The 122nd Audubon Christmas Bird Count on December 18 in the White Mills Circle will soon be upon us. The count records all the birds found in the 15-mile-wide area within a 24-hour period. The data is then submitted to the national Audubon organization and is analyzed and archived for later research use.

While taking count of the birds, this annual assessment helps as an identifier or indicator for climate change. As data is collected and compiled, year after year, changes can be tracked. It also helps us understand the advantages of having birds around, despite the kind that make a racket in the morning and the kind [black vultures] that sit on our buildings and cause annoyances and problems in our communities, particularly in Narrowsburg, NY.

Well, there are many wonderful qualities that all birds have which benefit humanity. For example, their presence indicates healthy waterways, streams and a vibrant watershed leading to clean water (60 percent of drinking water comes from rivers and streams). They have a positive economic impact, as 45 million bird-watchers contribute almost $100 billion to local businesses engaged in providing services. A recent study found northern pintail ducks alone generate about $100 million annually from hunters and bird-watchers.

Property values are higher when located near parks and wildlife refuges that are home for many bird species. And by eating the larvae of destructive insects, a single bird can save 24 pounds of coffee per acre per year and also help prevent insect outbreaks in wine vineyards. Growers in California are integrating bird-friendly techniques in order to attract their services. Another wonderful benefit is that bird songs and sounds can positively affect our health and uplift our mood.

Within the 260 bird families in the world are the 10,000-plus species possessing brilliant beauty, diversity, adaptability and resiliency that have served them well over 150 million years of their evolution. These animals are the last of the true dinosaurs that survived the Cretaceous extinction 65 million years ago. They are wonders and jewels and because of their breeding strategies have allowed us to unlock the principles of evolution and natural selection.

Their study has contributed to our understanding of natural resource management and conservation biology, just to name some of their scientific contributions.

What would happen to you and the world if you awoke with not a single bird at your feeder, or you could not watch the local robins and chickadees and woodpeckers caring for their young? That scenario may not be too far in the future. During the last 50 years of record-keeping by Breeding Bird Surveys, Christmas Bird Counts and Next-Generation Radar [NEXRAD] monitoring, it is estimated that the population of North American birds has declined by three billion. That is one out of four birds gone since 1970.

Of the 539 breeding species, 90 percent of the decline has come from 12 bird families, including sparrows, warblers, finches and swallows.

If you are reading this column, you know many of the human-induced activities that have caused this decline. The following is not an all-inclusive list: loss of habitat by clearing for agriculture and building of roads and communities, destruction by the extractive industries of coal and gas, use of pesticides on our farms and around our homes, plus communication towers and even wind turbines strikes. All have added up to a severe impact on bird survival. A warming climate is driving bird populations in defensive ways that probably will be the ultimate destruction of bird life as we know it if we don’t put the brakes on it.

Birds are resilient, as seen with the Endangered Species Act success stories of the bald eagle and peregrine falcon, and populations do increase, if we give them a chance.

They will always be the indicators of our climate health by bird movement to, from and around areas unfavorable for their survival, which alerts us to those problem areas.

We can help birds by keeping pressure on our elected representatives to support funding science and conservation partnerships needed for birds in our hemisphere. Join a citizen science project, such as the Christmas Bird Count, Project Feeder Watch or your Audubon chapter and be proactive by providing useful data for researchers who study population trends.

We are all connected, our lives are dependent on other creatures large and small. We are their only voice and it is our responsibility to care for each other. There will always be questions of how and what to do, but we must let the better angels of our nature rule our actions to achieve what is best for the common good of all.

That is my view.

Barbara Leo serves as the conservation chair of the Northeast PA Audubon Society.