The Powerful Act of Noticing

Years ago, I hiked to the top of a mountain in Hawai‘i to see a bird most people will never encounter. The ‘Akiapōlā‘au, a Hawaiian honeycreeper with a brilliant yellow belly and a long-curved beak, had once been more widespread. But disease and habitat loss had driven it higher and higher into the last remaining pockets of native forest. I remember the quiet of that place, broken only by a single warbling call in the tree overhead. The experience was brief, beautiful, and hard won—and it stayed with me. It shaped the path I would follow.

As a field scientist, I learned to slow down, to notice the subtle changes that signal something larger. A migration that begins a few days late. A silence where there used to be song. These are clues, and birds are often the first to give them. Each small shift carries meaning, revealing the threads that connect species, seasons, and the systems that sustain life on this planet.

That discipline—the ability to observe deeply and let those observations change us—is one I first learned by reading about the work of Dr. Jane Goodall. Her recent passing has prompted reflection across the world, and certainly in my own life. As a young woman drawn to science, I saw in her a rare example of what it looks like to lead with both intellect and empathy. She taught us that attention is its own form of action. That when we truly see what is unfolding in the natural world, we are called to protect it.

This same belief guides our work at Audubon. This issue is full of those moments of reckoning. A seabird revealing a path long hidden at sea. A puffin colony growing quiet. A hollow tree revealing itself as a cornerstone of life. These stories might seem disconnected at first. But together, they show us that change often begins with noticing what others have overlooked and caring enough to act.

Dr. Goodall once said, “What you do makes a difference. And you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” At Audubon, we have made that decision. Through Flight Plan, our strategic plan, we are focused on protecting habitat, advancing climate solutions, and galvanizing our community to help us bend the bird curve—­halt and ultimately reverse the decline of birds across the Americas—and create a future where birds and people can thrive together.

Because once you learn to see through the eyes of birds, you begin to see what is possible. And once you see it, you are inspired to act.

This piece originally ran in the Winter 2025 issue as the Audubon View. To receive our print magazine, become a member by making a donation today.