Minneapolis — According to studies, spending time with birds can benefit our mental health. Watching them or listening to their music can help alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms. They’re very good at pest control and seed dispersal. They provide food for us, as well as economic benefits such as hunting and bird watching. In conclusion, birds are wonderful. There’s only one problem.
“People have been making these observations for decades, it just seems like there are fewer birds than when we were growing up,” says Dale Gentry, Ph.D., Director of Conservation Audubon Upper Mississippi River.
The 2025 State of the Birds report backs up these observations. It reveals that roughly one-third of all American bird species are of high or moderate concern due to low populations, declining trends, or other threats.
Minnesota has three groups of birds on the national watchlist. The greater prairie chicken and evening grosbeak are two examples of year-round Minnesota birds. Category two includes birds that breed in Minnesota, such as the bobolink, field sparrow, and chimney swift. And then there are the shorebirds, who simply use Minnesota as a stopover on their migration route. They winter in the tropics and breed far north in the Arctic.
“They fly, hop, skip and jump about 200-300 miles at a time and then they stop for a couple of days, rest refuel in the same way that we stop at a rest area on our way up to Duluth or down to Chicago,” Gentry says. “So, they need these healthy habitats intermediate along the way.”
The report found that birds that rely on wetlands and grasslands are the most in danger. Grassland birds are in steep decline, losing more than 50% of their populations in the last 50 years. And one category of birds that used to be a bright spot, waterfowl, has now also seen declines. So, what gives?
“The biggest driving factor for all these species comes down to habitat, right? And do they have the habitat they need to reproduce and survive?” says Marissa Ahlering, Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy.
The Nature Conservancy is also paying close attention to the problem.
“In that last decade or so, we’ve been losing one to two million acres of grassland a year in some parts of the northern Great Plains area, including in western Minnesota in particular,” Ahlering points out.
A drought in the Prairie Pothole Region is causing wetlands to dry up. But it’s not just the loss of habitat; it’s also the quality of the remaining habitat. There are numerous factors contributing to this, including invasive species, pollution, and poor land management, but there is good news.
“We work with landowners from Alaska to Mexico, doing things like buying habitat and moving it into public ownership,” says Steve Adair, Ph.D., Chief Scientist at Ducks Unlimited.
Groups like Ducks Unlimited are working to restore wetlands, grasslands and forests. Last year alone they completed 60 conservation projects in Minnesota. The Nature Conservancy and Audobon Society are doing similar work, each of them getting creative and involving landowners who want to be part of the solution.
“I do feel deeply about leaving this place better than I found it,” says Matt Maier, owner of Thousand Hills Beef.
Matt is part of the Audubon’s conservation ranching program. His cattle-raising and grazing practices help to restore bird habitat.
“What we’re trying to do is mimic nature so everything we’re doing, in moving the cattle daily, and having them bunched up and grazing tightly, mimics how bison were grazing for thousands and thousands of years,” says the researcher.
Matt moves his herd every day to ensure that the grass does not graze to the ground, providing cover for birds. He avoids nesting areas and promotes plant diversity, which is beneficial to both animals and soil. In exchange, the birds control pests on his ranch, allowing him to avoid using chemicals.
“That’s what nature designed, that all these animals and birds and wildlife would all be working together to thrive,” Matt says.
And it is working. But perhaps you are wondering why I should care. Because it truly affects all of us.
“The places that are providing habitat for birds also do things like store carbon and provide pollination services and provide water quality benefits and even flood storage,” according to Marissa Ahlering. “What’s good for birds is good for people,” she informs me.