Birds—and Birders—Are Your Extended Family

Birds are like family—no, really. They appear at memorable times in your life, visit you again and again, and give you a special feeling of connectedness in an otherwise disjointed world. If not relatives, they can definitely feel like old friends: grounding us in place, adding warmth to our experiences, making us smile, and creating a sense of gravity by their mere presence.

Take it from TPL’s Jeff Danter, an avid birder whose favorite species is the elegant swallow-tailed kite: “They always remind me of the years I spent in Florida doing conservation in longleaf pine forests where they floated silently across the treetops,” he recalls. “I’ve also run into them like old friends across their migration, floating above the forest canopy in Guatemala, or wandering far from home above the onion fields of southern Ontario.”

I can relate: On a year-long sailing trip along the coasts of Oregon, California, and Baja, Mexico, I saw brown pelicans early on, from a departing anchorage at the mouth of the Columbia River, all the way down to La Paz on the Sea of Cortez—a familiar silhouette in the sky, a welcome splash in the water when they’d descend to capture fish. They created a sense of familiarity and comfort in a transient living situation that, while remarkable, was often intimidating.

These personal stories illustrate why birds can be special on an individual level. But their appeal is broad and common. People working across Trust for Public Land’s offices and project sites, throughout the communities where we create public green spaces, and around the globe have similar anecdotes to share about our winged neighbors.

Indeed, being into birds makes you part of a worldwide family. As another TPL bird enthusiast, Taj Schottland, puts it: “Being a birder instantly connects you to the largest extended family imaginable. No matter how far away from home I go, when I go birding and run into a fellow birder—there’s an instant bond and connection.” In America alone, about 96 million people engage in bird-watching.

“Being a birder instantly connects you to the largest extended family imaginable.

– Taj Schottland, TPL staff member and avid birder

At TPL, we protect land for people, and—clearly—people love birds. It puts wind in our wings and puffs our figurative feathers with pride that so many places we’ve protected serve as important bird habitat and migration corridors. From large-scale efforts like national scenic trails, which connect habitats across large swaths of land, often coordinating with migration paths, and the many national parks where we’ve protected land to small-but-important pocket parks and community schoolyards, our work makes it easier for people to experience the outdoors and for wildlife like birds to thrive.

In honor of World Migratory Bird Day on May 9, Jeff, Taj, and fellow TPL bird nerds Ronda Lee Chapman and Keith Maley will be counting species at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, where we protected over 250 acres. Their participation is part of this year’s Delaware Bird-a-Thon and aligns with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Global Big Day. Join the birding family by exploring just a few of our avian-minded accomplishments below, and get in on the fun by finding a TPL-protected birding location near you.

Hanning Flat and Desert Springs – California

To fuel their amazingly long migrations, songbirds need food and water. Two properties in the southern Sierra Nevada, Hanning Flat and Desert Springs, provide both in abundance. Lark sparrows, Savannah sparrows, horned larks, prairie falcons, and golden eagles are found in the grasslands at Hanning Flat, while its higher-elevation pine-oak woodlands welcome Cooper’s hawks and sharp-shinned hawks. Twenty miles south lies Desert Springs, which attracts neotropical birds flying north. Western tanagers move through in large numbers, as well as blue grosbeaks, black-headed grosbeaks, and a half dozen species of warbler.

TPL’s Ronda Lee Chapman hits the trail in search of birds.

That might sound like a lot of species name-dropping, but there’s no need to feel intimidated. Ronda says her birding mentor Tykee James, who helped us round up some birding tips for beginners, reminds her that most people—young and old—are able to name at least some kind of bird, whether it’s a crow or dove or robin. “That ability indicates that we’re inevitably or subconsciously paying attention and have an appreciation for birds and for nature,” says Ronda.

Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge – New Mexico

In the shadow of Albuquerque, the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge hosts an impressive variety of bird life, from Swainson’s hawks, western kingbirds, and northern rough-winged swallows in spring and summer to northern harriers, horned larks, and Savannah sparrows in fall and winter. The refuge is a mix of hayfields, desert, and bosque, a cottonwood forest habitat that flourishes along rivers and streams in dry regions of the United States.

San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge – Texas

Texas is considered one of the best places to bird in North America. It’s on the Central Flyway, and billions (with a b) of birds fly through the Lone Star State every year, with many hitting the coast as their first stop. TPL has been protecting a vital ecosystem there known as the Columbia Bottomlands for nearly three decades. San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, where we’ve conserved more than 7,800 acres of coastal forest and wetlands, is visited by 239 million annually. And it’s crucial to many migrants’ survival as the first place they can land and rest after a long and taxing journey crossing the Gulf of Mexico. Consider it a five-start bird bed-and-breakfast at the end of a long road trip.

