Forestry for the Birds

Forestry for the Birds uses the best available science on avian ecology and sustainable forest management to offer strategies for creating bird habitat in contemporary forests. Collaborating with land managers, landowners, and forest stewards, the program aims to improve bird habitat, and support bird populations, through sustainable forest management practices. Bird presence and abundance reflect overall forest health. So, the program promotes practices that benefit habitat needs for diverse bird species and human needs, such as timber production, hunting, and recreation. This approach, on public and private forest lands, underscores the interconnectedness of forest ecosystems and the importance of managing them for multiple values, including biodiversity conservation.  

Forestry for the Birds is about managing bird-friendly forests – enhancing, creating, and conserving habitat for birds and other wildlife while also:  

• Providing options that align with a landowner’s goals 
• Keeping forests healthy and promoting resiliency 
• Adapting to climate changes
• Planning for future generations

The Forestry for Birds programs are built on partnerships among landowners, academics, foresters, non-profit agencies, and government agencies on local, regional, and national levels.

After the program start with Audubon in Vermont, the Forest Stewards Guild helped develop programs in more states, expanding and adapting the framework to the distinct needs, interests, and opportunities in each region. Program features shared across the country include:

• Educational workshops for landowners and professionals,
• Pocket field guides or conservation guides,
• Online resources, and
• Demonstration sites that help to illustrate program content.

Why is Forestry for the Birds Important?

North America has lost nearly three billion birds, or roughly one in four birds, since 1970. Bird populations are declining for a variety of reasons including habitat loss and fragmentation. Migratory birds face habitat loss throughout their full life cycle: on their breeding grounds, along migration routes, and on their wintering grounds. Enhancing forest habitat on the breeding grounds can help to mitigate the impacts of habitat loss in other regions by increasing reproductive success and health entering migration.

Forestry for Birds programs throughout the country synthesize and share existing research on how forest management can benefit wildlife. Then, the program provides this information to professional foresters, public land managers, and private landowners to maximize the benefits of sustainable forest management.  

These data-driven forest management recommendations are for the growing audience of public and private land managers focused on stewarding forests to benefit birds and other non-game wildlife.