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Bird Conservation
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Waterbird Conservation
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Why are Waterbirds Important?
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Willet. Photo by Howard B. Eskin
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Birds are crucial to the healthy functioning of many natural systems on Earth. Birds of all kinds have played important roles in human history, yet waterbirds share with us special, intimate relationships based on admiration, imagination, exploitation, and the watery habitats we both require or enjoy. The importance of these species ranges from the biological niches they occupy to nutrition, income, and aesthetic inspiration.
First and foremost, waterbirds play an integral role in a variety of ecosystems. They are recyclers, predators, and prey. Because they require water and associated habitat of adequate quality and quantity, their successes or declines are indicative of the health of environments.
Throughout our long association, waterbirds – both wild and domestic - have fed and warmed men and women with their flesh and feathers. Humans have been so inspired by waterbirds that they have incorporated them into their religions; made them symbols of nations, states, and regions; and painted, photographed, and sculpted them in an effort to capture their beauty and mystique.
Today, waterbirds are big business. Domestic waterbirds provide the world with meat, eggs, feathers, and down. Bird hunting and bird watching together are a $35 billion industry. On the other hand, waterbirds occasionally compete with humans for resources, and are thus sometimes reviled for their consumption of our crops and aquacultural products.
Finally, with increasing frequency, waterbirds and other birds provide us with insights into the workings of the natural world. Studies of avian evolution, inheritance, learning, population dynamics, flight, hormonal activity, gene expression, brain mapping, and behavior are providing us with answers to questions that have intrigued us for centuries.
For all of these reasons, waterbirds are of special interest to everyone concerned with conservation and environmental health.
What are waterbirds?
Conservation status of waterbirds
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