Birds are Earth's great delivery service — moving the nutrients that feed reefs, forests and farms

Every day, without a single truck or ship, birds haul the ingredients of life across the planet. A team led by Cornell researcher Ethan Duvall reviewed nearly 400 scientific papers and found that birds — eating about 30% more than similar-sized mammals and ranging over oceans and mountains — carry nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients from where food is plentiful to where ecosystems are hungry: seabird colonies fertilise coral reefs, forest birds spread the makings of soil, and migrating flocks link land, lakes and sea into one living system. 'You can think of birds as highly efficient nutrient transporters,' says Duvall. The review, published in Current Biology, is a reminder that protecting birds is not just about the birds — it is maintenance for the machinery that feeds much of the living world.

SDG 15 · Life on land