bird conservation
The songbirds, raptors, waterfowl, and shorebirds that rely on habitats under Natural Lands care are not just beautiful but also essential to the health of our planet. They help control insect populations and some even pollinate plants. What’s more, they are environmental indicators, warning us of climate shifts and other ecosystem changes.
Grassland Bird Collaboration
Researchers estimate many grassland bird species have lost more than half their population since 1970. One quarter of these are “Tipping Point Species”: birds that are predicted to lose another 50 percent of their population in the next 50 years. With the decline of native prairies and meadows, these species have adapted well to hayfields and pastures. However, as more farms are lost to development, grassland species are struggling to survive.
Fortunately, the meadows and farm fields of Natural Lands’ preserves are ideal nesting habitat for ground-nesting birds. That is, of course, unless the land is mowed before the baby birds have fledged. All Natural Lands properties with native grassland or farmland are managed through delayed mowing practices with a ‘no-mow before’ date of July 15th. Natural Lands also closes a handful of trails that traverse meadows used as nesting sites for these threatened species during breeding season.
Natural Lands has joined up with Willistown Conservation Trust (WCT) to partner on the Grassland Bird Collaboration, which WCT launched in 2022. The Collaboration reaches out to Chester County property owners and the farmers to provide guidance on best management practices to benefit the three focal species: Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, and Grasshopper Sparrow.
learn more about this program
Eastern Bluebird nest box program
Eastern Bluebirds were once as common as American Robins are today. Their numbers dropped drastically in the middle of the last century as farming practices changed and open space was lost to development.
Bluebirds prefer open meadows, which offer an abundance of insects that constitute the majority of their warm-weather diet. They build their nests in cavities, but their beaks are not strong enough to excavate their own nests, so they re-use cavities created by other birds like woodpeckers.
Most of Natural Lands’ 40+ nature preserves and one public garden include some meadow habitat, ideal for bluebirds. To give them a helping hand, we’ve installed more than 300 nest boxes on our properties.
Volunteers are an essential part of this low-tech but effective initiative to augment natural nesting cavities. Every week from April 1 through the end of July, a cadre of volunteers monitors the boxes, recording details like what species of bird takes up residence in the box (sometimes chickadees or House Wrens nest there), the number of eggs laid, and when and how many baby birds hatch and fledge. Volunteers also construct and install the boxes.
view a downloadable guide to helping bluebirdsAmerican Kestrel conservation
The American Kestrel is North America’s smallest and most colorful falcon. Once a common sight in our region, they have declined more than 80 percent in the last half-century. Today, they are considered “threatened” in New Jersey and a species of “special concern” in Pennsylvania. Experts believe the decline may be related to the loss of large, high-quality, grassland habitat—which the birds rely on for hunting rodents and other small prey—and the lack of suitable nesting sites.
Kestrels build their nests in old woodpecker holes or natural cavities in dead or dying trees. As land is developed, these birds lose essential nesting sites. Fortunately, they readily use man-made boxes when constructed and located properly.
Natural Lands has installed several kestrel nest boxes at our preserves. We also have a policy of leaving dead and dying trees standing—provided they aren’t located near buildings, roads, or trails—so they can offer nesting options for American Kestrels and many other cavity-nesting species as their wood decays.
learn more about kestrel conservation
conserve your land
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other resources
Free, downloadable guides to help you learn more about the natural world around you and how to help care for it.
why protecting land matters
Every acre we save cleans and cools the air we breathe, soaks up floodwaters, provides wildlife with habitat, filters the water we drink, and brings humans improved health and joy.