There are many organizations that help wildlife and need your support. Here are three to which I am personally connected; I encourage you to donate to one or more, if you have found this blog useful.

The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory runs a number of programs aimed at understanding and conserving birds in the San Francisco Bay Area. They run a banding station, monitor local breeding birds, restore bird habitat, protect Snowy Plovers, survey for sick or injured waterbirds, and engage in outreach and public education for all ages. Update: whoops, I’m employed by them now! We do still need your money though…

The Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital provides medical care for injured and in-need wildlife in the East Bay. They see everything from Red-shouldered Hawks to squirrels to gopher snakes, from new-hatched (or newborn) babies to injured adults. They take great care to keep the animals wild and to give babies the chance to learn critical wild behaviors before releasing them. I volunteer here, and I am very proud of the high level of care each animal receives. Since none of the animals pay their own medical bills, this place survives on donations.

(Other awesome wildlife rehabilitators: International Bird Rescue; the Wildlife Rescue Center of Minnesota.)

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology conducts research on every area of ornithology, from behavior through evolution to conservation. They run a number of citizen science projects that you might enjoy participating in too, such as NestWatch. I got my start in ornithology as an undergraduate at Cornell, and it changed my life.

If you want to help wildlife in a non-financial way, here are some easy suggestions: spay/neuter your pets; keep cats indoors, and encourage others to do the same; keep an eye out for nests (bird or squirrel) when trimming trees or mowing the lawn; grow local species of plants in your yard, including species that provide food (such as berries) and species that provide shelter from predators and places to nest; learn how to tell if an animal needs your help, and don’t touch or pick up wildlife (even/especially babies!) unless they meet those criteria.