about that.

She's survived more than a decade in one of the toughest environments imaginable and is still helping raise another generation. That's one reason individual Yellowstone wolves become so valuable to researchers.

A wolf followed for years isn't merely a dot on a population graph. Scientists can learn about pack structure, reproduction, territory, survival, dispersal, disease, relationships, and how wolf families change across generations.

And elderly wolves can tell us something particularly valuable: What does a wolf look like when everything goes right long enough for it to grow old?

Most of us will never see 1090F. She doesn't know she's famous.

She doesn't know people photograph her, study her family, argue about her, or know the number attached to her collar. She's simply doing what she's done for twelve years.

Surviving. Leading her family. And raising another generation of wolves.

Whatever happens after September 15, I think she deserves to be remembered for considerably more than becoming somebody's target.

She already had a story. And it's a remarkable one.

If you want to help... https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1614370757147508&set=a.199748841943047

08/19/2026

BIRD MIGRATION! The first bird surge of the season has brought much higher than expected bird activity Monday night. An estimated 232,000,000 birds are on the move, tracked by Doppler Radar moving South/Soutwest at 18 mph around an altitude of 2,100 feet. This data is according to BirdCast shows the highest concentration from the Great Lakes heading south across the Mississippi River Valley!