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The personal decisions that we each make everyday can have significant impacts on bird conservation. From the coffee we drink to the clothing we purchase, every decision we make can effect bird populations in our local communities and abroad, and we should all strive to minimize our impact on the environment. Nowhere is this concept more apparent than when we look at our backyards. With 80% of all wildlife habitat in private ownership, and with more than 2 million acres a year converted to residential uses, our personal green spaces are becoming increasingly more important to the survival of birds. And the choices we make on how we take care of our lawns and backyards can have lasting impacts on populations of many bird species that depend on these places to nest, breed and feed.

When it comes to the lawn care products and plants you use, many can have a deleterious effect on the environment. However a majority of homeowners do not think about the consequences of the products they the use on their lawns, and in some cases homeowners don’t even know they are applying toxic chemicals. The reality is that non-native plant species, pesticides, herbicides, and other lawn chemicals don’t create a healthy backyard habitat for birds, wildlife, plants, and people.

Through the Audubon At Home campaign, we are working across the state to inspire homeowners to embrace a new “lawn ethic”. Instead of looking at one’s lawn as just a grass patch, we seek to encourage homeowners to see their lawns as a backyard habitat that can and should support a wide variety of birds and other wildlife. A healthy, bird-friendly backyard habitat consists of a diverse range of native plant and grass species, which naturally require less maintenance and care as they are already adapted to the local environment.

You can be on the Front Line of this Campaign!

Visit the National Audubon Society Audubon At Home website for information on this program and tips on how you can turn your backyard into a bird-friendly habitat. You can also take the Backyard Pledge

Click here to download our two page flyer “Lawn Pesticides, An Unacceptable Risk” for more information on the negative environmental and human health effects of lawn pesticide use.

Coming Soon – a New Audubon At Home Website Just for Kids! Check back here in April. Click here to receive an email update when the new site is launched

For more information on this program:

Sean Mahar
Associate Director of Conservation
Audubon New York
(518) 869-9731