Good thing we’ve definitely got people in office who will get on this! (By rapidly making the problems worse)
Non-exhaustive list of things you can do to support your local bird population:
Keep cats indoors.
Never release iguanas, pythons, etc. into the wild.
Consider how you would keep your hypothetical exotic pet contained even in an emergency, such as a hurricane.
Plant Food Plants for birds*
Plant Cover Plants for birds
Plant Food and Cover Plants for bugs
Plant even more Food and Cover Plants for bugs**
Leave dead leaves and plant stems out through the winter.
Put out bird feeders, especially hummingbird feeders, ONLY if you have the discipline to clean them at least once a week (more for hummingbirds)
Avoid using insecticides or rodenticides, especially outside
Cover your windows at night, especially during spring and fall migration seasons, and especially if you are in a migration corridor
Apply decals or anti-bird-window-collision tape on windows that are likely to experience bird-window collisions
If you have a dead tree that's still upright (a snag!) leave it be; snags are great habitat for bugs and cavity-dwelling birds
Put up bird boxes with baffles (predator guard); follow guidelines from Audubon or other wildlife organizations on where to put it and what kind of box to get for different kinds of birds.
Leave a shallow saucer of water outside for birds to drink from and bathe in, and refill it regularly.
Don't mow during nesting season.
Mow less frequently in general, and convert lawn into native grassland or other habitats... unless you have burrowing owls, who like short grass monoculture for some reason 🤷♀️
Leave shorebirds alone
Support your local bird and/or land conservation groups.
*In the southeast US, Cherokee Bean, Coral Honeysuckle, and other tubular flowers are good for hummingbirds; elms, magnolias, maples and just about anything native with a nut or a berry is good for seed-eating birds; smartweed, buttonbush and duckweed are good for ducks; and oaks feed just about everybody. Check with your local Audubon or Native Plant Society for location-specific recommendations
**Did you know that most juvenile songbirds can only eat insects, even in species that grow up to eat mostly seeds? Bugs are nature's baby food.
