WILDLIFE WATCHING -- As spring migrants continune to arrive in our region, so has a list of helpful thoughts from the American Bird Conservancy.

Here's the ABC's top 10 things people can do to aid or protect declining birds in their homes and yards.

10. Join a bird conservation group such as ABC—learn more about birds and support important conservation work.

9. Support bird-friendly legislation—Example:  Congress is considering HR 1643, a proposed bill that provides for bird-friendly federal buildings.

8. Keep feeders and bird baths clean to avoid disease and prevent mosquitoes from breeding.

7. Buy organic food and drink shade-grown coffee—increasing the market for produce grown without the use of pesticides, which can be toxic to birds and other animals.

6. Reduce your carbon footprint—use a hand-pushed or electric lawnmower, carpool, use low energy bulbs and Energy Star appliances.

5. Donate old bird watching equipment such as binoculars or spotting scopes to bird watching groups—they can get them to schools or biologists in other countries who may not have the resources they need.

4. Create backyard habitat—if you have a larger yard, create a diverse landscape by planting native grasses, flowers, and shrubs that attract and sustain native birds.  

3. Eliminate pesticides from your yard—even those pesticides that are not directly toxic to birds can pollute waterways and reduce insects that birds rely on for food.

2. Prevent birds hitting your windows by using a variety of treatments to the glass on your home. Collisions with glass constitute the biggest source of bird mortality, as many as one billion each year. See ABC’s new flyer.

1. Keep your cat indoors—this is best for your cat as well as the birds, as indoor cats live an average of three to seven times longer. Cats are not native to the U.S. and are responsible for hundreds of millions of bird deaths each year.  Some species have gone extinct because of cats! Even well fed cats kill birds, and bells on cats don’t effectively warn birds of cat strikes.