Bird Resources
North America has lost nearly 3 billion birds since the 1970s. Grassland birds have suffered the steepest declines, losing over half of their population. Adopting bird-friendly land management practices can be an effective strategy for bringing Virginia’s suite of grassland birds and other native bird communities back. Scroll through this page for guides and references designed to help you promote bird conservation on your property and local landscapes.
VWL Resources
Nest-Box Guide for Virginia’s Cavity-Nesting Birds
This resource that provides detailed specifications and pro-tips for placing nest-boxes on properties.
This resource is intended for landowners and producers who clip livestock pastures or bush-hog fields to maintain grassland habitat, and highlights how raising the blades on cutting machinery can help save both at-risk grassland bird species and Box Turtles.
Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Grassland Birds
This resource offers a succinct overview of best management practices landowners and farmers can implement to support grassland birds.
Grass and Shrubland Birds of Virginia
This guide includes tips and a checklist of illustrated bird species that are the current focus of VWL’s conservation efforts. These birds are solely dependent on shrub and grassland ecosystems.
Bringing Back the Butcher Bird: Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program
This pamphlet highlights the current efforts to understand and reverse the decline of Loggerhead Shrikes in Virginia.
Tips for Winterizing Your Yard for Wildlife
This reference highlights 10 quick tips on how you can help wildlife survive winter in your own backyard.
Field Management Guidelines for Grassland & Shrubland Birds
This guide is intended for landowners who are interested in helping grassland birds and have some flexibility in their management approaches. Even just choosing to implement one of the recommended practices will have a positive impact.
2020 TEDx Talk | “Bringing Back the Birds” by Dr. Amy Johnson
Watch VWL Program Director Dr. Amy Johnson’s TEDx Talk about how Virginia landowners and conservation scientists are working together to help reverse declines and bring birds back.
Resources from Other Organizations and Agencies
Audubon At Home: Creating Wildlife Habitat
Managing Land in the Piedmont of Virginia for the Benefit of Birds & Other Wildlife
Managing Working Lands for Northern Bobwhite
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VWL is supported 100% by grants and donations and our work is made possible by the generous contributions from our community.
The Smithsonian Institution is a 501(c)(3). All contributions are tax-deductible.
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Virginia Working Landscapes
Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
1500 Remount Road, MRC 5537
Front Royal, Virginia 22630
SCBIVWL@si.edu
540-635-0035
