As Forests Go, Songbirds Go

Forests in Central America and northern South America are being cut down for timber and other wood products​—approximately 35 percent in the last 25 years. Some 55 species of songbirds winter in these areas, and migrate into North America for spring and summer. As the forests disappear, so do the numbers of warblers, kingbirds, vireos, tanagers, peewees and other perching songbirds. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service conducts a survey each spring at 1,700 sites across the country. Thousands of millions of birds migrate northward each spring, but the surveys show a steady annual population decrease since 1968.