Here are seven things that you can do to help bird conservation:
- Start At Home – Create a pesticide-free, safe area for birds and other wildlife and you accomplish more than just beautifying your personal space. Neighbors will be awed by your beautiful, natural landscaping and be enticed to follow suit. If everyone along an entire street in a city converted their lawns into natural refuges, birds would have that much more space to rest, nest, and be merry.
- Contribute to Conservation – Many of us have tight budgets but there is almost always room for a donation to great places like the Nature Conservancy, American Bird Conservancy, or many other great organizations. It really is true that every little bit helps. The Birdfreak Team is a member of several conservation organizations and donate regularly.
- Take a Kid Birding – What does this have to do with conservation? EVERYTHING! You’d be amazed at how quickly kids become hooked on birding (as long as there are birds to be seen). And if a kid learns about birds and habitats, the higher the chance that they will become future advocates for the land.
- Volunteer – Volunteering can be scary but it is a great way to meet other people interested in conservation and contribute to various great projects. Even volunteering to write a bird club’s newsletter or create a bird club’s website (like we did) helps spread the word for conservation.
- Write Letters or E-mails – Sometimes when enough people write letters to the editor or to their senator or whomever, word spreads quickly about conservation problems. This can at times be a fruitless effort, but if the right person reads your letter, big things can happen.
- Join a Birding Organization – It is much easier to support conservation when doing so with other supporters. By joining birding clubs and ornithological societies you put yourself in the front lines of knowledgeable people that you can learn from. If you are already a member of your local birding club, consider joining a state-wide organization or even a nationwide one.
- Do Something Bigger! – By no means are their only seven things you can do to help conserve bird habitat. Think big and big things will happen. The great birders of our time are also great conservationists (think Kenn Kaufman). To truly be a great birder takes more than skill. It takes the understanding that we need to protect what we love and always put conservation before birding.
