Why is the number of swallows drastically decreasing? It turns out that they encountered the same predicament as humans

Once in the countryside, swallows can be seen everywhere; but I don't know when it started, it seems that we see less and less swallows around us.

In fact, the number of swallows is decreasing sharply, and the problems they encounter overlap with the problems that humans are facing.

Swallow numbers are declining sharply

Swallows belong to summer migratory birds in our country. The most common ones we see are barn swallows (zhuoyan) and golden waisted swallows (qiaoyan). These birds like to build nests under the eaves, get close to humans, and eliminate many pests for agriculture and forestry.

But nowadays, the swallow, which people are so familiar with, seems to be slowly fading from our sight. This is not an illusion, the number of swallows is indeed decreasing rapidly.

A scholar once conducted a survey in southern Jiangsu, and the results showed that all farmers believed that in the 1950s and 1970s, there were a lot of swallows, and every household had swallow nests, and some even had several; in the 1980s, swallows Much less, and continued to decrease in the 1990s.

The monitoring of swallow population is still in its infancy in my country, but the survey results in local areas can also explain some problems. In addition, we can also feel when we are in the country that there are not as many swallows as before.

It can be said that foodies in our country do not refuse, but swallows are beneficial birds and have always been close to human beings, and few people eat swallows. They are not becoming less and less because they are eaten, but because they have encountered the same predicament as humans.

housing difficulties

"Housing" is one of the hottest topics in our country. Although the state has continuously introduced policies to ease housing difficulties, people generally have real estate anxiety and worry about buying a house.

Swallows also encountered housing problems. In the countryside, they most often build nests at the corners under the eaves, which can not only shelter from wind and rain, avoid predators, but also have a wider field of vision.

When they build their nests, they bring soil, grass stems, and feathers, mixed with saliva, to build their homes. And now, they have lost that condition.

With the improvement of living standards, the housing of rural people has been upgraded. Many houses have become reinforced concrete structures, and some are villa-style single-family houses.

These houses no longer use structures such as rafters (chuán) and beams, and the swallows' choice of nesting space is greatly reduced. Since they can't build a nest, they naturally won't appear in human homes as often as before.

In the city, there are high-rise buildings everywhere, and swallows cannot find mud and lack materials for nesting. In the countryside, ponds have been destroyed in some places in order to increase the supply of commercial land, making it difficult for swallows to obtain mud.

food dilemma

Whether it is humans or animals, food is indispensable. my country has a population of 1.4 billion and consumes a huge amount of food. The reason why most people can eat well and well is due to the guidance of national policies and the efforts of scientists such as Yuan Longping.

For animals, including swallows, food is an important factor in determining population numbers. As beneficial birds, swallows usually feed on pests in farmland and woods. However, the development of rural areas in my country has greatly reduced these insects.

In many rural areas, the agricultural structure has been adjusted, the scale of the breeding industry has expanded, and the scale of the planting industry has shrunk. In the aspect of planting industry, people adopt modern farming methods, mechanical operation, and the use of pesticides, which have largely eliminated the swallow's food - insects.

Insects eaten by swallows have not only declined in quantity, but also in quality. There is biological enrichment in nature, and insects are polluted by chemicals. After being eaten by swallows, they will have a certain impact on the latter, threatening their survival and reproduction.

population loss

In many villages, most of the houses in the village are empty unless they celebrate the New Year. Young and middle-aged people have gone to work in cities; or every household is developing in cities and rarely returns to their hometowns, and some villages have even become empty villages.

The loss of rural population is not only a problem faced by humans, but also a problem faced by swallows. One of the reasons why swallows build nests under the eaves is that humans can provide them with shelter, and other animals dare not invade them rashly.

But after the population is lost, the empty house is not much different from the wild, and one of the advantages of nesting under the roof of humans is lost.

change in human attitudes

In addition to the above-mentioned dilemmas similar to humans, swallows are also limited in other ways. In the past, in rural areas, basically every household welcomed swallows to build nests, at least they would not be disgusted.

But nowadays, people's living habits have changed, usually the doors and windows are closed, which directly blocks the passage of swallows to build nests and go out for food.

At the same time, residents have higher requirements for hygiene, and many people can't stand swallow feces, and some sanitation workers will destroy swallow nests when they are working.

In addition, "lack of protection awareness" is also a major reason for the decline in the number of swallows. Many people believe that only endangered animals are worth calling for protection. Swallows are "everywhere" animals and should not be taken seriously.

In addition, most people in modern society are far away from farming. Unlike the older generation, who have special feelings for swallows and other beneficial birds, they do not pay attention to this aspect.

It is the weakening of protection consciousness that makes many people do not even know swallows, and even some bear children deliberately destroy swallow nests and kill young swallows. How can the situation of swallows be better?

However, the decline in the number of swallows is not entirely the fault of human beings, and many swallows died of natural causes. They fly to the other side of the ocean during winter, and those swallows who are not ready will die on the way, and there are many swallows who die every year.

No matter what the reasons are for the sharp decline of swallows, we should be more warm to this interracial friend of human beings, handle the relationship between man and nature well, and don't wait until the animals become endangered before realizing that we need to protect them.