Academy Town Square: Grasslands: Restoring Bird Habitat

Grasslands: Restoring Bird Habitat

Maiken Scott in conversation with Zoe Warner

How can we help birds thrive? Join us for a conversation with Maiken Scott, host of WHYY’s The Pulse, and regional planner/bird conservationist Zoe Warner, PhD.

Grassland birds — such as the beloved Bobolink and Meadowlark — are experiencing the most significant declines of any species due to habitat loss, landscape fragmentation, agricultural intensification and changes in land management.

Scott will interview Warner about a 10-year study conducted in Chester County, Pennsylvania, that has led to greater insights into bird habitat needs and a visionary plan to protect them. Learn how a voluntary effort called the Grasslands Bird Collaboration, which unites landowners, farmers and conservation organizations, is offering a hopeful model. The goal is to create a Working Conservation Landscape in southern Chester County’s preservation greenbelt. These lands will serve as a focal area for conservation efforts where partners work together to address the issues affecting declining grassland species, while appreciating and promoting the economic and aesthetic values of the agricultural lands in the conservation area. Hear about Warner’s research, this initiative that she has co-led and its implications for stewarding bird populations everywhere.

Warner will be joined by Shelly Eshleman and Aaron Coolman, researchers who assist with the tracking of birds and land conservation work of the Northeast Motus Project at Willistown Conservation Trust.

This program is presented in conjunction with the Academy’s current exhibition Conversations With Birds.

Grasslands: Restoring Bird Habitat is a pay-what-you-wish program with a recommended donation of $15.