The National Audubon Society offers several ways the average person can make a difference in saving the nation’s declining bird population.

Make your yard a haven for birds by creating a pesticide-free habitat of native plants. Provide a bird feeder with healthy food, a bird bath for water and birdhouses for nesting.

Eliminate dangers by keeping cats indoors and adding decals — such as dots or bird silhouettes — to clear-glass windows.

Make sure your purchases help bird populations, not hurt them. Buy shade-grown coffee, organic produce grown without dangerous pesticides and nontoxic cleaning products to keep harmful chemicals out of watersheds.

Cut back on energy consumption to help curb global warming. Rising sea levels are predicted to claim coastal marshlands and wetlands and nesting grounds for migrating winter birds.

Advocate for more funding to be added to the limited coffers of conservation initiatives that protect bird habitat such as: the Land and Water Conservation Act, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the National Wildlife Refuge System, the State Wildlife Grants Program and the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act.

Defend the Endangered Species Act. Recently introduced bills would cripple the designation of “critical habitat” required for a species’ recovery and throw up roadblocks to the listing of species.