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  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Mission and Vision Statement
    • Equality and Diversity Policy
    • SWAMP SHOP
    • BSBO's Visitors' Center >
      • Visit BSBO
      • Anna Macke Mikolajczyk Window On Wildlife
      • John Gallagher Memorial Birding Trail
    • BSBO Staff
    • BSBO Board of Directors
    • eNews
    • BSBO Videos >
      • BSBO's 20th Anniversary by Deb Neidert
    • BSBO Blogs >
      • Kenn Kaufman's Crane Creek - Magee Birding Blog
      • BSBO Bird Bander's Blog
      • BSBO Education and Outreach Blog
    • Contact Us
  • Support BSBO
    • Donate
    • Join or Renew
    • Sponsor A Mist Net
    • Help BSBO while you shop
    • Our Wish List
    • Birds and Business Alliance
  • RESEARCH
    • Peer-Reviewed Publications
    • Passerines
    • Oak Openings
    • Project SNOWstorm >
      • About Project SNOWstorm
      • Meet Buckeye
      • Meet Wolverine
    • Northern Saw-whet Owls
    • Research Highlights >
      • Gray-Cheeked Thrush from Colombia, South America
      • BSBO Bird Bander's Blog
    • Past Research >
      • Colonial Wading Birds
      • Ohio Winter Bird Atlas
      • Shorebirds
    • Reports >
      • Navarre Marsh Annual Banding and Survey Data
      • Annual Project Reports
  • EDUCATION
    • Bird Migration Profiles
    • Family Activities >
      • Bird Observation Challenge
      • Free Online Resources
      • Arts & Crafts
    • Young Birders >
      • Ohio Young Birders Club
      • Young Birders Network
      • Youth Birding Camps
    • Teachers >
      • Wetland Investigation Network
      • Songbird Banding and Migration Programs
      • Students Against Balloon Releases
    • Group Programs >
      • Presentations by Request
      • Scouting Programs
    • BSBO Bird Knowins
  • Conservation
    • Bird-safe / Birder-friendly Communities
    • Responsible Wind Energy
    • Conservation Updates
    • Position Statement on Feral and Free-Ranging Cats
    • Habitat Designations
    • Donate the Guia
    • Easy Ways for YOU to Support Conservation
    • Breeding Bird Surveys
  • EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
    • Birds at Home
    • Bird Trivia
    • BSBO's Biggest Week In American Birding
  • NW OHIO BIRDING
    • Responsible Owl Viewing
    • Kenn Kaufman's Crane Creek - Magee Birding Blog
    • Local Birding Hotspots
    • Local eBird Tips
    • Regional Bird Checklist
    • Timing of Spring Migration
    • Timing of Fall Migration
    • Timing of Fall Shorebird Migration
    • ABA Code of Birding Ethics
    • Ohio Bird Alpha Codes
    • Birder Calling Cards
    • Birding Ohio

BSBO's Bird-safe / Birder-friendly Community Initiative

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Northern Parula image courtesy of Brian Zwiebel
In order to help make northwest Ohio communities safer for birds and more appealing to birders, BSBO has developed a new Bird-safe / Birder-friendly Community program. This long-term, multi-phased initiative will address numerous threats to birds, including: 
​
1) Building collisions 
2) Feral and free-roaming cats
3) Balloon and lantern releases
4) Discarded fishing line 
​* The initiative will also include promotion of the use of native plants

It is the hope of the BSBO Conservation Committee that working with the Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative, we can build a model that can be used to support similar programs across Ohio. 

Bird-safe / Birder-friendly Toledo 

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​Building collisions are a leading cause of bird fatality during migration in North America, estimated to kill 550 million birds each year. So, in Toledo we began by partnering with the Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative (OBCI) to encourage Toledo and Lucas County officials to become part of OBCI’s statewide “Ohio Lights Out” program. This program helps tall buildings downtown to turn off upper-story and decorative lighting during the spring and fall migration seasons.

As of this writing, the Lucas County Commissioners and the County Sustainability Commission already have endorsed the BSBO Bird-safe / Birder-friendly initiative through a resolution that passed unanimously on March 27. We expect Toledo City Council to pass the resolution, as well.

Bird-safe / Birder-friendly Oak Harbor 

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​After months of effort, the BSBO Conservation Committee is thrilled to announce that on October 15, the Oak Harbor Village Council voted unanimously to approve legislation banning roaming cats and outdoor feeding stations. 

In June 2017, the BSBO Conservation Committee convened a working group to address the disturbing number of roaming cats in the Village of Oak Harbor, Ohio. While the effort focused primarily on the risk to human health and the rights of property owners in the village, banning roaming cats has the important added benefit of saving native birds and wildlife. 

BSBO presented the initial draft legislation and brought an impressive range of experts and community leaders to the working group, including a local veterinarian, attorneys, village administration and council members, local cat shelter directors, and the director of the Chamber of Commerce. The group researched legislation passed by other cities and municipalities, and presented a reasonable, well-researched, and enforceable legislation to village council. The law forbids providing a “regular” outdoor feeding or watering area, and lists persistent howling, noxious odors from defecating and urinating, and damage to vegetation among possible complaints to legally address.

This is a huge victory for bird conservation! We hope the legislation will serve as a model for other areas dealing with this serious problem.

Domestic cats make wonderful companions when kept indoors or allowed outside only when confined. When allowed to roam, they are nonnative predators that kill billions of birds each year. (Yes, billions with a B.) The more we can work towards a reasonable solution the more it benefits birds, people, and the cats, too! We hope the legislation will serve as a model for other areas dealing with this serious problem.

CLICK HERE to read the legislation in its entirety. 
© 2021 www.bsbo.org 
All rights reserved

The mission of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory is to inspire the appreciation, enjoyment, 
and conservation of birds and their habitats through research, education, and outreach.


We are located at the entrance of the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area
| 13551 W. State Route 2  |  Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449  |  419.898.4070  |