What does it mean to be bird-friendly?

Bird-friendly habitats are ones that support residential and migratory birds by providing food, water, shelter, and a suitable place to raise their young. These habitats also work to reduce threats, by keeping cats indoors, minimizing window collisions, removing invasive species, eliminating the use of pesticides, and making smart climate choices.

From urban centers to rural towns, each community can provide important habitat for native birds. In turn, birds offer us a richer, more beautiful, and more healthful place to live. That's because we know that communities with clean air and water, and healthy green spaces are also better for people, as well as birds. Audubon works to build a better Baltimore by working with partners and neighbors to make bird - and people! - friendly communities.

The Threat

Over the past century, urbanization has fragmented and transformed ecologically productive land with sterile lawns and exotic ornamental plants. We've introduced walls of glass, toxic pesticides, and domestic predators. That human-dominated landscape provides many challenges to our feathered friends, but also an important solution - because we get to decide what to do with our land and in our communities.

The Solution

Bird-friendly communities strive to provide food, shelter, safe passage, and places for birds to raise their young, through our Plants for Birds and Bird-Safe Buildings programs. As we work - with you! - to create healthy habitats, we also work to ensure safe spaces for our avian neighbors.