Putting our Faith into Action: Caring for Our Threatened Birds

Putting our Faith into Action: Caring for Our Threatened Birds 

Carl Sigel

As the planet warms and natural systems are affected, many species, including birds, are suffering. Every bird species has adapted to specific conditions. Global warming is affecting the availability of food and water, nesting areas, and wintering grounds. For many species, the changing conditions are reducing breeding ranges and causing birds to seek more hospitable habitats. According to a landmark study (http://climate.audubon.org/article/audubon-report-glance) released by the National Audubon Society, “Brown-headed Nuthatches, American Oyster catchers, Golden-winged Warblers, and hundreds of other species will be threatened or endangered in our children’s lifetime. Of the 588 continental United States and Canadian bird species, 314 species are at risk”

I would like to suggest three actions that we can take at home and at church to help protect birds. First, we all need to work on reducing our carbon footprint. Second, we need to make our yards more bird-friendly. Healthy birds will be better equipped to adapt to habitat changes. We can create safe spaces for birds around our homes and in the community by using fewer pesticides, letting dead trees stand, installing birdbaths, and converting lawns and gardens to native plants. NC Audubon has a list of 400 bird friendly native plants on their website (http://nc.audubon.org/bird-friendly-plants) Third, to help one of our local popular birds, the Brown-headed Nuthatch, which is declining rapidly in numbers because of urbanization and deforestation, we can install nesting boxes that have small openings that are ideally 1” in diameter. Nativity has ideal habitat for these birds because of the large number of pine trees on our campus, and before the next breeding season, we plan to install 10 nesting boxes as a project for our youth.

If we Care for Creation, Creation will care for us.