Luc Santos

Eng 990
12-2-2019
Professor Stanford

Academic Writing Portfolio

Analysis

I think the writer was motivated to write this article for a few reasons; His own beliefs

and ethical standpoint, seeing a species so closely to us hurting and not having their own voice.

The imperfection the writer is confronting Is the huge problem of birds being in danger due to

human activities.

The writer wants to inform readers about the harm that is being done to so many

species of birds. He wants to educate, give scientific facts and inform us. I find evidence of the

purpose all throughout the article. It is filled full of information explaining the problem and

what it is we can do to help change it.

The historical contents that make this article very fascinating is that the loss of birds

has risen as human population has gone up. There are a few factors to be concerned about, but

we are truly a huge part to the endangerring of bird species. A massive political problem could

be that one of the major ways to save the birds is requiring bird conservations. There could be
people who feel differently than some and may not want to support this therefor causing a

problem with it.

The writer fills the article full of information from numerous research studies and data

bases with numbers, species, losses, and gains. He compares to the time that ducks were in the

same danger, but the effort was put together to try and help them and it was successful. This

comparison gives some hope to show that it is possible, and with the correct change and

implementing this we can all work together to regain the loss birds and change the future of

endangering many species.

I think the intended audience for this topic/article is nearly everyone! The loss of birds is

something everyone needs to know about, and everyone needs to work together to try and

stop this from continuing. Being that It is such a massive effort that needs to take place, we

need to inform as much people as possible to gain some traction on this topic.

I believe this article is a expository writing / report. This type allows the writer to state

his feelings and express the problems with factual evidence. I don’t think he strays away from

the point of the article.

Yes, I think the writer has accomplished his goal of posting this article. It gives the

reader the information needed for them to make an educated decision without them feeling
pressured or obligated about it. I have personally been thoroughly moved by this article and

want to do as much possible that I can to try and save these species.

Annotations
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Summary

In their article The Crisis for Birds Is a Crisis for Us All, John W. Fitzpatrick and Peter P.

Marra argued and showed stunning scientific evidence about the billions of loss birds due

to humans damaging and changing their environment for the worse. “Nearly one-third of the
wild birds in the United States and Canada have vanished since 1970, a staggering loss that

suggests the very fabric of North America’s ecosystem is unraveling.” (Fitzpatrick 2019)

A scientific report has been concluded that shows a staggering loss of 2.9 billion birds.

These numbers are extremely worrisome, and John W. Fitzpatrick seems to understand why.

He stated in the article “Birds are indicator species, serving as acutely sensitive

barometers of environmental health” (Fitzpatrick 2019) He believes this understanding of

birds and their species brings light to why they are disappearing and why we should be worried.

A significant amount of these bird’s population comes from natural reserves and a lot of

which have been vanishing therefore their homes are becoming uninhabitable and pushing

away numerous species to near extinction.

John does have some insight on how to make a change for the better, and he knows this

is possible because it has been done previously when a large amount of ducks were in danger

and change was made. Conservation management became at the forefront of priority and

today the duck population has grown by a massive 56%.

He explained that we need big changes in order to make a difference to save

these endangered species. Some of his recommendations are that we need bold,

landscape-scale conservation campaigns across North America that are similar to

what was done to help the ducks when they were in danger.
 In summary, he stated “We need most is a societal shift in the values we place on living

side-by-side with healthy and functioning natural systems. Natural habitat must not be viewed

as an expendable luxury but as a crucial system that fosters human health and supports all life

on the planet.” (Fitzpatrick 2019)

The change we need to make is possible, and people need to understand the urgency

for not only the birds, but for all of humankind as well.

Citation: (Fitzpatrick 2019)

Fitzpatrick, John. W. (n.d.). The Crisis for Birds Is a Crisis for Us All. NY Times.

Response

When I first read this article, I felt informed then followed by feeling immediately

worried for all of humankind, and all living species. In their article The Crisis for Birds Is a Crisis

for Us All, John W. Fitzpatrick and Peter P. Marra argued and showed astonishing scientific

evidence about the nearly three billion birds we have lost due to humans damaging and

changing their whole community and living environment; all for the worse. This is result is

from a few major problems. 1. The growth of human population and overtaking the natural

environment of birds. 2. The destruction of habitat (through development for habitation,

logging, animal and single-crop agriculture, and invasive plants) 3. Bird trafficking, egg

collecting, and pollution. This would be in fertilizers impacting native plants, diversity, and

pesticides. John stated; “Nearly one-third of the wild birds in the United States and Canada have
vanished since 1970, a staggering loss that suggests the very fabric of North America’s

ecosystem is unraveling.” (Fitzpatrick 2019)

“Birds are indicator species, serving as acutely sensitive barometers of environmental

health” (Fitzpatrick 2019) A scientific report has been concluded that shows a staggering loss of

2.9 billion birds. These numbers are extremely worrisome, and John W. Fitzpatrick seems to

understand why this change has been occurring and continually getting worse. A significant

amount of these bird’s population comes from natural reserves and a lot of which have been

vanishing therefore their homes are becoming uninhabitable and pushing away numerous

species to near extinction.

Although all of this information is worrisome, John does have some helpful insight as to

how we can make a change for the better, and he knows this is possible because it has

previously been done when a large amount of ducks were in danger due to similar

circumstances and the needed changes were made to reverse this horrible cycle. Conservation

management became at the forefront of priority and today the duck population has rebounded

with a massive growth of nearly 56%.

John W. Fitzpatrick explained that we need big and small changes in order to make a

difference to save these endangered species. Some of his recommendations are that we need

bold, landscape-scale conservation campaigns across all of North America that are similar to
what was done to help the ducks when they were in the same danger. We need to avoid the

use of pesticides and herbicides in our own yards, add native plants to our yard or garden, and,

maybe even provide a bird bath or feeder if you like their company!

In his ending summary, he stated “We need most is a societal shift in the values we place

on living side-by-side with healthy and functioning natural systems. Natural habitat must not be

viewed as an expendable luxury but as a crucial system that fosters human health and supports

all life on the planet.” (Fitzpatrick 2019) This statement speaks massively as to what we need to

do and how positively this will affect, sustain, and expand all of our living species on our

continent.

The change we need to make are possible no doubt, but all of this needs to be put at the

forefront of importance so that we as the people can learn about the damage that is being

done, become informed and understand how crucial the urgency for this matter really is.

Citation: (Fitzpatrick 2019)

Fitzpatrick, John. W. (n.d.). The Crisis for Birds Is a Crisis for Us All. NY Times.