Come Build Bird Boxes with BEC and Altacal on Climate Action Day. Hosted on October 19th - there will be a volunteer kickoff in Cedar Grove, then volunteers will build bird boxes until noon and then there will be a free lunch provided by a local food vendor.
Description
Join us for an important day of action as we embark on fuel reduction and bird box building projects at Bidwell Park's Cedar Grove recreation area. A majority of volunteers will be assigned to fuel reduction projects, so first-come, first-serve for bird box building!
Role / Agenda
9:00 AM: Volunteer check-in
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM: Welcome Program
10:00 AM - 12:30 PM: Service projects at Bidwell park
12:30 PM - 2:30 PM: Free lunch and family-friendly resource fair!
Purpose
The Butte County Fire Safety Council, the City of Chico, the Butte Environmental Council, and Altacal Bird Alliance have partnered on this event to lead volunteers in a bird box building activity to provide safe nesting spaces for birds displaced by wildfires in the region. Our projects aim to foster a safer and more resilient community in the aftermath of the devastating Park Fire. The project is part of the Butte County Community Climate Action Day, a county-wide event to engage the community in a day of collective climate action at multiple project sites and to promote the long-term health and resilience of our natural spaces. By joining us, you'll be contributing to the preservation and protection of this vital ecological area, through service you will participate in actively restoring and protecting our natural environment.
Vibe
Bring your community spirit and yard work clothes!
Bird and Climate Connection - Climate Action, Habitat Restoration, Bird Boxes
Natural solutions to climate change are critical to limit the adverse effects of global warming. Habitat restoration is an important natural solution to climate change by enhancing carbon sequestration from the atmosphere into the ecosystem. Birds play an important role in seed dispersal, research has come out showing that birds also play a role in the dispersal of beneficial fungi spores throughout an ecosystem (Audubon). These ecosystem services birds provide demonstrate the importance of healthy bird populations in reforestation/restoration efforts after environmental disturbances such as wildfire and human-caused degradation. “Nest boxes are widely used in the ecology profession to provide additional habitat or mitigate habitat losses (Wildcare Nationwide Ecology Supplies)”
In addition to climate change mitigation–by helping restore degraded habitats–bird boxes can also help with communities with climate change adaptation. Next City reports that climate change is expected to cause an “increase in cases of mosquito-borne illnesses such as malaria and dengue fever” and that we can adapt to this climate impact by providing bird boxes to support natural predators of mosquitoes.
Some bird boxes that were made at last year’s climate action work day were given to the Feather River Nature Center to restore habitat in the burn scar of the 2024 Thompson Fire near Oroville, CA. Most of the remaining bird boxes went up to the Berry Creek Community Council to restore habitat in the 2020 North Complex burn scar. The habitat loss from catastrophic wildfire events is evident when you drive through Berry Creek and observe the widespread tree mortality and the clearing of dead trees which occurs in communities after a fire. Birds help with this reforestation, but birds need places to live! Bird boxes provide suitable nesting locations while helping with broader habitat restoration and climate action.
Natural solutions to climate change are critical to limit the adverse effects of global warming. Habitat restoration is an important natural solution to climate change by enhancing carbon sequestration from the atmosphere into the ecosystem. Birds play an important role in seed dispersal, research has come out showing that birds also play a role in the dispersal of beneficial fungi spores throughout an ecosystem (Audubon). These ecosystem services birds provide demonstrate the importance of healthy bird populations in reforestation/restoration efforts after environmental disturbances such as wildfire and human-caused degradation. “Nest boxes are widely used in the ecology profession to provide additional habitat or mitigate habitat losses (Wildcare Nationwide Ecology Supplies)”
In addition to climate change mitigation–by helping restore degraded habitats–bird boxes can also help with communities with climate change adaptation. Next City reports that climate change is expected to cause an “increase in cases of mosquito-borne illnesses such as malaria and dengue fever” and that we can adapt to this climate impact by providing bird boxes to support natural predators of mosquitoes.
Some bird boxes that were made at last year’s climate action work day were given to the Feather River Nature Center to restore habitat in the burn scar of the 2024 Thompson Fire near Oroville, CA. Most of the remaining bird boxes went up to the Berry Creek Community Council to restore habitat in the 2020 North Complex burn scar. The habitat loss from catastrophic wildfire events is evident when you drive through Berry Creek and observe the widespread tree mortality and the clearing of dead trees which occurs in communities after a fire. Birds help with this reforestation, but birds need places to live! Bird boxes provide suitable nesting locations while helping with broader habitat restoration and climate action.
