Lost And Gone Forever
By 
Last week the Fish and Wildlife Service declared 11 birds, 8 freshwater mussels, 2 fish, a bat and a plant extinct. The headliner is the ivory-billed woodpecker, but the Bachman’s warbler and Kauai O’o are gone too.
The big factor in their extinctions seems to be habitat loss. We are building houses and polluting streams into what used to be wilderness at a fearsome rate. Even where things seem to stay the same, like in my neighborhood, I see fewer swifts and nighthawks than I once did.
We think of nature too much in human terms. Birding is counting numbers. Trails are for keeping ourselves fit. But if we are to allow other species their space on this planet, we have to think in their terms.
What I see on my Twitter feed seems like New York’s Central Park is welcoming both to birds and to humans. We need to do more of that.