Bird niches in human culture and why they matter

Abstract

People care about birds far more than they do about most forms of biodiversity. Birds share our sensory modalities, they are mostly diurnal, and their ability to fly makes them conspicuous and aesthetically attractive. Birds occur virtually everywhere we do, even in the center of the largest cities. They play prominent roles in religion, sports, arts, and conservation (1). Conservation strategies often focus on saving birds, even if there are more endangered but less popular taxa at risk. Arguably, the bipartisan support that led to the passage of the US Endangered Species Act arose at least partly from the desire to prevent the extinction of the national bird, the bald eagle ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus ) (2). One of the most important books in the history of conservation derived much of its power by evoking a “silent spring” (3) devoid of bird song in a world contaminated by pesticides. In their PNAS article “Characterizing the cultural niches of North American birds,” Schuetz and Johnston (4) argue that there is an urgent need to understand what factors shape bird niches in human culture so that we can use this knowledge to advance conservation. Schuetz and Johnston (4), however, do not have an existing blueprint for measuring cultural niches. Scientists quantify ecological niches of birds by measuring traits such as their position along climatic gradients, diet, the sites where they forage, and the tactics used to catch prey (5). Cultural niches, on the other hand, require measuring human responses to birds, a process complicated by the difficulties of interviewing humans directly, the many different ways people respond to birds, and the large number of bird species involved. Even North America, one of the world’s least biodiverse regions, has about 671 regularly occurring bird species, each with its own cultural niche. Schuetz and Johnston’s (4) approach … [↵][1]1Email: srobinson{at}flmnh.ufl.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1