Study reveals alarming decline of birdlife

Pesticides has been largely blamed for the drop in bird populations Keystone

The number of birds in Europe, including Switzerland, has declined by a quarter in the last 37 years, according to a scientific study.

Without rapid changes in agricultural practices, the “fate of Europe’s bird populations is at stake”, say the authors of the study, which was published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

+ Making Switzerland a better place for birds

The use of pesticides and fertilisers has reduced the amount of available natural foods that birds live on, such as insects and worms.

Researchers, including the Swiss Ornithological Station Sempach, evaluated data of the 170 most common bird species in Europe at more than 20,000 locations in 28 countries – including Switzerland – between 1980 and 2016.

The study found a drop of around 57% of birds in agricultural land, a 28% fall in the number of city birds and 18% of forest species.

A separate study published this month found that birds are worse off on Swiss farms than in neighbouring countries.

But studies have also shown that some bird species have adapted to changes better than others.