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Tips to
Live Bird Friendly
#livebirdfriendly
An estimated 1 billion birds are estimated to die each year after flying into closed windows in the U.S. and Canada alone.
During the day, birds perceive the reflections in glass as a habitat they can fly into. At night, migratory birds are drawn in by city lights and are at high risk of colliding with buildings.
What can you do?
Prevent collisions with external insect screens. These screens virtually eliminate reflections and cushion birds' impact.
If you can't use screens, you can break up reflections on the outside of windows using paint, bird-saving decals or stick-on stripes, or string spaced no more than 2-inches high or 2-inches wide.
At night, turn out your lights or close the blinds.
In the US, almost 10 million acres of land have been developed in the last 15 years.
This has left birds fewer places to raise their young, and safely rest during migration
Most neighborhoods don't offer enough food or shelter for many birds and other wildlife. Native plants' nectar, seeds, berries, and the insects they attract sustain birds and diverse wildlife.
What can you do?
Add native plants, planters and other outdoor spaces to provide shelter and nesting areas for birds.
Replace your lawn with native plants. Trees can help shade your home reducing energy costs and you will have less grass to tend.
Live in an apartment? Ask your landlord if you can put up bird feeders and encourage the planting of native plants.
More than 1 billion pounds of pesticides are applied in the U.S. each year!
This is toxic to humans as well as birds and other wildlife.
Pesticides like neonicotinoids and common weed killers, such as 2,4-D and glyphosate, are especially toxic to birds. These chemicals can harm birds directly through contact or indirectly if birds eat contaminated seeds or prey. Pesticides can also harm birds by reducing the number of insects that birds need to eat to survive.
What can you do?
Skip using pesticides around the home and yard, and research what is in the products you use.
Check into plants that will help keep pests away while also creating a better environment for wildlife.
Consider buying certified organic foods or those grown by local farmers you know grow without artificial chemicals.
More than 42 species of North American migratory songbirds overwinter in coffee plantations in the tropics, including orioles, warblers, and thrushes. However, most coffee farms remove forests in order to grow coffee in the full sun.
While growing coffee in the sun might increase the amount of coffee that farms produce, it also usually destroys habitat and requires environmentally harmful pesticides and fertilizers.
In contrast, Bird Friendly® shade-grown coffee preserves a forest canopy that helps migratory birds survive the winter.
What can you do?
Buy Bird Friendly® certified coffee!
It’s estimated that 4,900 million metric tons of plastic have accumulated in landfills and in our environment worldwide, polluting our oceans and harming wildlife such as seabirds, whales and turtles that mistakenly eat plastic or become entangled in it.
Plastic takes more than 400 years to degrade, and 91% of plastics created are not recycled. Studies show that at least 80 seabird species ingest plastic, mistaking it for food.
What can you do?
Reduce your use of plastics! Avoid single-use plastics, including bags, bottles, wraps, and disposable utensils. It is far better to choose reusable or compostable items, but if you do have disposable plastic, be sure to recycle it!
Advocate for bans of plastic bags, Styrofoam and straws. Encourage stores to offer incentives for reusable bags, and ask restaurants and other businesses to phase out single-use plastics.
You can learn more about how to help birds at nationalzoo.si.edu/livebirdfriendly.
Audio recordings by Jay McGowan, Matthew D. Medler, Walter A. Thurber, and Wil Hershberger provided by the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology