As I was volunteering at the Paulding County Extension Office, a gentleman drove up and asked what we growing in the gardens. He noticed I was wearing my Georgia Audubon shirt, and he asked, Where have all birds gone?” He said he had not had a bird in his yard for more than a month.
His comment sparked my interest since I am an avid birder. On the morning of this encounter, I sat on my front porch enjoying my coffee and counted the birds, 13 different bird species with 43 total birds. I use the Cornell eBird app to keep count of the birds, and I have counted birds every day this year. According to eBird, there have been 69 bird species in my yard so far this year. On 17 September 2023, according to BirdCast, we had 4,757, 100 birds fly over Paulding County. At 10:30 pm, the peak time, 467,100 birds. This was during the peak time for fall bird migration.
Yesterday, I finished reading the book – A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds.
For the past year, veteran journalists Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal traveled more than 25,000 miles across the Americas, chronicling costly experiments, contentious politics, and new technologies to save our beloved birds from the brink of extinction. Through this compelling drama, A Wing and a Prayer offers hope and an urgent call to action: Birds are dying at an unprecedented pace. But there are encouraging breakthroughs across the hemisphere and still time to change course if we act quickly.
I challenge every birder, naturalist, or outdoor enthusiast to read and implement this book.
Some of the things that we can do to protect the birds are:
- Protect Windows from bird strikes
- Light out during migration
- Keep cats indoors
- Enjoy birds with a child
- Eat pancakes with bird-friendly syrup
- Drink coffee that is good for birds
- Buy binoculars
- Watch a bird cam
- Spread the message
- Install a bird feeder
- Install native plants liked by birds and pollinators
- Install a proper birdhouse.
- Avoid insecticide and herbicide use in your landscape
- Protect seabirds from plastics
- Join an organization that protects birds
“If we can save the birds, we can save ourselves.”-Pete Marra, Ornithologist
