In 1994, Rodale Press published Birdscaping Your Garden by George Adams. This 208 page reference work uses the term birdscaping frequently in the text, and also refers to created bird habitats as “birdscapes.”

In 2000, Birdscapes was launched as the all bird conservation magazine of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service.  The Cornell Lab of Ornithology used Birdscapes as the title of a bird song pop-up book in 2008.

In the past decade, the term birdscaping has become much more common. A Google search in 2004 yielded 835 websites using the term, including sites published by Wildbirds.com, havahart.com, KVFS TV 12 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and the Sydney, Australia Birds in Backyards Project.  That same search now brings up over 660,000 hits!

While the term birdscapes and birdscaping are fairly new, the concept of landscaping to attract birds has historic roots in European and Middle Eastern bird-bottle and Colonial American birdhouse technologies, the landscape gardening movement in 18th Century England, the bird-preservation studies of Baron von Berlepsch in Germany in the late 1900s, and the popularization of bird feeding, gardening, and landscaping in America during the early 20th Century “Back to Nature” movement.

The strength of birdscaping as a conservation strategy lies in its inherently positive (you can attract and save birds because you like them) rather than negative (birds are being wiped out so we have to do something) approach. In this sense, it transcends the traditional understanding that wildlife management is typically spurred upon realization of declining populations of valued species.  It is also a strategy that helps us realize the importance of urban areas as habitat for birds and wildlife.

In short, birdscaping is a positive conservation concept and strategy that appeals to nature-loving homeowners in urban and suburban neighborhoods without resorting to doom-and-gloom rhetoric frequently common in talk about the state of the environment!  What’s not to like!?!

There are now 60 bird cities in the Badger State.  To become a bird city, municipalities must meet at least 7 of 22 criteria that include creation and protection of habitat, community forest management, addressing hazards to birds, public education, and celebration of International Migratory Bird Day.

In addition to their website, you can check out Bird City Wisconsin on Facebook.

1) Complete a Bird Town Application

2) Agree to work with Audubon to immediately promote their Bird Town status by:

• Publishing the “Welcome to Bird Town” article in their next newsletter
• Creating a Bird Town webpage on the municipal website
• Posting at least five street signs (provided) and one banner
• Providing Audubon with local press contacts to promote Bird Town Backyard Workshops
• Making outreach materials available to the public

3) Assign a point person to act as liaison between the “town” and Audubon.

4) Promotion of a Bird Town Festival.  This may be a regional festival, a stand-alone municipal festival, or part of an existing eco-fest or community day

So far there are 19 Bird Towns in 7 Pennsylvania counties.  Another great idea from Audubon PA, a leader in urban bird conservation among the Audubon network in the U.S. Check it out!

Foul Fowl: Birds as Agricultural Pests
Birds are often thought of by Egyptologists for their frequent appearance as hieroglyphic signs, as a significant source of dietary protein, as animal mummies, or for the reverence shown to them in the ancient religion. Because Egypt was, and still is, an important migratory corridor for birds and a place where they have long refueled themselves before continuing on their journey over sea and desert, they are also one of a number of fauna that posed a threat to the food supply in ancient Egypt, alongside insects, mice, monkeys and even hippopotami. This paper will explore the role of birds as agricultural pests in ancient Egypt, using ancient archaeological, artistic, and textual as well as modern ethnographic and ornithological evidence. The species of birds responsible for such depredations, the food sources (fruit, grain and animal) that they targeted, and behavioral and seasonal aspects will be discussed. In addition, various preventative tactics, means of scaring, and traps used to reduce the damage that birds caused will be covered.

Check out the guidebook here:  Community-scaled Conservation in Planned Communities

You can download the report below (.pdf)

Urban Bird Conservation: For Birds and People

Pest Control Technology, the pest control industry magazine, recently featured me in an interview about urban bird control. Check it out.