A Gift Idea that’s for the Birds!

Are you looking for that perfect, last-minute, meaningful gift that won’t max out your credit card? Then go to SkidawayAudubon.org/adopt-a-nest-box and give a helping hand to some little feathered friends!

Adopt a Nest Box is a Skidaway Audubon initiative launched this month to support the Dave Scott Bird Trail, a network of 185 birdhouses on Skidaway Island that comprise one of the largest monitored bird trails in the southeast.

Each $30 donation helps provide safe nesting sites for songbirds, support critical research, and helps stem the nationwide decline of songbird populations. According to a recent Cornell University study, bird numbers have dropped 25 percent in the last 50 years.

For a charitable donation of just $30 the recipient will receive:

• a personalized letter of appreciation
• an end-of-the-season update about the bird populations helped
• two informative fact sheets
• $5 off $25 on a purchase at Wild Birds Unlimited, Inc. (Savannah, GA location)

Skidaway Audubon’s 2019 year-end data shows its nest boxes helped increase the bluebird population. The Adopt-a-Box initiative helps Skidaway Audubon maintain the bluebird program and expand it to help protect other songbirds, such as chickadees, brown-headed nuthatches, and titmice, whose populations significantly have decreased.
Nest boxes cost money to build, maintain, and replace after years of use. The boxes are inspected annually to determine maintenance needed before the start of the nesting season. During the nesting season, specially-trained monitors record nesting activities, gathering data on the number of nests, eggs, and nestlings, as well as how many of the nestlings fledge. By monitoring regularly, and year-to-year, any breeding declines can be spotted and addressed to help stem population losses. All the data collected from the Skidaway project is entered into Cornell University’s NestWatch database.

Treat yourself or your friends with the perfect gift for the holidays, birthdays, or another special occasion, and give a home to a family of feathered friends!