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By Elizabeth Gray and Randall Poster
This summer, the hummingbird in your backyard may return after wintering on Mexico’s Pacific slope, and the warbler in your neighborhood park may visit you from its winter retreat in the Andes Mountains.
Humans instinctively understand that birds are both musicians and messengers. Our cultures (songs, literature, parables, visual arts, dance, holidays, sports mascots and idioms) rely heavily on birds and what they represent to us, from the sacredness of eagles to many Native American cultures to the poetry of Toni Morrison.
That’s because birds have a lot to say. Birds tell us about home and love and family. They tell us about safety and security. They tell us about joy and curiosity. They inspire us with their beauty and their flight. And, they also tell us when things are wrong in our own communities and on our planet.
Recent studies have shown that, since 1970, North America has nearly 3 billion birds were lost through the destruction of their homes, the contamination of their environment and other factors. Both stressors wreak havoc on a person’s life and happiness. Air pollution is a silent killer. Hurricanes, droughts and wildfires are increasing in frequency and intensity. Two-thirds of the birds of North America are threatened by our changing climate—changes that also threaten our cities and communities from coast to coast.
Yes, birds have a lot to tell us. When Covid-19 forced so many Americans to stay at home in the spring of 2020, millions of us began to listen to birds in new ways amid the often eerie silence. And such an extraordinary creative outpouring, “For the Birds: The Birdsong Project,” was born.
Featuring recordings by more than 200 leading artists, “For the Birds: The Birdsong Project” celebrates the joy and music that birds bring to our lives. Contributors include Mark Ronson, Yo-Yo Ma, Beck, Jeff Goldblum, Elvis Costello, Regina King, Matthew McConaughey, Tilda Swinton, Karen O and more, including Audubon board members Jane Alexander and Lili Taylor (who played an important role in connecting us at the beginning of the project). “For the Birds: The Birdsong Project” benefits the National Audubon Society and includes many other partners, including Brooklyn Botanic Garden and BirdLife International. This may be the greatest charity compilation ever made: evidence of the extraordinary cultural power of birds.
We believe that birds should be a source of joy, of wisdom and of hope.
The joy they bring is limitless, and it is available to all of us every day. Whether we live in the biggest cities or the smallest farms, Americans can encounter birds every day. This spring, take time to enjoy their songs, nest building, colors and antics. Watch them go about their lives and wonder.
Birds can be a source of wisdom because they show us how to live better. The decline or disappearance of birds is often the first sign of environmental problems—from the proverbial “canary in a coal mine” warning of polluted underground air to Rachel Carson’s warning of a “silent spring” while pesticides wreak havoc on Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcons. The late scientific giant Thomas Lovejoy often said, “If you take care of the birds, you take care of most of the world’s environmental problems.”
Finally, birds offer abundant hope. They travel back each spring, year after year, bright in color and song, reminding us that spring will always come again. And when we heed their warnings, they can come back from the brink of extinction, proving that we can make a difference when we put our minds to it. Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcons came back from the brink of extinction when we corrected our mistakes and offered them help. Many of America’s waterfowl have repopulated through concerted wetland restoration efforts.
The birds are telling us that we can build a healthier, more sustainable world for them and for each of us. Let us celebrate that message and commit ourselves to action.
Elizabeth Gray, Ph.D., is CEO of the National Audubon Society, a nonprofit conservation organization working across the Americas to protect birds and the places they need, and Randall Poster is a Grammy Award-winning music producer and supervisor and the producer of “For the Birds: The Birdsong Project.”
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