10 Ways to Help Birds: Number 3 — Support open space preservation

Bobolinks are among the grassland birds that would benefit from more open space preservation. Connecticut Audubon Society photo by Frank Gallo.

We’ve made a list of 10 things you can do to help birds, and we’re counting them down one day at a time until Earth Day, April 22.

April 20, 2021 — The bottom line for birds is habitat. They need suitable places to nest, spend the winter, and rest and feed during migration (see our 2018 Connecticut State of the Birds report, “In Cities and Suburbs: A Fresh Look at How Birds are Surviving in Connecticut”).

It’s critical that you support the acquisition, preservation, and proper management of open space, including forest land, on the state and local level.

Strategic acquisition can add to and strengthen the large expanses of intact forest that already exist in parts of Connecticut, for example.

A study released a couple of years ago by Bird Conservation Research, based in Pomfret, indicates that since 1985 the number of birds in 10,000 acres of forest in Union, Connecticut, has actually increased. The researchers conclude that large, unfragmented forests in southern New England might be serving as refuges for species declining elsewhere.

This underscores that conservation isn’t something that is needed in distant lands. The condition of habitat right in our towns and cities makes a difference.

In addition, preserving forests and grasslands results in carbon sequestration – locking up carbon in plants and trees to keep it out of the atmosphere.

Supporting Connecticut Audubon helps. We work with advocacy groups in Hartford and Washington D.C. to support funding for land acquisition.

To make your voice heard on these issues, sign up for our Action Alerts.