This planet is experiencingsilent spring“Wildlife devastation due to the death of large numbers of wild birds from avian flu, according to a leading scientist, who said last year saw the most significant and sudden loss of birds in decades.

James Pearce-Higgins, the organization’s science director British Trust for Ornithologycommented: “The last time we experienced large-scale, rapid loss of wild birds in the UK was the impact of DDT on birds of prey in the 1950s and 1960s, related to the narrative silent spring, or the general decline of farmed poultry during the 1970s and 1980s as a result of agricultural intensification”.

Narration of silent spring referring to Rachel Carson’s seminal 1962 book on how pesticides, specifically pesticides, DDTThey killed the birds. DDT it causes the egg shell to become so thin that the adults destroy it during the incubation period, leading to the destruction of the nest and the death of thousands of birds.

The World Organization for Animal Health estimates that more than 50,000 wild birds have died from the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu since October 2021, mainly in Europe and the Americas. However, experts say this may be an underestimation. In the UK alone, the number could be in the hundreds of thousands, although environmentalists say the true impact is still unknown, and most are unwilling to speculate.

In Britain, the consequences of bird flu first appeared on Scotland’s northernmost island in the spring, then spread down the east coast of England to Sussex, where nesting seabird colonies were hardest hit.

There have been more than a dozen outbreaks across the country among migratory waterfowl in the winter. This suggests it has spread and will be found again in breeding seabird colonies next year, explained Pearce-Higgins.

In the 2021-2022 season, there were more than 3,500 detections of the virus in wild birds across Europe, with reports from 37 countries detecting it in 63 wild bird species, according to avian influenza summaries published by the European Food Safety Authority. In the case of wild birds, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK recorded the highest number of cases, mostly from coastal areas, as seabirds were the most affected.

The first case in the United States of the current outbreak was reported in wigeon ducks in South Carolina on January 14, 2022. Since then, 3,700 positive tests have been detected in 47 states, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control. United States Control and Prevention.

However, such testing should not be considered an indicator of impact, as only a small proportion of dead birds will be collected and sent for laboratory testing, the researchers explained. “The reported numbers may be too low,” said Michelle Wille of the University of Sydney.

“For example, of the approximately 8,000 tern sandwiches that died in the Netherlands, only a few are included in the official figures, in this case a gap of more than 200x between the reported and observed figures. This lack of appreciation of the scale of mortality in wild birds is concerning, as there may be impacts at the species/population level.”

Globally, most reports came from Europe and then the Americas, according to United Nations chart data, but the disease is also spreading to Africa and Asia. In November this year, bird flu was detected in South America, and it was feared it would reach the Galapagos Islands.

Scientists suspect that the migratory Franklin gull brought the H5N1 subtype from the United States. More than 13,000 seabirds died, including more than 5,500 pelicans in Peru.

Since then it has spread to five South American countries, according to the Pan American Health Organization. “The recently reported outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza off the coast of Peru is a serious situation… evidence has pointed to the possibility of spread of the virus among other bird groups,” said Luis Germán Naranjo, WWF Colombia conservation director. .

The UK is home to around 60% of the world’s population of northern great skuas and gannets. Both species have suffered “unprecedented mortality rates,” notes Pearce-Higgins, and their populations are likely to be affected for decades because they are long-lived and slow-reproducing species.

Experts say the picture will get clearer in the coming years as we see how many migratory seabirds are re-breeding, which will give a better picture of how many have died..