Los pájaros me llegaron a importar porque son animales importantes para mantener un ecosistema sano y creo que las personas pueden aprender mucho de la naturaleza a través de ellos. Mi pensamiento sobre las aves se ha reforzado con el curso ya que aprendí muchas cosas mas sobre ellas Las acciones que realice fueron empezar a plantar plantas nativas en lugares como áreas protegidas, reduje y reciclo los platicos que genero en mi hogar. Dentro de otras cosas que se pueden hacer es generar más interés en la población para que aprendan mas sobre las aves se puede lograr esto a través del turismo

Bought my first Duck Stamp recently.  Pretty easy way to support bird habitats.  Looking for some shade grown coffee next.

Activity 2.  I have placed deterrents on the windows of my house where I noted bird collisions have happened and tried to place my feeders at appropriate distances to limit the probability of a collision.  I am also a member of Golden Eagle Audubon’s Advocacy Committee where we are trying to get local governments to adopt anti-collision ordinances for new construction and to encourage anti-collision measures on existing buildings.  I keep my cat indoors and only let him outdoors under supervision.  I am planting native vegetation in my backyard and hope to work with my HOA to allow me to remove more lawn in favor of native vegetation.  I don’t drink coffee, but plan to purchase bird-friendly coffee for my guests who do drink coffee.  I have tried to reduce the amount of plastic in my life, but it’s extremely difficult as everything seems to either be made of plastic or contained/encased in plastic and only minimal plastic recycling occurs in this area. Activity 3.  In my 19 years of living in western Oregon, I noticed shifts in bird populations.  Black phoebes and red-shouldered hawks moved north into my area.  Varied thrushes are in noticeable decline.  Eurasian collared-doves reached northwest Oregon around 2010 and I saw a decline in mourning doves.  Interestingly following the severe winter of 2016-17, Eurasian collared-doves seemed to decline and mourning doves seemed to increase.  I saw a precipitous drop in house finches coming to my feeders when avian conjunctivitis appeared around 2014 or 15 and populations were still recovering when I moved in 2019.   Long-time residents of where I now live in Idaho tell me that Bewick’s wrens and lesser goldfinch populations have been increasing.  Mosquito abatement due to the presence of West Nile Virus appeared to have led to a decrease in common nighthawks.

Birds are a critical part of our ecosystem in so many ways.   This course has inspired me to continue to learn more about birds and to take actions to protect them.  I also plan to become more involved in citizen science activities.  This spring I participated in the Global Bird Day and Nest Watch.  I plan to continue to participate in these types of activities and as well as advocacy activities.

Activity 2, I have certified my yard as a wildlife habitat by providing food (planting native plants), providing a place for them to raise their young, cover, water and I have reduced the use of pesticides in my yard. I left a dead tree in my yard and this year I had a downy woodpecker nesting in it. For the first time, I had a pair of Bluebirds nest in my nest box. The native plants I have planted provide a food source for pollinators (like caterpillars and other insects) in turn provides a food For the birds. Activity 3. I have noticed a decline in redwing black birds, scissors tail flycatchers, and loggerhead shrikes.

This course has completely changed the way I think about birds! Due to COVID and staying home more I noticed more birds in my backyard. This was during spring migration, so they were different that what I normally see. I stumbled upon this course during this time and it has really helped me learn more about birds and all their amazing abilities, as well as learning more about birding. I have really come to enjoy watching birds from my backyard and going out birding, as paying attention to birds is an accessible, everyday way to connect with nature. This course has helped me get into birding, which has opened up a whole other world that I was oblivious too. I am doing a few things to help birds already, such as reducing my plastic use. I am going to look into adding some window decorations to help reduce the chance of birds hitting our windows, and try to find bird friendly coffee. In the future I would like to make my garden more bird and bee friendly by planting more native plants. I think the next steps of my birdwatching journey will be to continue learning more about birds by taking another Bird Academy course. I think I would like to take the one on Hawk and Raptor identification. I would also like to learn more about the anatomy of birds so I can be better at IDing birds. I will also continue to get out birding! This has been a very enjoyable course and one that I am very grateful to have found!

