Twenty benefits of birds

Benefits of birds: birds can control the number of pests and pollinate plants, birds are cleaners of nature, birds spread seeds, birds change the whole landscape, birds maintain the survival of coral reefs, birds stimulate science, are beneficial to physical and mental health, maintain ecological balance and ensure public health and environmental sanitation.

1, birds can control the number of pests.

Birds eat 400-500 million tons of insects every year. In China, two-thirds of small white-waisted Swifts eat agricultural pests. In American forests, toucans became superheroes when aphids broke out.

2. Birds pollinate plants

In South Africa, nearly a quarter of sage is pollinated by birds. This flower has no fragrance, because birds prefer sight to smell. Their role as pollinators directly benefits us-about 5% of edible or medicinal plants are pollinated by birds. If birds disappear, the result will be tragic: plants and birds will be extinct together.

Birds are the cleaners of nature.

The sight of vultures hovering overhead seems to be an ominous omen, but the key is the speed of their arrival (usually within an hour after the death of animals) and the cleanliness, so vultures are precious. Other inefficient scavengers, such as wild dogs or mice, may need several days to pick up the remains, which will lead to the development and spread of deadly diseases such as rabies and tuberculosis.

4. Birds spread seeds

When birds travel, they take the seeds they have eaten, digest them and spread them through their feces. They bring plants back to the destroyed ecosystem and even send them across the ocean to new land.

Birds have changed the whole landscape.

Birds store carbon, maintain climate stability, provide oxygen for the air, and convert pollutants into nutrients. But without birds, many ecosystems might not exist. Birds maintain a delicate balance between plants and herbivores, predators and prey. A perfect example is the salt marsh in the southeastern United States, where reeds flourish, filtering local water and protecting the coast from seawater erosion.

6. Birds keep the coral reefs alive.

Seabirds fly to the sea hundreds of kilometers away for food, and when they come back, they will deposit a very exciting layer of bird droppings (seabird droppings) in their nests. These bird droppings seep into the ocean and nourish nearby communities, such as coral reefs.

7. Birds inspire science

From flying technology to the invention of feather tube zipper, human beings have been drawing inspiration from birds for centuries. Some of these advances are great: Darwin's study of finches proved to be very helpful to the formation of his idea of evolution through natural selection.

8, good for physical and mental health

Bird language, like music, as a kind of information, can adjust the function of people's nervous system, relax people's nervousness, and thus make people feel relaxed. Some bird songs also have the function of preventing diseases and keeping fit.

9. Maintain ecological balance

Birds are an important part of natural ecosystem, and species depend on each other through food chain. Berry-eating birds can help plants spread seeds, while hummingbirds, bees and sunbirds can help flowering plants spread pollen. Without these birds, the renewal and succession of plants will be hindered and the ecological balance will be seriously destroyed.

10, protecting public health and environmental sanitation.

Birds that feed on insects, such as azalea and thrush, are helpful to control pests and reduce the use of pesticides, thus reducing the harm of pesticide residues to human health and environmental pollution. Birds such as vultures have the habit of eating carrion, and they have made special contributions to eliminating environmental pollution caused by sick animals and rotting corpses. Birds that feed on ticks, such as starlings, eliminate ticks and other parasites that harm domestic animals and wild animals.