…US beekeepers reported a 44 per cent collapse to their colonies over just 12 months. In the same time period, the UK butterfly monitoring scheme reported reductions in 70 per cent of all species. As for the wider insect world, all insect and invertebrate populations were calculated to have shrunk by 45 per cent in the last four decades… - Laura Cole/Geographic “Bug’s Life: the demise of insects”  July 2017

Insects are the lynchpins of many ecosystems. Around 60 percent of birds rely on them for food. Around 80 percent of wild plants depend on them for pollination. If they disappear, ecosystems everywhere will collapse.Ed Yong/The Atlantic  “Insects Are In Serious Trouble” October 19, 2017

If 80% of wild plants depend on insects for pollination, the decline of insects spells trouble for just about all birds, not just the insect-eating ones. So what can we do? To start with, work with farmers to:

  • Minimize pesticide exposure to non-target insects by reducing aerial applications and residual pesticide run-off, i.e., practice precision agriculture.
  • Increase non-cropped areas such as hedges, headlands, field margins, and set-asides
  • Avoid mowing/clipping hayfields and livestock grazing of areas during peak bird breeding season
  • Phase out pesticides that are particularly pernicious to birds, such as neonicotinoids. Did you know a single corn kernel coated with this nasty pesticide can kill a songbird?
  • Plant cover crops that filter movement of sediments and sediment-attached pollutants (e.g., insecticides, herbicides, fertilizer) to non-agricultural areas, such as wetlands.
  • Consider GMO crops that limit insecticide use. Yes, insect resistance is an issue - but resistance is inevitable with any effective insecticide (natural, artificial, or incorporated into the plant). Resistance cannot be eliminated, only managed.

Of course, government policy and regulation are part of the equation, especially programs that pay farmers to leave marginal lands fallow and increase wild habitat. But most farmers work long hours and struggle to make a profit.  Governments should work with them to help the bugs and the birds, not just "ban and command".

Reference:

Mineau, P. and C. Palmer. 2013. The impact of the nation’s most widely used insecticides on birds. American Bird Conservancy. http://abcbirds.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Neonic_FINAL.pdf