Thank you for the  list of things we can do to protect birds. I want to highlight one super Important action: Voting vote for candidates with a green track record, who have shown commitment to deal with the climate crisis; work to get the right candidates elected both nationally and locally.  Join an environmental action group and donate to the cause i feel that these actions will carry a lot of weight

Activity 1: Birds matter to me because they are a part of Creation. They make me happy. They teach me about the world. This course has taught me that birds are also great indicators of environmental health. An abundance of birds points toward a thriving environment. Activity 2: I always keep my two cats indoors. It has been for their own safety, but I now realize it is also important for the safety of the birds that frequent my yard. I try to recycle and cut down on waste. I have started engaging in citizen science recently as I log my sightings via eBird. I keep my distance from nests that are in use. I limit the frequency and volume at which I play bird sounds on my phone so as not to stress the birds out or trick them. I could certainly stand to be more eco-friendly in how I live. I have never tried shade-grown coffee, but I might. I would like to hang some zen blinds on my bay windows to keep birds from colliding with them. I would like to plant some native plants in my yard, as well. Activity 3: I am only 19 years old, so I haven’t really noticed changes in bird population over my lifetime (although I am certain there have been changes). As well, I only recently started birding. I also moved across the country when I was younger, so the bird species that are common where I live now are different than the ones present where I grew up. Activity 4: I would like to become an active member of a birding club at some point when the COVID-19 pandemic no longer prevents people from getting together. I would also like to witness bird migration in the fall, as I did not become interested in birding until just after the spring migrations took place this year, so I missed them. This course has really taught me a lot of the foundations of birding. I used this course to teach me how to log bird sightings, which pair of binoculars to purchase, and the major bird identification clues. I have practiced many of the skills I learned in this course.

Activity 2. We are going to plant some more native bird-friendly plants in our yard/garden. We are also going to keep working on reducing plastic.

Activity 4. I will be taking small steps to continue and maybe intensify bird-watching, both through some personal effort and through the local Audubon chapter. I have been taking almost daily morning nature/bird-watching walks very locally, focusing on what I can see easily; heron-watching has continued to be attractive. After receiving information from the local Audubon chapter, a friend and I did locate a nesting osprey sitting on the backstop of a high school baseball diamond (near the cell tower where it is nesting) and were able to watch it in flight. I need help making progress on bird sound—very difficult for me to move beyond the really common and easy-to-identify songs and calls. I am also interested in bird behavior and bird science generally and will explore the Cornell university-level beginning ornithology course and will continue reading. I was interested in Eva Meijer’s book, Animal Languages, and what she says about birds, and I am thinking about reading some of Jennifer Ackerman. Any recommendations? I am a social scientist with a focus on  human well-being and public policies, but as I have just retired from full-time teaching and research I am making a small pivot towards ecology and the natural environment, and it seems birds may be my entry point.

Activity 2. We try hard to limit or eliminate plastics. While some retailers have moved in a better direction, many still automatically dispense lots of plastic bags, and it requires alertness and intention to avoid these. We avoid all pesticides in our yard and vegetable garden. We have tried to plant bird-friendly plants within the limits of our small yard and poor soil. We have maintained an overgrown cherry tree that at least one arborist has suggested we remove. We have planted Bee Balm, Butterfly Weed, and other native flowering plants, and our landscaper says that the grasses he planted in the front yard are bird-friendly in that birds use these grasses to build nests. We could do better here, with Milkweed (we are a monarch-friendly street), Yarrow (abundant in several naturalized areas nearby), Coneflower and Black-eyed Susan, all of which grow in yards on our street. We buy annuals, Calibrachoa, that are hummingbird-friendly. I hope to become more informed and active in bird protection through the local Audubon chapter and Natural Areas Preservation unit of the city. Public policy-- at national, regional, state and local levels-- matters.

After reading the Seven Simple Acti0ns to Protect Birds list, I am happy to say that I do practice many of these already. For example, I hang as many sun-catchers, window art or other colorful things that I can find in my windows. Having experienced a few bird -window collisions in past years, I find that the more things you can creatively place in your windows, the safer you make it for birds. Although I sometimes get questioned about all of my "window art", it has actually become a topic of many conversations. It might not be for everyone, but if you don't use window coverings or shades, colorful window art can make a big difference. I also never use spray pesticides on our yard plants and flowers, for fear they will harm the birds and other wildlife in our area. We often have to deal with the mosquitoes and other bothersome insects a bit more, but it is worth it! We still lightly apply insect repellent on ourselves, but we just don't spray it all over the yard. Although we don't have a cat, we watch for any strays that might be stalking around the birds. We limit our plastic container purchases and never use bottled water. We have an Artesian well so our tap water is very good, and we always use reusable shopping bags whenever we can. Lastly, we are going to make a concerted effort to count and track birds more using the EBird app to help do our part in collecting data.  Watching birds everyday from NW Wisconsin.   Enjoy everyone!

