You can make your yard a stopover for migratory birds by
providing them with some essentials: water (even just a shallow
dish), cover (evergreens and brush piles), and berry-producing
trees and shrubs (such as dogwoods, American holly, viburnums,
American highbush cranberry, and serviceberry). To attract the
insects that birds eat, mulch your leaves in a sheltered corner
and don't deadhead flowers such as coneflowers, marigolds,
cosmos, and sunflowers. Birds will feed on the seeds. You may
also choose to put out a variety of seed feeders during
migratory periods, along with cut or dried fruit.
In Your Community
Because many birds use constellations for guidance, well-lit
skyscrapers and communication towers provide misleading cues
and lure birds away from the correct path. These man-made
structures can sometimes cause them to circle for hours until
they become disoriented, exhausted or stunned, leading to
predation and death. You can help prevent this tragedy by
encouraging cleaning crews, building management and security
guards to turn off the lights in offices, especially during
peak migration seasons, and by working with others in your
community to address the proliferation of communications
towers.
Be a Caring Consumer
Much of the coffee we drink comes from Central and South
America. Traditional plantations grow coffee under a canopy of
trees, which provides habitat needed by over-wintering birds.
Increasingly, however, land is being cleared to grow coffee in
full sun; this habitat loss, coupled with the alarming rate of
summer habitat loss in the United States, is the most
significant factor contributing to the decline in Neotropical
migratory birds. You can help preserve critical winter habitats
for birds such as the ruby-throated hummingbird, Baltimore
oriole, Kentucky warbler, and swallow-tailed kite by purchasing
only shade-grown coffee and cacao.
