You can help: 7 ways to make your home and lifestyle bird friendly

I've been taking a fascinating class through Cornell University titled, Spring Ornithology. Ken Rosenberg, Ph.D. gave a moving presentation on Neotropical Bird Conservation this week. 

He is the lead author on the study that found a loss of nearly 3 billion North American birds since 1970, a loss of 29% of North America's birds. The analysis was recently published in Science: Decline of the North American Avifauna, Kenneth V. Rosenberg, et al., Science, 366, 120-124 (2019). Reversing such a massive decline in birds will require action at all scales, from landscape-level land-use changes and national policies affecting birds, to individual actions. HERE is an inspiring brochure about these 7 actions - ways we can help.

I appreciate their action ideas. For example, to encourage owners to keep their cats indoors, they offer ideas of indoor enrichment for cats. Or another, drink shade-grown coffee. I had no idea that the type coffee I drink can benefit birds!

Information from the www.3billionbirds.org/

Spoonbill Roseate is a frequent visitor

The Roseate Spoonbill is a frequent visitor to Wildewood’s ponds. Though I see spoonbills year-round, my Wildewood sightings start in June and continue through the summer. I took this photograph of a Spoonbill standing on a limb of a Southern Live Oak across the pond looking out from our living room window.

As often as I see them, I haven't heard them! Here is a link to the Cornell Lab All About Birds website to hear a Roseate Spoonbill utter low grunting sounds, and a video showing a bowl (yes, that's the word for a gathering of spoonbills) using their spoon-shaped bills to strain small food items out of the water.

The spoonbill is social, but this June sighting was special. I could hardly believe what I saw outside our bedroom window and porch. A Roseate Spoonbill was making these heart shapes with its wings! I ran to get my camera because I wanted a memory.

Birdorable is a cute, fact-full website with a brief list about this bird's awesomeness.

Links to my favorite bird websites are in the right sidebar of this blog.