Audubon Bird Town Program

Bird Town is a working partnership between the PA Audubon Society and a municipality to promote conservation, land stewardship, and community-based actions to create a healthy, more sustainable environment for people and birds. The program started in 2010, and Schuylkill Township was one of the first participants.

Some residents may be familiar with the Audubon at Home program which encourages individual property owners to improve their backyard habitat, and Bird Town rolls up the actions of these individuals and provides more tools that foster stewardship for the whole community. Birds are the most visible and measurable indicators of environmental health, and Pennsylvania is an important place for year-round birds and migrant song birds, but habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation continue to cause population declines in birds, other wildlife and plants. Bird Town’s mission is to reduce this trend by encouraging the use of native plants, shrubs, and trees, by implementing stormwater management practices, by reducing use of chemicals and pesticides, by reducing lawns, and by creating a culture of conservation.

Property owners seeking more information on Bird Town in Schuylkill Township or businesses interested in sponsoring conservation activities should contact Mary Ellen Heisey at 610.935.7701 or tchmeh1@comcast.net, or visit the Audubon Pennsylvania Bird Town website.