I have always admired birds and am extremely intrigued by how amazing they are. They are very important for the Earth, but many people don't think about that. Without them, things would be totally different. I recently planted lots of chemical free flowers in my backyard, and I even have a little garden that attracts many diverse species of birds. Even though it's something small, I am positive that it has helped the birds in my neighborhood. This course was truly educational and I enjoyed learning more about these beautiful creatures!

Act 1: Birds have always mattered to me--even as a child I loved to watch them. As an adult I've tried to be more 'scientific' and precise,  identify them and find out more about them. Sooo birds are important--just as every other animal, actually! They pollinate, and otherwise help spread seeds, clean up what other animals leave behind, provide food and so much pleasure! Act 2: In my area (Prov of Quebec), plastic bags have been outlawed (though in our current conditions the stores do seem to be using them again--sigh...), and am careful with elastic bands, too. I'm also an avid, organic, gardener and, as much as possible, use native plants--and will now be more.... obsessive about it! Act 3: In my observations I have noticed changes in the bird population, but I credit that in part to the fact that I now know more. There are some species I now see that I didn't before, and some in larger flocks. I compare what I see to my (vintage) Roger Tory Peterson guide, and do find that his "northernmost range" has been extended: some birds that were limited to the New England states are now fairly common here. Act 4: I have very much enjoyed this course, especially the input of others, located near and far from me. Their participation made the course come alive for me. I have also enjoyed (am enjoying every day!) the live birdcams, especially the Sapsucker Woods one, which is close to my ecological area. I found the ability to watch a bunch of different birds at the same time to be very good for learning to distinguish males from females, from juveniles, the different blackbirds and woodpeckers, their feeding behaviour..... I may try to have a bird feeder again--had to give it up because I couldn't make it squirrel proof (in spite of buying one that was supposed to be.....). Thank you, Cornell, and thank you all participants! Catherine

Activity 2: I already work hard to decrease my plastic use.  I use reusable grocery bags, have a set of reusable utensils, and use metal straws.  Something I didn't know about before this lesson was "bird friendly" or "shade grown" coffee.  I will look into that for the future! Activity 4: This course has made me think about and notice birds a lot more.  I got the Merlin app and will now try to figure out what birds I'm seeing.  I want to start taking more bird pictures too.  Taking this course has made me be curious about and appreciate birds.

I took this course as a way to provide quality time for an elderly family member who suffers from dementia. It proved a huge success due to the good visual content, succinct lessons and ease of accessibility for her--course sections were able to be understood without reference to previous material. Although this family member cannot remember specifics from the course, there is no doubt that it stimulated her thinking, augmented her delight in the birds at our feeders and brought deep satisfaction at "attending college," which she had long wished to do. That the course improved my knowledge and interest in birds was a happy side effect of trying to care for a loved one with dementia. Simply stated, she put the JOY in the Joy of Birdwatching. Thanks to all of you, instructors and class members, for adding to her life!

Activity 2: I already have bird safe windows, keep cats indoors or on the 'catio,' and in some ways have reduced plastics, planted native species in our garden, and started to use eBird to begin contributing to citizen science.  I could check to make sure the coffee I drink is bird friendly, and focus on buying produce that reduces pesticide use.  I also could reduce plastics in my life more and participate more in citizen science. Activity 4: I am looking forward to continuing to learn how to ID different birds by sight and sound and create more lists on eBird to track my lifetime sightings and help with citizen science!  This course inspired me to get familiar with birding technology and resources that help do this and are really pretty user friendly.  I had previously felt kind of intimidated by them and didn't feel I was "good enough" at birding to make lists if I was by myself and not with an experienced birder.  But everyone starts somewhere. I already loved birds but this course reminded me how interesting they are in many ways.  Thanks for the great course!

This course has opened my eyes to all the different bird species there are and how they affect our ecosystem. I never really knew how important a role they play in it. Birds are very intriguing to me. I now have a bird feeder and able to watch the different birds that come into my yard to feed. I have taken more walks in nature to bird watch and see how they interact in nature and with themselves and other birds. I will be taking pictures also and learning more about birds as this is a new found love of mine - bird watching. I also want to get  a birdbath for my yard too. I get excited whenever I see a new bird at my feeder! Or even if there are more than one bird at a time.

I provide a diverse habitat along with a variety of food options in the hope of attracting and sustaining as many birds as I can. Since it is late spring in  northern NJ, I am currently the host to the enchanting hummingbirds. I have a dedicated section of flowers loved by them along with feeders that I diligently clean and maintain. It is joyful to watch them flit around. All of the birds that visit my yard enrich my day and I could not imagine a world without them.

