Cities, Towns, and Parks

Transforming our communities into places where birds flourish.

Where birds thrive, people prosper.

From urban centers to rural towns, each community can provide important habitat for birds. In turn, birds offer us a richer, more beautiful, and healthful place to live.

The Threat

Over the past century, urbanization has taken, fragmented, and transformed ecologically productive land with sterile lawns and exotic ornamental plants. We’ve introduced walls of glass, toxic pesticides, and domestic predators. The human-dominated landscape no longer supports functioning ecosystems or provides healthy places for birds.

The Solution

Audubon’s Bird-friendly Communities strives to provide food, shelter, safe passage, and places for birds to raise their young, through our Plants for Birds and Bird-friendly Buildings programs. As we work to create healthy habitats, we also work to ensure safe spaces for our feathered friends. Check out some bird-friendly yard tips here and read on to learn more.

Staff

Marlene Pantin

Senior Program Manager, Plants for Birds

Hannah Partridge

Community Action Manager

Local Projects
Connect to local Audubon projects year you!
A person checks Purple Martin nest boxes.
Urban Native Greens
Improving the conservation outcomes for birds and people through partnerships among scientists, ...
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Birding in Lakeland Park
Baltimore Community Forestry
Enhance forest health and migratory bird stopover habitat while improving climate resilience in ...
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Bird-friendly Communities in North Carolina
Protecting birds in the places where people work and live, from urban centers to rural towns.
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group of people with binoculars
Urban Woods and Prairies Initiative
Reconnecting communities with nature.
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Young Wild Indigo participant looks through binoculars.
Wild Indigo Nature Explorations
Build lasting relationships between urban communities of color and their local natural areas.
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Bird City Texas - Port Aransas
Bird City Texas
By certifying and inspiring communities, we are expanding urban habitats, reducing threats, and ...
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Stinknet Removal
The Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Working Group
Restore and protect the area as a thriving riparian corridor that supports birds and wildlife, ...
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Burrowing Owl Relocation
Engaging local communities through on-the-ground bird conservation. 
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Proclamations, Resolutions, and Ordinances
Audubon Florida Assembly. Photo: Luke Franke/Audubon
Proclamations, Resolutions, and Ordinances

Protecting birds and providing them with abundant habitat and safe passage is achievable with PROs – Proclamation, Resolutions and Ordinances. Connect with your local Audubon chapter, center, or sanctuary, to learn more about PROs for native plants and bird-friendly buildings or reach out to bfc@audubon.org.

Bird-Friendly Community News

Proposed Legislation Would Support Bird Conservation and Partnerships in Cities and Towns
October 12, 2024 — The Urban Bird Treaty Act will support habitat conservation, hazard reduction, and community engagement.
A bird flies between skyscrapers, the fading moon overhead.
The Surprisingly Long History of the Movement to Make Buildings Safer for Birds
March 26, 2024 — Documenting the birds injured and killed by flying into buildings is difficult, emotionally draining work. One New York City Audubon volunteer looks to the past to find hope for the future.
Illustration of an adult and child smelling flowers outside next to a house.
New Laws Protect Bird-Friendly Yards From Neighborhood Rules
March 22, 2024 — A blossoming legislative trend prevents homeowners associations, which set landscaping rules for a growing number of Americans, from forbidding native plants.
Our Work in Communities