National Bird Day: A New Year’s Flight Path for Birds and People

At present is Nationwide Chook Day, which is coinciding with the shut of the annual Christmas Bird Count. It’s a second to have a good time the fantastic thing about birds that grace our skies and landscapes, and to highlight what’s wanted to halt the decades-long decline of their populations, as documented by scientists.

The day additionally reminds us why birds matter. Defending them helps safeguard the pure and sustainable programs all of us rely on – clear water, wholesome forests, productive farmland, and resilient coastlines – in addition to the billion-dollar birdwatching trade that helps native economies throughout the hemisphere.

Birds encourage pleasure and marvel, and their cultural and ecological significance can open doorways for dialogue, collaboration and innovation. Nationwide Chook Day arriving at first of a brand new yr feels particularly becoming, a time for reflection and resolve.  As we mirror on progress made in 2025 and sit up for 2026, Audubon is grounded in hope. As Lauren Jackson writes, “Whereas optimism is the idea that the longer term shall be higher, hope is the idea that we’ve got the facility to make it so.”

A Flight Path of Conservation Progress

Birds don’t acknowledge political borders. They migrate alongside rivers, forests, deserts, and coastlines that span states, nations, and full hemispheres. Their survival is determined by a linked community of wholesome habitats, a steady local weather, and protected locations to relaxation and feed alongside the best way.

Conservation works a lot the identical means. Progress occurs when robust science, sound coverage, and community-led motion align throughout native, state, federal, and worldwide ranges. In 2025, a yr marked by political transition and shifting environmental coverage, we noticed significant conservation positive factors throughout that community. And in 2026, there is a chance to construct on that momentum.

Listed here are 4 key “stopovers” alongside that flight path.

Stopover 1: Defending Habitats and Communities

In 2025, vital steps have been taken to guard ecosystems whose advantages lengthen far past any single place. The designation of Chuckwalla National Monument safeguarded sacred lands and huge desert habitat crucial for birds burdened by rising temperatures. Efforts to sell off public lands have been halted, making certain tens of millions of acres stay accessible for wildlife, recreation, and conventional makes use of.

On the state stage, community-driven efforts protected coastal habitat in Florida, whereas bipartisan leadership in Minnesota secured funding for wetlands, marsh chook surveys, and habitat restoration.

Internationally, new protected areas superior in Canada by means of partnerships with Indigenous nations. Recognition of Audubon’s work by the Chilean government can also be opening doorways to new funding and higher flexibility to preserve migratory chook habitats throughout the southern tip of the western hemisphere.

Looking forward to 2026:
Passing the Local Communities and Bird Habitat Stewardship Act, which is already launched within the Home, will assist scale domestically led conservation tasks nationwide, supporting communities which are prepared to guard the locations birds want.

Stopover 2: Strengthening Working Lands

Working lands play a crucial function in chook conservation. In 2025, Congress increased funding for programs that support sustainable agricultural practices, serving to farmers and ranchers enhance soil well being, defend water high quality, and keep habitat for grassland birds.

Looking forward to 2026:
Reauthorizing the Farm Invoice is the yr’s greatest alternative to safe long-term investments that maintain farms and forests productive whereas increasing habitat for birds. This consists of scaling North Dakota’s Conservation Forage Program to supply landowners alternatives to transform marginal cropland to productive pasture, which is able to concurrently enhance soil well being and water high quality.

Stopover 3: Maintaining Rivers, Wetlands, and Estuaries Thriving

Wholesome water programs are important for birds and other people alike. In 2025, the Everglades secured $425 million in federal funding, together with a dedication to finish a key reservoir by 2029, restoring water stream throughout south Florida.

Within the Ohio River Basin, bipartisan lawmakers launched new laws to help habitat restoration, farm conservation, invasive species management, and air pollution prevention.

Looking forward to 2026:
Congress can construct on this progress by passing the Water Assets Growth Act, advancing river and wetland restoration tasks nationwide. Mandatory updates to the Colorado River Basin water plans additionally provide a uncommon alternative for long-term collaboration in a area dealing with historic drought. Renewed consideration to watershed-based packages, from the Great Lakes and the Delaware and Ohio river basins to the Upper Mississippi, can strengthen the ecological corridors birds rely on.

Stopover 4: Investing within the Future Birds Want

2025 additionally noticed progress by means of strategic funding and management. Congress authorized new revenue-sharing provisions tied to renewable vitality growth, supporting states and localities the place this growth is underway. Federal initiatives to strengthen forest resilience moved ahead, decreasing wildfire threat and supporting wholesome ecosystems.

On the state stage, New York’s Horseshoe Crab Protection Act provided renewed hope for Crimson Knots and different migratory birds. Globally, rising recognition of nature’s role in climate resilience helped unlock billions of dollars to guard tropical and subtropical forests.

Looking forward to 2026:
Secure funding for chook monitoring packages like the Bird Banding Lab and Breeding Bird Survey is important. Elevated funding in WaterSMART may also help communities adapt to drought. And as countries update climate commitments, stronger targets shall be crucial to defending habitats worldwide.

The Journey Continues

From deserts and wetlands to coastlines and forests, 2025 confirmed that conservation progress is strongest when communities, scientists, policymakers, and Tribal and Indigenous leaders work collectively.

As we transfer into 2026, sustained management and public engagement shall be important. The facility of birds lies not solely of their magnificence, however of their means to encourage connection, shared goal, and hope. On this new yr, that hope strikes us to motion, reminding us we’ve got the facility to form a future the place birds, individuals, and nature can all flourish.