Grasslands, Aridlands, and Forests

We improve habitat quality on privately managed and public lands.
Burrowing Owls. Photo: Sandrine Biziaux Scherson/Audubon Photography Awards

Working on working lands.

Working lands represent one of the best hopes for conservation. These parcels of forests, ranches, and farms add up to roughly a billion acres—or about half the land in the entire Lower 48 states. Audubon collaborates with landowners, land managers, government agencies, and private industry across the hemisphere to increase the quality of habitat on privately managed lands to benefit 20 flagship bird species. Audubon also helps landowners and land managers apply bird-friendly practices on their lands.

Related News

Wheels Up! Grass, Birds, and Good Food Take Off at Rafter W Ranch
August 31, 2026 — Ranchers Lance and Lisa Wheeler provide habitat for more than three dozen bird species at their Audubon Certified Bird-Friendly ranch in Simla, Colorado.
Wisconsin Farms & Ranches Earn Audubon Bird-Friendly Land Certification
August 19, 2026 — Seven new Wisconsin producers are managing their acres for birds and biodiversity
Uplifting BIPOC Youth in Conservation Science, Regenerative Farming and Ranching
August 18, 2026 — Audubon joined FrontLine Farming’s Black Teen Cultivators in Denver for a two-day event centered on bird conservation and regenerative ranching.
A male Bobolink perched in a field of tall grasses with yellow flowers.
Audubon Pilots Adopt-a-Flyway Recognition Program to Enhance 700 acres of Migratory Bird Habitat in Minnesota
July 28, 2026 — Minnesota provides key stopover and breeding habitat for the more than 325 bird species that travel along the Mississippi Flyway every spring.
TomKat Ranch Earns Audubon Bird-Friendly Land Certification
July 28, 2026 — The California ranch restores important coastal prairie habitat for grassland birds by following science-based, holistic grazing management practices.
Birds That Depend on Grasslands
Greater Sage-Grouse
Centrocercus urophasianus
Pheasants and Grouse
Golden Eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
Hawks and Eagles
Sagebrush Sparrow
Artemisiospiza nevadensis
New World Sparrows
Sage Thrasher
Oreoscoptes montanus
Mockingbirds and Thrashers
Burrowing Owl
Athene cunicularia
Owls
Brewer's Sparrow
Spizella breweri
New World Sparrows
Gray Flycatcher
Empidonax wrightii
Tyrant Flycatchers