Scientists Counted The Birds. The Number Made People Cry

Mr Murugan and Ms Fong · Sep 18, 2026 · 8m

Murugan downloaded a bird identification app. Forty minutes later he was still on the balcony, phone held up, not moving.Then Ms Fong looked into why so many people had done the same thing — and stopped smiling.North America has lost close to three billion breeding birds since 1970. Quietly, while everyone was looking at other things. This episode is about what birdwatching has accidentally become: the largest act of collective noticing in human history, arriving exactly when it was needed.IN THIS EPISODE- The 2019 Science study: a net loss of 2.9 billion birds across North America, a 29%…