Bridget Stutchbury, author of Silence of the Songbirds, recently stopped in Fredericton to warn that the bird population is dwindling, reported the Fredericton Telegraph-Journal May 20.

A Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology at York University, Stutchbury says the Canadian bird population has been declining by one to two per cent a year since the mid-1960s. She cited pesticide use and deforestation as a couple of the problems, and singled out the practice of forest clearing for coffee plantations as one of the primary concerns – another reason to support shade-grown coffee.

But far-off coffee plantations aren't the only problem. The same day the story on Stutchbury ran, NB Power advertised its 2010 herbicide application program on its transmission line rights-of-ways.

Republished courtesy of YFile– York University’s daily e-bulletin.