7 Birds Endangered by the Plastic Pollution

Top 7 Birds Threatened by the Plastic Pollution

We can all visualise the image of a bird flying high above symbolising freedom and nature. Yet just below its surface and its shores lies an emergency, silent, that is unraveling, poisoning, asphyxiating avian living at a gruesome rate. The culprit? Plastic pollution what we could do about it

Birds are on the frontline of a global plastic pollution crisis with millions of tons of plastic waste getting deposited into our environments each year. And from poor diet to moral vice, the impact is devastating. That's why today we will see the case of seven wonderful birds ensnared by plastic debris who must rely on each other to drum up enthusiasm in fighting back plastic pollution.

Laysan Albatross

One of the most popular of the plastic pollution birds is the Laysan Albatross. These giant seabirds flying above the vast Pacific Ocean, most of the time, will take plastic trash drifting at the ocean surface for food. So they go out of their way to collect all this so they can feed it to their squabs upon returning back to the nest.

Unfortunately, this results in chicks being born with stomachs full of bottle caps, lighters and other indigestible bobby pins. The result is the false sense of satiety and the inevitable outcome of starvation, dehydration and death in most cases. This unintentional poisoning is one of the main reasons that many species like the Laysan Albatross are today endangered and serves as an excellent example of how plastic is capable of killing birds painfully.

Northern Gannet

Northern Gannets are efficient and fearless hunters: they catch their food by plunging. But there's real danger for released fishing gear, also called ghost nets. However, these birds can be trapped in tangles during a dive to the point that they can drown, be seriously injured, or disabled in the chase or during flight. This type of plastic pollution has shown how even the wisest of our hunters (animals, birds and fish) can't escape our waste.

Puffinus

Atlantic Puffins are a colourful and noisy bird with a colourful beak, so if that's what you want, this is the bird for you! While they forage at the surface for small fish in much the same way as other seabird species, it's possible they are also filtering in microplastics that are on the surface. When they eat this, it stays in their stomachs, which not only hinders them from absorbing nutrients, and sometimes leaches toxic chemicals into their body, but is one of the reasons they are not increasing in population at the rate they once were.

Hawaiian Petrel

The petrel is a common low flying seabird of old Hawaii, but this species, too, faces a new emerging threat. Because the cresting bill biting Hawaiian Petrel gathers its food of squid and fish near the surface of the ocean, it is particularly susceptible to ingestion of plastic pellets and debris. Combine that with a threatened species, and ingesting plastic turns into another of those features that would give the species enough velocity over that escape velocity to skew it into endangeredbird because of plastic territory.

Black-footed Albatross

Like its cousin, the Laysan, the Black-footed Albatross comes off worse for ingesting plastics. . They feed on vast areas of the Pacific, an area which now contains the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. "And so their foraging system puts them right literally in those plastic soup areas, and so it is pretty obvious that a lot of these birds are getting plastic in their bodies and living with it, and serving as a sort of memento mori about the threat to oceanic birds."

Royal Tern

It's not just the open ocean vagabonds that it afflicts. Coastal bird species like the Royal Tern are also predated to the same degree, as they become entangled in plastic six pack rings, fishing line and other trash found in beaches and salt marshes. Skin entanglements may result in limb amputation, incapacitation, predation susceptibility, and are thus direct evidence of the mortality risks associated with littered plastics in nesting habitats.

Magellanic Penguin

The individual intervention of plastic is global in scale. The Magellanic Penguins are migratory birds and whilst travelling along the coasts of South America they encounter plastic trash. Not only did they find plastic debris of all types, but they also found synthetic rubber. "Plastic pollution adds an unnecessary burden for a bird that is already struggling to find food as a result of climate change and is also struggling with oil spills.

What we can do to Help

That is bad, but not irredeemable. A person saved each pound of plastic that is not used Below is a list of just a few ways you can help to save these majestic birds, who are dying from plastic pollution: Bring plastic free groceries and recycling bottles and containers with you. This has been the longest lasting solution that has been successfully implemented: When fishermen abandon or lose a line or net, it becomes a ghost trap. Attend or organize local beach and river clean up days. Purchase products that are made from recycled materials and produce as little packaging as possible. Less Mermaid Tears, Start educating those around you on how plastic pollution is affecting our local birds. These birds are very closely linked to our ordinary life. Only through changes in our perception of plastic as a whole will we be able to provide a future physical home within our skies and seas for such magnificent beings well in to the future. "The question of their enjoyment of their freedom is a question for our conscience."