Maine Audubon’s Forestry for Maine Birds program is designed to give landowners, foresters, and loggers tools to enhance, create, or conserve current and future bird habitat. You can find lots of resources online, including informational signage Maine Audubon has made for several demonstration forests and training videos to help you learn how to manage your land with birds in mind. Creating or enhancing three layers of vegetation, small gap openings, and dead or downed wood; conserving big old trees, softwood stands, and riparian habitat; and reducing invasive plants all enrich habitat for birds and other wildlife.
Maine Audubon uses its popular Facebook (18K followers) and Instagram (11K followers) channels to introduce the general public to the program, spread the word about programs for landowners in certain parts of Maine, to attract landowners and foresters to take part in forest management and planning programs, and to teach people more about 20 species of forest birds identified as being of conservation concern in the Northeast. This Instagram campaign (from August 2020) spotlights each of the 20 priority bird species, giving information on the birds and the types of habitat they require. As part of its coverage of the program, Maine Public created the “For the Birds” video below, which highlights the 20 birds and their calls, so you can identify the birds both by sight and sound.
Additional “forestry for birds” resources provided by programs throughout the region:
- Audubon Vermont - Foresters for the Birds
- Audubon New York - Forest Resource Center
- Mass Audubon - Managing Forests for Birds
- Audubon Connecticut - Working Lands: Forest for Birds Habitat Assessment Program
- Audubon Pennsylvania - Forestry for the Birds
Special thanks to Melissa Kim for providing content on Maine Audubon's Forestry for Maine Birds program.