Why Conserve Birds?

We value them intrinsically
Our affection for birds dates to the dawn of our species. Eagles, doves, and ravens permeate our history, cultures, and religions. Cranes, falcons, geese, and parrots adorn the walls of Neolithic caves, Egyptian pyramids, Mayan temples, and most American homes today. Storks deliver us at birth and owls mourn our deaths. Each new generation marvels at the beauty and variety of birds, their value to our species, and their ability to fly away, leaving us simply to wonder.

Birds are indicators of environmental hazards
Because they are sensitive to habitat change and because they are easy to census, birds are the ecologist's favorite tool. Changes in bird populations are often the first indication of environmental problems. Whether ecosystems are managed for agricultural production, wildlife, water, or tourism, success can be measured by the health of birds.

Protecting birds promotes good land stewardship
Birds have been a driving force behind the American conservation movement since its early day when unregulated hunting, the use of toxic pesticides, and the destruction of wetlands threatened our wildlife and wild places. The environmental problems we face today are more complex than in the past, and we need a new generation of committed conservationists to help counter them.

Birds are a tremendous economic resource
Forty six million Americans watch birds. Birders are the market for a burgeoning industry, spending hundreds of millions of dollars per year feeding birds, purchasing equipment, and traveling in pursuit of birds. This economic force - and the benefits birds provide in insect and rodent control, plant pollination, and seed dispersal - add value to sustaining birds and their habitats.

We have a moral obligation
Yet, even if birds were not beautiful, even if they were of no economic value, our cultures have deemed them the right to exist. As stewards of our planet, we have an absolute ethical obligation to maintain all other species regardless of their functional values. We should no more allow the loss of natural life than destroy a masterpice of art. Each species represents a measure of natural wealth for us to use and enjoy; thus it is the very least our generation can do to ensure our children inherit as much as we have now. It is this ethical commitment to the future on which American Bird Conservancy is founded.

More on ABC's Vision for Bird Conservation

Photos: Atlantic Puffin, Cape May Warbler, California Condor by USFWS