Why Do Birds Matter?

Birds are an important part of the species chain supporting earth’s ecosystems. From the smallest wren to the largest eagle or waterfowl, birds help sustain the earth’s resources while sustaining themselves. They and every other species now face challenges greater than we have known in many recent and past eras in the face of toxicity, pollution, greenhouse gases, and many other forces attacking all of the earth’s species and environments. They are harbingers foretelling humans that the results of our actions are having and will continue to produce serious impacts on everything we now know on earth, if we do not change our ways. —Joyce Coppinger

“Birds are nature’s greatest expression of grace and beauty and are an inspiration to all who observe and study them.” I often use this to describe the wonder I feel when observing birds and their behaviors. People seem to get my point. —Tom Baptist, Executive director, Audubon Connecticut

Birds matter because they are beautiful and because we love them and care about them. They matter because they are an integral part of the ecosystem in which they live, and we are already learning that when one element of an ecosystem is disturbed, there is a ripple of consequences that affects the entire system: for example, they are a food source for raptors, some mammals, and other species. Birds matter because they are an important source of eco-tourism in many parts of the world. —Melanie Hunt