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Here’s a riddle for you. What has wings, contributes to a $600 million statewide economy, and now has its own safety week?
It’s our native bird population. 🪶
Mayor Bruce Harrell recently designated Sun., Oct. 2-Sat., Oct. 8 as BirdSafe Week — mix of classes, bird walk event, and general information sharing organized by the Seattle Audobon Society (which will soon change its name).
The purpose is to help educate locals on how to best protect our fine-feathered friends — out of 170 species native to King Count, 94 are in population decline.
While the topic is serious, the events should be quite a hoot. Here’s what’s coming up.
Flamingling with the locals
- Bird Safe Neighborhoods | Tues., Oct. 4 | 6-7 p.m. | Virtual | Free | Learn why glass collisions are so deadly to birds and get some tips on how to prevent them.
- Twilight Owl Prowl | Wed., Oct. 5 | 5-7 p.m. | Discovery Park | Free | Take a group stroll through meadows + forest trails.
- Bird Sit: Roxhill Park | Sat., Oct. 8 | 2-3:30 p.m. | Roxhill Park | Free | Relax and let the birds come to you.
Fowling to protect
Can’t make it out to one of the events? Here’s some little things locals can do to help the bird population soar.
- Leave out shallow dishes of water for birds to clean themselves with and drink out of. Baking pans or frying pans can work well if you don’t have a bird bath. Also, make sure the area is cat-free.
- Over one million birds die each year from colliding with windows. Throw up some decals like these (that also make rainbows on your floor) or frost your windows.
- Reduce the size of your lawn and plant more native species.
