Every member of a birding group or organization understands the benefits they receive from their membership, but how do these organizations actually help the birds? There are many ways all birding organizations benefit the birds, both directly and indirectly.

Birding Organizations and Conservation

Many birding organizations, including the National Audubon Society and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, were initially founded with conservation in mind to help counteract frivolous destruction and killing of birds.

While today's fashion trends do not typically include real bird feathers or plumes as they did when the NAS and RSPB were founded, conservation continues to be a strong focus for many organizations, and they work to promote conservation initiatives at the local, state, national and international levels to protect birds.

More Ways Birding Organizations Help Birds

Many birding organization efforts are linked to conservation, but they take many different approaches to help preserve birds. The most important ways organizations benefit birds include:

• Community Education: Both youth and adult education programs can help inspire individuals and communities to protect and enjoy birds. Local ecology, historic birding, ecosystem study and individual species discussions can all be used to help inspire a love of birding that will encourage more people to help birds on all levels. Birding organizations may plan classes, festivals or other types of programs to bring birds to the community and in turn get the community involved in birding.
  
  

• Habitat Preservation: Many birding organizations use part of their members' dues and fundraising efforts to purchase and restore prime wildlife habitat, such as wetlands, prairies, forests and shorelines that are critical for many different bird species. These preserves and sanctuaries are often open to birders and other wildlife enthusiasts to enjoy. Similar efforts might include restoring habitats by removing invasive and damaging plants, controlling invasive birds or planning better water management to benefit birds.
  
  
• Formal Research: Formal scientific research can be funded by birding organizations, and studies on topics such as bird habitat needs, migration, how climate change affects birds and artificial threats to birds such as through pollution or unregulated hunting are critical for planning effective bird conservation programs. Many of these studies require advanced technology or extensive time, and birding organizations can help oversee the research for long term results.
  
  
• Citizen Science: Informal citizen science projects such as the Christmas Bird Count and Project FeederWatch are essential programs that provide extensive data on bird populations. Coordinated through birding organizations, this data is then available to researchers in a consistent way to encourage better analysis of trends that couldn't be seen on a smaller scale.
  
  
• Political Lobbies: Birding organizations have the expertise, staff and resources to promote effective political lobbies toward legislation that can protect birds, create sanctuaries and protect the environment in ways that will benefit both humans and wildlife, including birds. These types of campaigns might include adding bird species to endangered lists, regulating the use of chemical pesticides or requiring environmental impact studies on local birds before construction projects.

Large Groups, Larger Effects

A single birder might spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to create a bird-friendly habitat in their backyard that will benefit, at most, a few dozen bird species. If hundreds or thousands of birders join a birding organization for less than $100 each, however, that organization can then use the combined dues and donations from all the members to buy land for a new sanctuary that will encompass hundreds of acres in varied habitats that will benefit hundreds of bird species. Both types of efforts – small, individual yards and larger sanctuaries – are essential for birds' protection, and there is nothing birders can do to benefit birds more than choosing a birding organization to join and continuing to support that organization's efforts to protect and preserve birds.

Photo – Boardwalk © Ken Lund