Two fall events that celebrate birds occur this week on Saturday, Oct. 11, and you can participate.
October Big Day brings together people who care about birds and contribute to the effort to understand how bird populations are faring worldwide. Every year the number of participants increases. The spring counterpart to this event, held in May, was tallied by 1.8 million birders from 204 countries, showcasing how the love of birds can unite people worldwide.
Adding to this important dataset is easy. Simply list the bird species and numbers of each that you see in any location and enter your data on ebird.org. You may count for as little as 10 minutes anytime between midnight and midnight on Oct. 10 to participate. Count birds at your home or submit a list from your favorite location to watch birds. Every bird counts. If you are new to ebird, visit ebird.org to learn how to set up an account.
Also occurring on Saturday, Oct. 11, is World Migratory Bird Day. The goal of this global effort is to raise the awareness of migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them.
Migratory birds rely on good habitat at their winter homes, along the paths of their spring and fall journeys, and in their summer breeding areas to survive. They may travel through several countries each year.
The theme of this year’s Migratory Bird Days is “Shared Spaces.” This movement is dedicated to creating bird-friendly cities and communities.
Urban development and other human activities pose survival challenges to birds and other wildlife who share the earth with us. In addition to urging area officials and developers to utilize bird-friendly practices in new planning, there are simple actions that we can take to protect birds. Among them are treating glass to prevent bird strikes, planting native plants in your home space, keeping cats indoors, providing clean water all year, eliminating pesticide use, keeping skies dark at night and purchasing sustainably grown foods like shade-grown coffee that support birds where they winter.
Following are some tips from Audubon Rockies for creating a bird-friendly yard.
This fall, go easy on yard cleanup. Leave those dead flower heads and ornamental grasses rich with seeds standing to provide winter food for birds. Protect over-wintering insects by raking leaves into tree and shrub beds or into small piles in your yard for winter insulation. If practical, provide a small brush pile.
And, plan for spring additions of native plants to your living space by checking out Habitat Hero resources on audubon.org/rockies.
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