All About the Audubon Society Fund

Although the National Audubon Society focuses on large-scale issues like ecosystem restoration, protecting the Endangered Species Act and maintaining the restrictions of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, the organization also encourages grassroots initiatives to protect birds and other wildlife.

© Photographer: Claudine Besse | Agency: Dreamstime.com The Audubon Society encourages people to turn their yards into bird habitats

By creating healthy yards and public spaces, Audubon members and volunteers support local birds faced with a diminishing habitat. The Audubon at Home program encourages people to make an online pledge, promising to transform their yards into healthy habitats for birds. An Audubon healthy yard features native plants, birdbaths, nesting areas and bird feeders. Domesticated cats, which are responsible for killing millions of birds in North America, should be kept indoors to minimize the threat.

Many members of the Audubon Society take part in the annual Christmas Bird Count, a voluntary census of bird populations. The count, which began in 1900, attracts 50,000 participants from across the country. Although the entire census stretches from mid-December to early January, individual counts last one day with volunteers noting every bird they see or hear within a designated area. The count results allow ornithologists, biologists and other researchers to examine long-term health of North American bird species.

Wind TurbinesMany environmentalists recommend wind power as a clean and efficient alternative to dirty fossil fuels. But some bird advocates object to the giant, often deadly turbines. Poorly placed wind turbines can decimate local or migratory bird populations. Surprisingly, the Audubon Society approves of wind turbines, although the organization falls short of offering a universal endorsement. Because global warming threatens avian ecosystems around the world, the Society considers such alternative power sources "essential." And while the Society still protests developments it considers too high-risk to be worthwhile, the organization also uses its expansive knowledge of birds, bird habitats and migratory routes to help site projects [source: Audubon Society].

To learn more about the Audubon Society, other conservancy organizations and great ways to clean up the environment, look over the links on the next page.

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More Great Links

• The National Audubon Society

Sources

• Audubon Timeline.
  http://www.audubon.org/states/fl/fl/main/timeline.htm
• "Bird Conservation." Birds in Backyards. http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/about/related.cfm#indicator
• "The Bottom Line." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. http://training.fws.gov/library/Pubs/mbd_bottom_line2.pdf
• Cubie, Doreen. "On the Front Lines." The Audubon Society. http://magazine.audubon.org/features0601/wardens.html
• Flicker, John. "Wind Power."
  Audubon Magazine. November-December, 2006. http://www.audubon.org/campaign/windPowerQA.html
• Graham, Frank Jr. "The Audubon Ark."
  Alfred A. Knopf. New York: 1990.
• "John James Audubon 1785-1851." The Audubon Society. http://www.audubon.org/nas/jja.html
• The National Audubon Society. http://www.audubon.org/