Subtitles (46)
0:00- You may have gotten wind,
0:01the turbines like these
are killing all the birds,
0:05so wind power's bad, but
how accurate is that?
0:08Yes, wind turbine collisions
account for somewhere
0:10between 140,000 to around
680,000 bird deaths each year.
0:15Mainly small migrating songbirds.
0:16And that's why the people who plan
0:18where wind turbines go work to study
0:20and avoid bird migration roots,
0:21sometimes even turn off wind turbines
0:23during peak migration times.
0:25Okay, that's not nothing
0:26but those wind turbine
numbers pale in comparison
0:28to how many other bird deaths
we are responsible for.
0:31Around 6 million birds crash
into communication towers
0:34like the ones your phone's
talking to you right now.
0:35These towers are tall.
0:36They shine lights in the night sky,
0:38which can disorient
songbirds traveling at night.
0:40And up to 50 million birds get tangled
0:42in overhead electricity lines each year,
0:44with about 5 million
getting electrocuted by 'em.
0:46About 72 million birds
get poisoned each year
0:49by things like pesticides
we use to protect our crops,
0:52or lead poisoning from spent ammunition,
0:54swallowed by scavenger
birds feeding on carcasses.
0:56And more than a billion
birds die every year
0:59from crashing into big glass
buildings or household windows
1:02or other confusing glass things
we keep putting everywhere.
1:04I guess it's clear, you
know, what do you expect?
1:06But you know who the real killers are,?
1:10Yes, more than 3 billion birds,
1:14get killed by household kitties
or feral cats every year.
1:17That's almost one feline bird murder
1:19for every two humans on Earth.
1:21"Not my cat," I hear you saying.
1:23And to that I say, "Yes."
1:26Cute, but also deadly murder machines.
1:29Anything that kills
wild birds is not good.
1:30But it seems like if you
want to save the most birds,
1:33maybe we should be talking
about cats instead.
1:35Don't ask me though, I'm a dog guy.
1:37Follow me for more cool science videos.
