In the last week or so, several enviro and news sites (such as David Suzuki Foundation and CBC) have been reporting on a study released by the conservation organization, BirdLife International, entitled State of the World's Birds. The report lays out all the bad news that one might expect: 1 in 8 birds is on the endangered list; the rate of bird extinctions is accelerating; industrial-scale agriculture, logging, and invasive species are fingered as among the main culprits for the plight of birds. However the report also explains how climate change is also a major factor threatening bird populations. The reason is that although warming temperatures are causing spring to arrive earlier in the birds' breeding grounds, the birds have not altered their migration times and so arrive at their destination after their main food source - butterflies, caterpillars and other insects - have already peaked. Luckily the report is not all bad news. It identifies Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), which provide important ecosystem services, including hosting ideal bird habitats. Protecting the over 12,000 IBAs identified by BirdLife International would go a long way to preserving biodiversity and hopefully slow the decline of bird populations. BirdLife International estimates it would cost US $57.8 billion/year to conserve the IBAs. Why is this good news? A BirdLife International scientist puts it this way: “The total sums may sound large, but they are small in terms of government budgets, and they should be seen as investments, not bills – saving nature makes economic sense because of the payback in terms of services and benefits that people receive in return, from mitigating climate change to pollinating crops.”