Bird populations dropping: In a study, published in Science recently, scientists have discovered a sharp decline in various bird species over the last four decades. The data shows cumulative loss of nearly three billion birds since 1970, across most North American biomes, which is a sign of “a pervasive and ongoing crisis.”

In an interesting statistic, studies indicate that migration has dropped 14% in the last 10 years.

The study was conducted by a group of experts, including Kenneth V. Rosenberg, with affiliations to both Cornell University’s Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the American Bird Conservancy in Washington, DC; Adriaan M. Dokter from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and Peter J. Blancher from the National Wildlife Research Centre, Environment and Climate Change in Ottawa, Canada.

According to the study, out of 529 species of birds in the continental United States and Canada, 2.9 billion birds across all biomes have been lost over the course of a 48-year period. This is based on population projections and various data gathered over time. The birds that seem to be most impacted are grassland bird species.

Meanwhile, wetland birds are the only ones to show population gain in the same timeframe. The study shows that more than 90% of the total cumulative loss can be attributed to 12 bird families, including sparrows, warblers, blackbirds, and finches.

Habitat loss is one of the biggest factors in the population decline, but a decrease in water quality or food source in an environment also can be a factor.

If you want to help save the birds, consider the following ideas: keep cats indoors (which is also good for the felines); plan native species and cut back on lawn mowing; skip using pesticides and drink bird friendly coffee. Not only is this variety of coffee helpful to 42 species of North American songbirds, it’s also tasty for human consumers.

Ask at the local grocery store for brands that are certified bird-friendly.