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  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Mission and Vision Statement
    • Equality and Diversity Policy
    • BSBO Board of Directors
    • BSBO Staff
    • Visit BSBO >
      • Directions
      • Building Improvements
      • Anna Macke Mikolajczyk Window On Wildlife
      • John Gallagher Memorial Birding Trail
    • eNews
    • BSBO Blogs >
      • BSBO CONSERVATION BLOG
      • BSBO Bird Bander's Blog
      • BSBO Education and Outreach Blog
    • Contact Us
  • Support BSBO
    • 2024 Year-End Appeal
    • Donate
    • Join or Renew
    • BSBO Swamp Shop
    • Bartlett Big Sit
    • Education Center
    • Sponsor A Mist Net
    • Help BSBO while you shop
    • Birds and Business Alliance
    • Birder Tea Fundraiser
  • RESEARCH
    • Peer-Reviewed Publications
    • Songbird Research >
      • Migration Monitoring >
        • Migration Tracking
      • Prothonotary Warbler Research
      • Building Collision Study
      • Oak Openings
    • Morning Flight Count
    • Project SNOWstorm >
      • About Project SNOWstorm
      • Meet Buckeye
      • Meet Wolverine
    • 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 >
      • Annual Project Reports
      • Navarre Marsh Annual Banding and Survey Data
    • Research Volunteer Form
    • Research Volunteer Page
  • EDUCATION
    • Bird Migration Profiles
    • Family Activities >
      • Free Online Resources
    • Young Birders >
      • Ohio Young Birders Club
      • Youth Birding Camps
    • Teachers >
      • Songbird Banding and Migration Programs
      • Students Against Balloon Releases
    • Group Programs >
      • Presentations by Request
    • BSBO Bird Knowins
  • Conservation
    • BioBlitzes
    • Bird-safe / Birder-friendly Communities
    • Responsible Wind Energy
    • Conservation Updates
    • Position Statement on Feral and Free-Ranging Cats
    • Habitat Designations
    • Easy Ways for YOU to Support Conservation
  • EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
    • Birding with BSBO >
      • BSBO's Biggest Week In American Birding
      • Frequent Flyer Birding
      • Lake Erie Pelagics
    • Birds at Home
    • Highway Clean-up
    • Calendar of Events
  • NW OHIO BIRDING
    • Responsible Owl Viewing
    • Local Birding Hotspots
    • Local eBird Tips
    • Regional Bird Checklist
    • Timing of Spring Migration
    • Timing of Fall Migration
    • Timing of Fall Shorebird Migration
    • Spring Migration Wave Theory
    • 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.

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. On May 22, 2018, Toledo City Council unanimously passed a similar resolution  to reduce the number of bird fatalities that take place in Ohio each year during peak spring and fall migratory periods.

BSBO continues to partner with other organizations to grow this initiative. 


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. 
© 2025 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  |