What You Can Do

Any motivated person who treasures the sights and sounds of wild birds can contribute to conservation.

• Join the Lab of Ornithology and other wildlife conservation groups; contribute donations to support conservation work. To learn more about becoming a Lab member, click here.
  
  
• Participate in citizen-science projects. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/LabPrograms/citSci/index.html
  
  
• Landscape your garden with native plants that attract birds. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/schoolyard/all_about_birds/feeding_birds/landscaping.html
  
  
• Maintain a birdhouse to provide breeding sites for cavity-nesting birds. The Birdhouse Network. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/
  
  
• Keep cats indoors to protect birds and other wildlife. American Bird Conservancy. http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/
  
  
• Avoid using pesticides to keep wildlife and ecosystems healthy. Ten tips for reducing yard pests the nontoxic way. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/publications/birdscope/Summer2001/Yard_pests.html. Tips from Audubon www.audubon.org/bird/at_home.
  
  
• Drink shade-grown, bird-friendly coffee to conserve good habitats for birds. Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. www.nationalzoo.si.edu/conservationandscience/MigratoryBirds.
  
  
• Consume sustainable seafoods; support seabird conservation. Audubon Living Oceans. http://www.audubon.org/campaign/lo/index.html
  Project Puffin http://www.audubon.org/bird/puffin/index.html
  
  
• Lobby the government for stronger legal protections for wildlife. Natural Resources Defense Council. www.nrdc.org/action/default.asp.
  
  
• Help establish Important Bird Areas. www.audubon.org/bird/iba/index.html.
  
  
• Support Land Trusts.
  The Trust for Public Land. http://www.tpl.org/
  The Nature Conservancy. http://nature.org/
  
  
• Donate your binoculars. ABA Birders’ Exchange. http://www.americanbirding.org/programs/consbex.htm;
  Optics for the Tropics. http://www.opticsforthetropics.org/index.shtml
  
  
• Share your appreciation of birds with others. Point out birds to others and spread awareness of their needs. Volunteer with schools and other groups to help educate our youth, caretakers of the future. Become an Ambassador for Project FeederWatch http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/Ambassador/ambassador_index.htm or The Birdhouse Network. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/news/ambassadors.html.