I find watching birds a very relaxing activity, but I never really thought of the environmental importance birds provide.  Birds help population control of other living things in the environment. They are the cleaners of the land as they eat the rotting carcasses.  They are the pollinators of flowers.  I have watched the bird species increased in my yard for the last 20 years.  When we moved into our house in the city 20 years ago, the yard was all turf with a couple peony plants and a lilac shrub with little bird activity.  I have planted evergreens, trees, and different height flowering shrubs.  I still have a little turf  in the yard.  I leave the fall leaves in the flower and shrub beds and shredded some leaves to save for mulch that I put in the beds mid summer.  I have different feeders suppling different foods such as safflower and sunflower seed, orange halves, suet, sugar water.  Now I have humming birds, all different kinds of sparrows and finches, orioles, robins, doves, thrushes, chickadees, sapsuckers and a Cooper’s hawk that comes through to help control the the over abundance of house sparrows(just to name some).  I may not be able to control the destruction of the environment of the area around me but I can provide an area for birds(and monarchs) to thrive in my little oasis.

Activity 1: This course has definitely raised my awareness not just about birds but why they matter. My focus is not on counting but on photographing the birds I have seen and I'm now using eBird to share my photos. Super excited about my new birding passion and to share what I have seen. Activity 2: We have always been proactive about adding bird friendly plants in our garden and about keep the stream clear and useful for birds to use. We're also making a concerted effort to reduce plastics in our life. Protecting these creatures should be a priority for all of us. Activity 3: While I haven't been birding that long, I have noticed the difference in just the past few years of the kinds of birding visiting our yard. I'm sad that our owl box was only used once in the past 5 years...hoping that we'll have one next year. Activity 4: I am now actively birding and documenting what I see several times a week and hoping that this contributes to the awareness to the importance of birds in our area.

Activity 1 - My mother loved birds and always had a feeder and she instilled a love of birds in all her children. I have always felt birds are important but this course has taught me so many fascinating things about them that I think they are even more awesome than I did before. Activity 2 - The one new item for me on this list was the shade-grown coffee. I am not a coffee drinker but my other family members are, and I am going to share with them the importance of buying this type of coffee. I think another way to help birds is to share with others what I've learned in this course. I think the more that people know about birds, the more they will see how special they are and will be motivated to protect them also. Activity 3- When my husband and I have traveled around the country I have often expressed surprise and disappointment that I haven't seen more birds. It seems like there used to be more birds in general. I recall seeing flocks on telephone poles and similar places but don't see that as often. On the California coast I don't see as many seagulls as there used to be, though there seem to be more crows. Activity 4 - As a result of this course I would like to buy a good pair of binoculars and be involved as a Citizen Scientist in reporting the birds I see. I also would like to be able to identify more birds by their songs/calls, and make bird watching part of my travel experiences. I definitely want to learn more about birds and be more involved in protecting birds.

Activity 1: This course has made me more aware of the lives of birds. I understand a bit more about what's going on when I see and hear birds. I appreciate more about birds globally and their lives away from my local area. As the course states, birds are an important part of the overall functioning of the ecosystem and are much more that beautiful to look at and hear. Activity 2: We live on 5 acres of mostly undeveloped land and plan to leave it that way. The trees and shrubs on our property are home to many birds. One thing I could do is look for shade grown coffee. Activity 4: I would like to get out with my local naturalist group when lifting of restrictions allows for it. As a result of this course and the influence of a birding friend, I now take pictures of birds, identify them, and submit to e-bird on a more regular basis.

Activity 2: In our garden we use organic pesticides.Also, I wrote a paragraph for my school about recycling plastic. And lastly, I have submitted 2 nests to NESTWATCH.

Activity 1: This is the first course I have taken on birding and I found it absolutely fascinating. Whenever I am outdoors in my yard or on walks in the neighbourhood  I now  look and listen for birds and observe their behaviour. We have a robin's nest on an outdoor deck speaker  and it has been so interesting to watch the different stages of development from nest building, incubation, brooding and feeding. I have also watched birds in our trees performing a variety of self care practices. Activity 2: Some of the actions I have taken to protect birds is purchasing decals to put on my windows, planting native plants and using eco-friendly pesticides. Within the last year I have minimized the use of plastics especially for grocery shopping. On account of COVID 19  local grocery stores in Winnipeg, Manitoba discourage the use of reusable cloth bags but this is temporary. Activity 4: As current pandemic restrictions are based in my province I would like to join a local birding group on occasion and visit a local marshland area.