Birds are indicators of the environment. If they are in trouble, we know we'll soon be in trouble.
Interpretation
Birds serve as a warning sign for the health of our environment and, by extension, our own well-being.
This quote highlights the role of birds as environmental indicators. It suggests that the health and behavior of bird populations reflect the state of ecosystems. When birds face challenges, it signals that the environment is suffering, and this can soon impact human life as well. Essentially, it serves as a reminder of our interconnectedness within the natural world.
In practice
In a speech about climate change, one might say, 'As Roger Tory Peterson wisely noted, birds are indicators of the environment.'
Birds ... are sensitive indicators of the environment, a sort of "ecological litmus paper," ... The observation and recording of bird populations over time lead inevitably to environmental awareness and can signal impending changes.
The truth of the matter is, the birds could very well live without us, but many -- perhaps all -- of us would find life incomplete, indeed almost intolerable without the birds.
The philosophy that I have worked under most of my life is that the serious study of natural history is an activity which has far-reaching effects in every aspect of a person's life. It ultimately makes people protective of the environment in a very committed way. It is my opinion that the study of natural history should be the primary avenue for creating environmentalists.
Birding, after all, is just a game. Going beyond that is what is important.
An owl sound wandered along the road with me. I didn't hear it--I breathed it into my ears.
What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.
But more wonderful than the lore of old men and the lore of books is the secret lore of ocean.
The tree is stripped,_x000D_ _x000D_ All color, fragrance gone,_x000D_ _x000D_ Yet already on the bough,_x000D_ _x000D_ Uncaring spring!
The stillness of October gold_x000D_ _x000D_ Went out like beauty from a face.
I go to the mountains for an adventure and each time I pray I will get up and down again.
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