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Governor Brian Kemp recently signed a proclamation designating the month of September as Georgia Native Plants Month. A collaborative effort between Georgia Audubon and Georgia Native Plant Society, Georgia Native Plants Month is designed to highlight the importance of using native plants in our landscape and the key role that native plants play for birds and other wildlife. Georgia Audubon and Georgia Native Plant Society are hosting a number of collaborative events in September to help Georgians learn more about gardening for birds and other wildlife using native plants.
“Native plants have evolved over thousands of years to grow in harmony with their local environment, including the soil type and the availability of water,” says Nikki Belmonte, Georgia Native Plant Society executive director. “Native plants require little to no fertilizer, watering, and chemical applications and, if used properly in the landscape, they can mitigate water runoff, improve air quality, and create a stunning display throughout the year” Incorporating native plants into landscapes also creates high quality wildlife habitat. A 2019 study published in the journal Science by researchers at seven institutions (https://www.3billionbirds.org/) revealed that North America has lost nearly three billion, or one in four birds, since 1970. “One of the easiest ways that we can help birds and other wildlife is to use native plants in our landscapes,” says Jared Teutsch, Georgia Audubon executive director. “Native plants are built to thrive in their environment, and these plants are important hosts for protein-rich native insects, like caterpillars, which nesting birds need to feed their growing chicks. More than 96 percent of land birds feed insects to their chicks, and native plants host many more insects than non-native plants. For example, a native oak supports more than 550 kinds of butterflies and moths, whereas a non-native Ginkgo tree supports only five.” This year, Georgia Audubon is delighted to partner with the Georgia Native Plant Society (GNPS) to bring an amazing lineup of events designed to help Georgians transform their landscapes with native plants for birds and other wildlife. Our signature event will take place on Saturday September 9, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM at Georgia Audubon’s new home at the Trees Atlanta Kendeda Treehouse. Join fellow plant and bird enthusiasts for a Round Robin on Transforming your Greenspace. Hear from experts from Georgia Audubon, the Georgia Native Plant Society, and Trees Atlanta to learn now to build a wildlife sanctuary in your own landscape, including information on propagating plants, controlling invasive plants, and building and managing native landscapes for birds and other pollinators. Each of these three organizations offers habitat certifications and their presentations will cover specifics on how to become certified. The Round Robin will feature exhibitors, tours of the newly certified garden at Trees Atlanta, and an optional early morning bird walk prior to the event. There will also be an optional native plant and bird tour at nearby Lionel Hampton Park in the afternoon. In addition to this signature event, Georgia Audubon and Georgia Native Plant Society will be hosting a number of virtual and in-person events to educate the public about the importance of native plants to birds, including:
Georgia Audubon is building places where birds and people thrive. We create bird-friendly communities through conservation, education, and community engagement. Learn more at https://www.georgiaaudubon.org. The Georgia Native Plant Society (GNPS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the stewardship and conservation of Georgia’s native plants and their habitats. Learn more at https://gnps.org/
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Above: American Goldfinch on black-eyed Susan, by Lucy Franco; Brown Thrasher on black elderberry, by Will Stuart; Eastern Bluebird on winterberry, by David Sloas. This September, Georgia Audubon will celebrate the sixth annual Georgia Grows Native for Birds Month, a celebration of Georgia’s native plants and the key role they play for birds and other wildlife. This year’s celebration will include a variety of workshops and events designed to help Georgians learn more about gardening for birds and other wildlife using native plants.
