PORTLAND, Maine — A favorite pastime of Mainers, in such a lush and beautiful state, is bird watching.
One Maine man, Derek Lovitch, loves watching different species of birds, but in recent years has noticed fewer and fewer of them flying in the sky.
Lovitch is not the only one who has noticed fewer birds.
According to a new estimate by the journal SCIENCE, over the past half-century, North America has lost more than a quarter of its bird population- about 3-billion birds.
"This is very concerning, especially to have the numbers now," says naturalist from the Maine Audubon, Doug Hitchcox.
Hitchcox says a lot could be contributing to the loss of birds, including feral cats, pesticides, habitat loss, and coffee.
"If you clear a swath of land then you can plant coffee. Have it exposed to sunlight and it will grow very quickly, so you've wiped out all that habitat where these birds are wintering," says Hitchcox.
The information was collected on more than five hundred bird species.
Hitchcox says some of the birds include ones in our backyards, like Baltimore Orioles.
"We're still seeing a decent amount of numbers of them across the country, but their populations are declining 20-30 percent in a short time frame," says Hitchcox.
He says here in Maine they've seen a decrease in forest nesting birds like the Wood Thrush and sparrows.
"Anyone who goes hiking in Maine probably knows the beautiful song of White-Throated Sparrows and that's a song we are slowly losing," says Hitchcox.
Both Hitchcox and Lovitch say they hope these numbers wake people up to the harsh reality one of nature's most precious treasures is facing.
They say to help solve this problem, people should buy organic foods, and keep cats indoors.