Helping Birds in a Changing World
Helping Birds in a Changing World
Text and image provided courtesy of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
volunteers in New Jersey working to help shorebirds
Do you think birds are interesting? Do you like spending time outdoors? Do you care about wildlife
and the environment? If you answered yes to these questions, you might think about becoming a bir
biologist. Bird biologists are scientists who study birds. They are also called ornithologists.
Birds are interesting for many reasons. Birds have a lot in common, but at the same time, they can b
very different from one another. All birds have feathers, and most of them can fly. They range in size
from hummingbirds smaller than your fist to ostriches taller than the tallest person. Ostriches can’t
but they can run up to 43 miles an hour!
Bird biologists work to understand more about birds, their habits, and their homes. Some species of
birds seem to be dying off. Some of these birds travel long distances during migration. In North
America, birds travel to northern places in the summer and to more southern places for the winter. B
biologists and other scientists are studying how and where birds get hurt along the way. They are
planning ways to help birds in the north, in the south, and during migration. But that’s not all bird
biologists do!
Beth Flint is a bird biologist in a wildlife refuge area near Hawaii. The refuge includes islands, atolls,
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Helping Birds in a Changing World
and the water around them. She tracks all the different seabird species that live in the refuge. She h
learned about dozens of seabird species. One of the types of birds she tracks is the albatross. She, h
co-workers, and some volunteers literally count black-footed albatrosses and Laysan albatrosses d
nesting season! Albatrosses are about the same size as geese. The only times they are on land are w
they are building their nests, guarding their eggs, or feeding their chicks. Albatrosses spend the rest
their time flying over the ocean, or sitting between the waves while they eat.
Dr. Flint enjoys working outdoors, but she also works in an office. That’s because she has many duti
in addition to studying birds in person. She reads research studies about all the animals in the wildli
refuge. She makes plans to help protect all the animals and especially the birds. And she works with
other experts in the refuge. They work together to share what they know and care for wildlife. She ta
to volunteers and visitors about all the wildlife in the refuge, too.
To become a bird biologist, Dr. Flint studied many fields that all connect. She has learned about
wildlife, forestry, biology, zoology (the study of animals), and botany (the study of plants). She has a
learned about ecology, which is the study of the connections between animals—including people—a
the environment. Her interest in seabirds started when she was a student. She saw a photograph of
Atlantic Puffins on a rock and wanted to learn more about them.
You never know where your interests may lead you. They may lead you to become a scientist who
studies wildlife!
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These conservation efforts are supported by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), which specializes in bringing together
individuals, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and corporations to restore our nation’s fish, wildlife, plants, and habitats
current and future generations.
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© 2022 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. All Rights Reserved.