There are countless ways you, your family, and friends can make a difference!
Become involved in a local greenway project or participate in Audubon's backyard bird count. Volunteer at your local nature center. Create wildlife habitat on your property or initiate an Audubon at Home program at a local school or park.
Below you will find links and information to help you get connected
Birds and Conservation
- Audubon's Birds and Science Information - learn more about birds, the challenges they face, and the conservation efforts to protect them.
- Pennsylvania's 2nd Breeding Bird Atlas - Young or old, casual "backyard" bird watcher, intermediate birdwatcher, or avid birder, just beginning or with a lifetime of experience - everyone is welcome and encouraged to take part in the 2nd Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas! More than a million bird records will be gathered by "citizen scientists," and your visits to locations included in the Pennsylvania Birding and Wildlife Guide can help document the value and importance of open spaces to the health of Pennsylvania's birdlife.
- Great Backyard Bird Count - an annual four-day event each February that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts.
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology - A rich resource that includes All About Birds, Project Feederwatch, and the Birds of North America Online, as well as the latest news and research.
- eBird - A real-time, online checklist program providing rich data sources for basic information on bird abundance and distribution at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society.
- Audubon chapters - view a map and list of Audubon Chapters statewide. Pennsylvania has 21 Audubon chapters and more than 24,000 members. These chapters are an integral part of the conservation community, providing educational programs, field trips and birdwatching tours, and supporting local conservation issues. Audubon chapters provide a perfect opportunity for citizens to get involved!
Wildlife Habitat - Native Plants
- National Audubon Society's Audubon at Home - Bird populations are in decline as suitable habitat continues to be lost to development, forestry, agricultural, and other land uses. With 2.1 million acres converted to residential use each year, how you landscape and maintain your yard can make a difference for bird conservation and environmental health.
- Audubon Pennsylvania's Audubon At Home Bird Habitat Recognition Program - Join the community of folks in Pennsylvania who are transforming their properties and communities by planting native plants for wildlife. Learn why native plants are so beneficial, and how to get your property recognized as quality bird habitat.
- Pa DCNR Landscaping with Native Plants - Native plants help create beautiful landscapes that provide wildlife habitat and reduce maintenance costs. Their greatest benefit, though, may be the increased awareness about which plants are native and which are not, and the protection of remaining native plant communities.
- Bowmans Hill Wildlife Preserve and Lehigh Gap Nature Center (Lehigh County) are two places that have native plant gardens. The Audubon Center for Native Plants at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve offers education and native plants for sale. Pennsylvania Native Plant Society and Plant Native provide native plan nursery information. For seasonal native plant sales, lectures and classes, visit the Audubon Pennsylvania Audubon At Home News and Events page.
Calling Volunteers!
Volunteers are an important part of keeping local nature centers, greenways, and public parks visitor friendly and operating smoothly. Tasks vary from staffing the gift shop to maintaining trails. With a little searching, you can find the perfect place for your talents!
- Pa Parks and Forest Foundation - Whether you're a trail builder, a wildlife expert, an event organizer or one of those special people who always say, "Just put me to work wherever you need me," Pennsylvania's state parks and forests have a role for you. Consider joining a State Park/Forest Friends Group
- Susquehanna Greenway Partnership - A greenway is a corridor of open space, from a narrow ribbon of green that runs through urban, suburban, and rural areas to a wide-open corridor that incorporates diverse natural, cultural, and scenic features. Greenways include both land- or water-based areas, running along streams corridors, shorelines or wetlands. The Susquehanna Greenway will link natural, cultural, historic, and recreational resources along the 500-mile corridor of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania.
- Delaware and Lehigh Trail Tenders - organizes volunteers to care for the D&L Trail and adjacent natural resources in Northampton, Lehigh, Carbon and Luzerne counties. Trail Tenders maintain the ecological balance along the trail by eradicating invasive plants and replacing them with native grasses, wildflowers, shrubs and trees. They maintain the physical integrity of historic structures, by performing regular site cleanups, and build picnic tables, benches and bicycle racks for the benefit of trail users.
