BrantaMedia.com

_{This YouTube video was produced by the American Bird Conservancy.}

The vibrant colors and soft, musical warbles of the Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) are a welcome sight on a cold, snowy day. Bluebirds have long been considered harbingers of spring, from Mexico to the eastern United States, and their willingness to nest in open, human-modified habitats makes them popular among birders and non-birders alike.

Eastern Bluebird populations plunged in the early 20th century, when non-native House Sparrows and European Starlings were introduced into the United States. Both of these invasive species are also cavity-nesters and much more aggressive than bluebirds,

_{This YouTube video was produced by the American Bird Conservancy.}

All across the Americas, communities, scientists, and advocates are saving places for birds, for biodiversity, and for people.

In Pennsylvania forests, scientists are bringing back complexity and diversity to meet specific habitat needs. In the Peruvian Andes, Indigenous and rural communities are protecting and restoring habitats that are crucial for Endangered and migratory birds. And across the U.S. and Latin America, cities and towns are banding together to conserve and restore urban habitats.

These habitats may be vastly different, but they all have something in common: birds in need, and

_{This YouTube video was produced by the American Bird Conservancy.}

The Pigeon Guillemot (Cepphus columba) is an attractive member of the auk family, a group of marine birds that also includes the puffins, murres, and auklets. The auks are largely known to forage on the open ocean, with some species diving to extraordinary depths for their food. The Pigeon Guillemot, however, forages in shallow waters near the shore and doesn’t usually dive deeper than about 100 feet. Nonetheless, they are graceful divers, “flying” underwater, their partially opened wings helping them maneuver and propelling them along. Like other auks, they use