WE TALK ABOUT
Our trash is not nature’s treasure
THERE’S so much trash in the world that it’s now become part of animals’ homes. Worrying new research shows birds are increasingly building nests with people’s trash, from plastic bags and fishing nets to cigarette butts – and it’s endangering their offspring.
A study published earlier this month by a team of European researchers shows that 176 species of birds are now building their nests with the waste our species discards.
According to the research, which covered 35 000 nests, birds on every continent apart from Antarctica now use manmade materials in nests.
“It seems increasingly clear that such materials can harm nestlings and even adult birds,” said Zuzanna Jagiełło, an ornithologist (bird specialist) who was part of the study.
Different species of birds use a wide variety of items for building material. Blackbirds, for example, were discovered to be using plastic rope to give nests volume, while blue tits used colourful litter to decorate their nests and white storks used