Our resident birder Keith’s favorite bird-nerd fun fact has to do with migration: “The wonder of migration is simply incredible,” he says, adding this convincing example: “Some long-distance migrants, like the bar-tailed godwit, dramatically shrink parts of their digestive system before departure to power nonstop flights that can span entire oceans. When they arrive, those organs regrow. This extraordinary adaptation, refined over millennia along ancient flyways, reveals something profound: The benefits of migration are so great that birds change their bodies to ride the knife-edge of energy needed to accomplish it.” Profound, indeed!

TPL’s Keith Maley birding in San Francisco, where he set the San Francisco County Big Year record in 2024.

The Great Lakes – Ohio (and Beyond)

The Great Lakes are the largest freshwater ecosystem on the planet and provide over 80 percent of America’s supply of surface freshwater. Over 350 species of birds rely on these coastal lands, making them a crucial stopover during annual fall and spring migrations. Protecting these habitats through our land conservation efforts is a top priority for Trust for Public Land, ensuring these critical ecosystems can continue to support people and birds for generations to come.

Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge – Maine

In May, all manner of warblers, thrushes, vireos, and flycatchers show up at this sprawling refuge along a 50-mile stretch of coast in southern Maine. One of the most beautiful sites in the preserve is Timber Point, a peninsula south of Portland where some 270 species of birds have been recorded.

Ronda, who’s relatively new to birding, first saw a black-backed woodpecker in Maine last fall. She describes it as “the loudest woodpecker I’ve ever heard.” When she sent a video of it to her colleague Keith—who set the San Francisco County Big Year record in 2024 at 314 species (way to go, Keith!), he responded in awe, noting he’d “spent hours and hiked miles looking for that bird.” He then shared Ronda’s video with other birders, all of whom were enthusiastic. “I felt like I was part of the bird-nerd crew,” she says, “like I belonged and was embraced even as a total newbie.” There’s that family feeling again.

TPL’s Taj Schottland in his happy place, behind a birding scope.

Catamount Community Forest – Vermont

With nearly 170 species recorded here, this is Taj’s favorite TPL-protected birding spot. “It’s a beautiful mix of grassland and forest habitat that attracts a wide range of migrating and breeding birds,” he says. “It’s also a signature TPL land conservation project, protecting a large area of land in one of the fastest developing towns in the state. It’s now maintained and open to the public with lots of trails and various recreation opportunities.”

Taj grew up in southern Vermont and discovered his love of birding at a place called Putney Mountain. As a 10-year-old on a family hike, he witnessed a local birding group counting hawks from the mountaintop as they migrated south for the winter. It caught his attention, and he never looked back—or, rather, he kept looking up. “That experience shaped my lifelong passion for birds and the outdoors,” he says. “It’s also one reason why I care so deeply about my work at TPL. We’re protecting places that spark connection, curiosity, and lifelong relationships with the outdoors.”

Appalachian Trail – Eastern United States

Stretching 2,190 miles from Maine to North Carolina, the Appalachian Trail, or AT, is one of the oldest scenic trails in the U.S. About 3 million people enjoy at least a section of it every year, and 3,000 of those attempt to hike the entire length. It’s traveled overhead by a great many birds too and is considered an avian “superhighway” by the American Bird Conservancy. We’ve protected 340,000 acres across 160 landscapes in the 14 states along this migratory corridor, which is part of the Atlantic Flyway.

Moore’s Bridge Park – Georgia

This 485-acre green space along the Chattahoochee River, just 40 miles from Atlanta, is a terrific place to see migrating songbirds such as northern waterthrushes, Cape May warblers, and Canada warblers. The woodlands, thickets, and river draw breeding warblers too. And keep your ears open for the squeaky dog-toy sound of the brown-headed nuthatch, which lives among pines in the southeastern U.S.

TPL’s Jeff Danter birding in Southern California.

This historic park is part of a much larger network of green spaces and trails that, together, make up the Chattahoochee RiverLands, Jeff’s favorite TPL-protected birding area: “This green oasis that runs through the heart of suburban Atlanta is a natural migration corridor that fills with the songs of hundreds of species every spring,” he says.

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Amy McCullough is managing editor and senior writer at Trust for Public Land. She is also the author of The Box Wine Sailors, an adventure memoir.