Conservation

Native Plants for Birds

Did you know that the berries on the native shrub Arrowwood Viburnum have a very high fat content that helps fuel birds during fall migration? In contrast, berries on the invasive Multiflora Rose appear around the same time of year as Arrowwood berries but contain hardly any fat at all. Native berries are vital to birds, especially neotropical migrants that travel thousands of miles to places like Central and South America.

Use National Audubon’s link below to find our more about Native Plants in your Area: https://www.audubon.org/native-plants

Several sources of native plants are shown below:

Cottage Creek Gardens, Valley Cottage - https://www.cottagecreekgardens.com/

Toad Shade Wildflower Farm, Frenchtown, NJ - https://www.toadshade.com/

NYDEP Spring Seedling Sale - https://dec.ny.gov/nature/forests-trees/saratoga-tree-nursery/spring-seedling-sale

Injured or Orphaned Bird

It’s common to find young birds away from their nests in the spring and summer. But should you help them? It depends. First use the document below to find out if an injured or orphaned bird even needs help.

https://www.rocklandaudubon.org/injured-or-orphan-bird The information is Adapted from Healers of the Wild by Shannon K. Jacobs.

Valley Cottage Animal Hospital will assess, stabilize, and get the bird to the best resource for care: https://www.valleycottageanimalhospital.com/

Endangered Species

You can help conservation efforts by submitting your sightings and photos of the rare birds listed below to the New York Natural Heritage Program. Please see the list of birds that meet this criteria below. Submissions to eBird cannot be used by the state, which means those sightings are invisible on state maps, so please use the New York Natural Heritage Program. Let's get these birds on the map and help protect the vital habitat that supports them!

New York Endangered Species List: https://dec.ny.gov/nature/animals-fish-plants/biodiversity-species-conservation/endangered-species/lists

Rare Species Sighting Form: https://legacy.nynhp.org/report-rare

Advocacy

Take Action - National Audubon provides an easy way to email your elected officials about current issues. https://www.audubon.org/takeaction

Audubon New York; https://ny.audubon.org/conservation/advocacy