Statistics for The Birds

This one's for the birds...

What.On.Earth

Photo: Sam Moore

– Excerpt from ‘Mind’ from The Dream of The Unified Field by Martha’s Vineyard poet Jorie Graham

The slow overture of rain,
Each drop breaking
Without breaking into
The next, describes
The unrelenting, syncopated
Mind. Not unlike
The hummingbirds
Imagining their wings
To be their heart, and swallows
Believing the horizon
To be a line they lift
And drop.

Source: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

~50

Percent of the world’s bird species that are songbirds

Source: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

2/3

Portion of songbird species in which the females sing

Source: eos

Percent decrease in volume of sparrows’ song during the early pandemic when noise pollution was down

Source: Mental Floss

Weight in grams of average hummingbird

Source: Mental Floss

Weight in grams of a nickel

Source: Canadian Wildlife Federation

13,600

Weight in grams of Trumpeter swan, North America’s
largest bird

Source: AllAboutbirds.org

Up to 50,000

Number of acorns that Acorn woodpeckers store individually in holes in trees, fence posts, utility poles, and buildings

Source: The CoRnell Lab of Ornithology

70+

Number of North American species that are attracted to sunflower seeds

Source: Audubon

Percentage of North American bird species that feed insects to their young

Source: Audubon

~550

Number of species of butterflies supported in North America by native oaks

Source: Audubon

9,000

Number of caterpillars a clutch of Carolina chickadee chicks eat in the 16 days between hatching and fledging

Source: Audubon

Increased sightings of Wood Thrushes, Eastern Towhees, Veeries, and Scarlet Tanagers (all species of conservation concern) in yards with native plantings as compared with yards landscaped with typical alien ornamentals