Home Is Where Wildlife Thrives

Home for wildlife, including birds, means more than just a place to sit on your nest. Home is where you find food and shelter, fresh water, protection from inclement weather and predators, resources to build that nest in spring or survive the winter, places where your young can grow and learn to fend for themselves. In other words: home = habitat.

And without habitat, animals, and especially endangered species, are unlikely to survive. That is why we were so dismayed to learn that the current administration has recently changed the rules of the Endangered Species Act so that the definition of “harm” no longer includes destruction of habitat. The chances of saving an endangered species when its habitat is no longer protected are near zero.

You can help – email your members of Congress, letting them know you strongly disagree with removing habitat protection for endangered species. Request that they co-sponsor legislation that would block this devastating rule. To find your member: congress.gov/members/find-your-member

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Fall Migration is Here

Please help birds along their way.

•Reduce artificial light at night. Light pollution disorients birds and interferes with their ability to navigate using the stars. Keep lights shielded and pointed down. Use motion sensors and timers for security lights.

•Birds don’t see glass. Reduce collisions by covering windows and glass doors plus closing curtains, shades, or blinds. Effective solutions include “Acopian bird savers,” feather-friendly strips, bird tape, netting, and closely spaced decals or designs. FMI: stopbirdcollisions.org/

•Provide safe stop-over habitat. Use native plants in the garden to provide food and shelter for birds. Keep gardens messy. Birds use leaf litter, dead snags, and branches. They eat seeds from old flower stalks and seek cover in old plants. Avoid the use of pesticides.

•Keep cats safe at home, thereby making our neighborhood stop-over sites safe for birds. Supervised cats are healthier and face fewer dangers as well. FMI: humanesociety.org/resources/home-sweet-home-how-bring-outside-cat-indoors.