We’ve seen the miraculous return of our feathered friends from their winter in the warm south and can now enjoy watching as they nest and raise new families. Birds inspire and uplift us with their energy, colorful plumage, interesting behaviors, various calls and songs, and the important ways they do their part to keep our world healthy.
Birds pollinate and spread seeds of many of the plants that provide us with food, with medicine, with wood and with clean, fresh air. They keep insect and rodent numbers in check, and they are valuable as prey for bigger birds and other animals. All services that humans also depend on.
But did you know we’re seeing fewer and fewer birds — both migrants and year-round residents — every year? In fact, since 1970, according to a comprehensive 2019 study by Science magazine, North American bird populations have dropped by nearly 30 percent — a decline of approximately 3 billion birds — including common as well as less common birds, with the risk that our children will never be able to experience some of the birds we now do.
Without habitat protection, birds don’t have a chance. And having fewer birds around us negatively impacts all of us — our surroundings, our livelihoods, our health. This is why your support for land conservation is so very crucial.
Your commitment keeps large areas of wetland, field and forest available as refuge for these vital creatures, along with the plants and animals they depend on, and that depend on them. Places full of soothing birdsong as we hike on forest trails or have a picnic near on a riverbank.
You make a difference by helping to secure all of the benefits that birds bring to our lives, our world. Thank you!