“Creating a Bird-Friendly Yard” will start you on your journey to help the environment and our fellow species. Join us at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12, at Guernsey Memorial Library. (Photo by Kelli Miller)

NORWICH — One of the things that makes Chenango County great is community spirit. When there’s a need, it is just second nature that people come together and make things happen. A great example is the presentation “Creating a Bird-Friendly Yard” scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12, at Guernsey Memorial Library.

Sure, we all appreciate seeing robins hopping around and butterflies flitting by, but why the emphasis on changing our yards to be bird-friendly? There are some pretty serious reasons. Scientists have identified five major mass extinctions in the history of the world, where 75 to 96 percent of existing species disappeared.

The science is very complex, but through the fossil record, chemical and radiological analyses of rocks, and ice core data, the dates and probable causes of mass extinctions are known. The root cause behind each event seems to be global temperature swings either because of volcanic and tectonic activity, changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere because of living organisms, and even in one case, an asteroid impact.

Scientists feel we are currently in the midst of another mass extinction event, this one caused by the actions of human beings. Every species changes the earth, but humans are doing so far more than any other. We take up a disproportionate amount of space and push other organisms out of established habitats. We chemically change the composition of our soils, air, and water, and we intentionally and unintentionally change the composition of species on the planet through agriculture and other means.

We are starting to understand human impacts on various species globally, including birds and insects. Bird populations in the US have decreased by nearly 30 percent since 1970, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. In addition, according to the University of Florida’s Thompson Earth Systems Institute, about 40 percent of native insect pollinators are highly threatened, and this is causing worldwide fruit, vegetable, and nut production to decline by approximately 3 to 5 percent. Researchers blame human activity for these declines.

It is hard to face these facts and harder still to figure out how change our ways in order to slow the progress of this mass extinction that we are causing, but the Town and Country Garden Club and the Chenango Bird Club are highlighting some changes we can make locally, literally in our own backyards.

“Creating a Bird-Friendly Yard” will start you on your journey to help the environment and our fellow species. Join us at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12, at Norwich’s Guernsey Memorial Library to learn interesting facts about some favorite backyard bird species and how to provide food, water, cover, and places for them to raise their young. You will even learn about the vital role of native plants in providing for their needs and ways that you can help birds beyond your own yard.

The Chenango Bird Club, celebrating its 40th Anniversary, meets on the second Wednesday of each month at the Rogers Center in Sherburne, and is always welcoming new members. To learn more about the Chenango Bird Club, contact John Knapp at 607-372-1242.

The Town and Country Garden Club of Norwich is one of four garden clubs in Chenango County. If you are interested in joining, email Jane Clement at js3clement@icloud.com.

In the words of Wendell Berry, “The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.”

-Information provided by Guernsey Memorial Library