“One of the biggest threats to birds in Georgia is habitat loss,” says Adam Betuel, Georgia Audubon’s director of conservation. “As urbanization increases and natural habitats disappear, native plants can go a long way to restoring the habitat birds need. Fortunately, we can ;provide birds with high-quality resources through thoughtful landscaping using native plants.” This year, Georgia Audubon is delighted to partner with the Georgia Native Plant Society (GNPS) to bring an amazing lineup of events designed to help you transform your landscape with native plants for birds and other wildlife. Our signature event will take place on Saturday September 9, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM at Georgia Audubon’s new home at the Trees Atlanta Kendeda Treehouse. Join fellow plant and bird enthusiasts for a Round Robin on Transforming your Greenspace. Hear from experts from Georgia Audubon, the Georgia Native Plant Society, and Trees Atlanta to learn now to build a wildlife sanctuary in your own landscape, including information on propagating plants, controlling invasive plants, and building and managing native landscapes for birds and other pollinators. Each of these three organizations offers habitat certifications and their presentations will cover specifics on how to become certified. The Round Robin will feature exhibitors, tours of the newly certified garden at Trees Atlanta, and an optional early morning birds walk prior to the event. There will also be an optional native plant and bird tour at nearby Lionel Hampton Park in the afternoon. In addition to this signature event, Georgia Audubon will host a number of virtual and in-person events to educate the public about the importance of native plants to birds, including:
Georgia Audubon is building places where birds and people thrive. We create bird-friendly communities through conservation, education, and community engagement. ###  Photo by Camille Cera, National Audubon Society. By Georgann Schmalz
It was a Northern Parula. Definitely a Northern Parula. I knew some birds’ voices pretty well in 1960's and '70s, the songs and chip notes of robins, crows, blue jays, cardinals. But what I didn’t realize was how important, if not magical and awesome, those songs were. This little warbler, just him, caught my ear in the midst of a cacophony of other spring migrants that were singing loudly. Wow, I thought, these birds are all yelling their IDs to me without my seeing them. I tuned in to another song and the next and the next. Over time it became my compelling behavior, enough to enable me to share the birding by ear process for more than 45 years. I began to understand that 90% of birding is half listening (sorry, Yogi Berra). Historically, in the field techniques have changed, albeit slowly in those 45 years. How often have we imagined a convenient way to isolate songs, play them back for study, dissect them with their song characteristics. I remember returning home after many field trips and immediately listening to the LP records by Donald J. Borror, searching for the songs I had heard hours before. The vinyl evolved into plastic reel-to-reel tapes and cassettes. As cumbersome as they were, at least we could take cassettes players into the field with us! And then, came the holy CDs. Digital recordings at our fingertips, no rewinding tapes, no waste of time. In 1999, we had the Blackberry 10 devices, which then begat iOS and Android platforms. By this time, we were all thinking that what we really needed was a handheld device that had not only songs, but also photos, range maps, descriptions — in other words, an app field guide with instant information and gratification on a handheld device with speakers and microphones and just throw in a camera and phone for the heck of it. Enter the new kid in town: the Merlin app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Originally known for its visual identification of birds, it became an audio recognition of songs and chips in 2022. Merlin identifies bird sounds using computer learning technology to recognize species based on spectrograms or sonograms — visual representations of sounds. For Merlin to learn to recognize a species by sound, it uses audio recordings from the Macaulay Library that include a variety of sounds for each species to “train” Merlin’s "ears." Sound ID is currently available for more than 1,000 species and will be expanded in the future to include species world wide. To do that, the Cornell Lab team needs a minimum of 150 sound recordings for each species. You can help to add new species to Merlin by recording the birds and uploading them with your eBird checklists. The other day, I wanted to see just how Merlin was doing, ear to ear. I chose an early morning location with many birds singing. During the three-minute test, I identified every bird that Merlin did, but I heard a few more birds than it did. I’m not saying that I’m better than Merlin, but there are a few things to be cautious about:
For many years I’ve helped (I hope) beginning birders to learn bird songs. Yet, I’m constantly incorporating new methods, ideas, and skills into my latest recommended techniques. And now, I find myself telling friends and even complete strangers about Merlin. Their world will never be the same again! For more information on using Merlin, visit http://support.ebird.org, Help Center, Merlin Bird ID.( https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/ https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/) |
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