Coming Together for Birds: Scaling up conservation to the community level

By Robyn Bailey, NestWatch Project Leader

The State of the Birds 2025 report made clear that North America’s birds continue to decline, and similar alarming trends are being reported from Central and South America and Europe. To turn this around, we need everyone’s involvement to implement conservation measures that help birds, habitats, and people at scales bigger than our backyards. But it can be really difficult to know where to start, or how to speak to others about your concerns and hopes. That’s why I have gathered some of my favorite examples of community nest monitoring, and other types of community action, to help inspire NestWatchers to take the next step.

Example 1: Raptors and Rodenticides in New York City

While NYC is home to many species of raptors that delight park visitors and residents, Red-tailed Hawks are particularly cherished because they can sometimes nest in close proximity to humans (e.g., on a building fire escape), making their family life much more visible to onlookers. One hazard facing these urbanites is secondary rodenticide poisoning (i.e., hawks being poisoned by eating poisoned rodents). That’s why New York City Parks’ Wildlife Unit has been tracking raptor nests in NYC for eight years with the help of the community. 

This community monitoring program enables City agencies to make informed decisions of where and when to suspend rodenticide use. At the same time, volunteers are informing City agencies about raptor breeding and nesting behavior within the urban environment. Every week during the breeding season, dedicated volunteers collect data on breeding raptors and report back to the Wildlife Unit. Their activities are both personally meaningful and assist the agency by increasing monitoring capacity. And at the end of each season, all of the volunteers and project coordinators come together to discuss and celebrate their findings and their community, an event which everyone enjoys.

The New York City Parks’ Wildlife Unit NestWatch group is a great example of a monitoring program that serves a need for birds, city management, and the folks who participate in it. Nest-monitoring programs can provide crucial information to decision makers that can empower them to protect birds.

Example 2: Toxic Mine Spill Recovery

When the Gold King Mine spill of 2015 introduced three million gallons of toxic mine drainage into a tributary of the Animas River near Silverton, Colorado, it was an environmental disaster for humans and animals. Concerned birdwatchers quickly launched The American Dipper Project in response, a community science investigation into the potential impacts of the spill on breeding American Dippers. American Dippers are aquatic songbirds that require unpolluted waters in which to forage, and the mine spill had the potential to threaten their ability to survive and reproduce. Volunteers for the project survey American Dipper nests on the Animas River and other streams in southwestern Colorado in order to learn about nesting behavior, nesting success, and nest site fidelity. Recording the data in NestWatch makes their data available to other researchers as well as to agencies that are monitoring recovery efforts. The group is also concerned about microplastics in the river, climate change, and wildfire impacts. 

Monitoring programs like the American Dipper Project can become invaluable resources for monitoring impact and recovery from unexpected disasters. They can also serve as a finger on the pulse of our environment, helping to warn us about the impact of more common environmental concerns. 

Scaling Up Conservation

Interested in forming a monitoring program in your community? Consider approaching your municipality’s conservation committee/council, open space planning team, trails commission, bird club, or other environmental group for ideas about what current needs may already be identified. You can also find additional inspiration in the book The Bird-Friendly City: Creating safe urban habitats by Timothy Beatley (and see the cameo from our NestWatch Chapter Aldea de Sante Fe in Chapter 11). If your town takes pride in providing a safe haven for birds, consider joining Bird City Network.

Bird City Network is a joint effort of American Bird Conservancy and Environment for the Americas that connects local communities throughout the hemisphere and offers guidance to help them carry out bird-friendly actions. Communities learn about the problems birds face locally and decide on a subset of actions they can take to help. These actions are focused on improving habitat, addressing threats, engaging people, and promoting sustainability. An existing community nest monitoring effort, like the two examples mentioned here, would fit well into several of these categories and meet the following specific Bird City goals:

• Provide nesting habitat
• Support focal species
• Address the threat of pesticides and other toxins
• Address disturbance by harmful species
• Involve the community in conservation and stewardship
• Promote scientific research and monitoring
• Educate and engage all ages

Over 200 communities across 4 countries have already signed up, and yours could be next. Start by looking into whether your state or country already has a program you can join, and if not, inquire about starting one. Joining Bird City Network is a great way for your community to earn recognition for its bird-friendly efforts, and make a real difference for both birds and people.

Building safe and healthy communities for both birds and people doesn’t happen by chance. It happens when we join forces to identify a need, pool resources to accomplish a goal, and communicate the successes—and challenges—with the broader community.