Dear KAREN,
Each year, at least a billion birds migrate along the Pacific Flyway, from the Arctic tundra, boreal forests, and northwestern rainforest to forests, grasslands, wetlands and estuaries into Central and South America. But along this age-old route they're encountering new dangers: the worst "megadrought" in 1,200 years is leaving them high and dry in crucial stopover sites.
That will not be the end of the story, because Audubon has solutions—and when you help, we can give birds more of the safe, clean water they need. As we approach World Water Day, we are asking for your support while a special giving challenge amplifies your power to help:
Start your new monthly gift today and help unlock an additional $15,000! We urgently need 250 friends to join us right away. The drought plaguing the western United States has dried up important migratory stops in California and Oregon, depriving birds like the Yellow Warbler of wetlands and riverine forests where they rest and feed during their long seasonal journeys. And where water is low, the risk of disease can be high for waterbirds that gather in large flocks: 40,000 waterbirds died in summer 2020 from a massive outbreak of avian botulism in wetlands between the states.
Yet as bad as the current drought is, worse may lie ahead, as the dangerous impacts of climate change continue to mount.
But where there's action, there's hope—and Audubon acts for birds. We have more than a century of expertise on our side, and with it we're tackling both the causes of climate change and its effects.
Backed by our members, and by partnering with Audubon chapters and community-based organizations, we're fighting for cleaner energy and reduced carbon emissions while increasing the resilience of landscapes across North America. Through strategies grounded in science and collaboration, we've made lifesaving gains for birds everywhere Audubon works, from returning flows to the once-neglected Colorado River Basin to unlocking emergency funding for drought-stricken waterbird habitat in California's Central Valley.
Actions like these have the power to turn the tide for birds—and in this crisis, they constitute our most hopeful way forward.
Ahead of World Water Day, will you please join in these efforts, and be part of all we do to protect birds everywhere we work? Remember, your new monthly gift helps unlock $15,000 more, but this giving challenge ends later this month. So please
be one of 250 friends we need to join us right away—and make the most of this chance to help with your most generous gift. Sincerely,
The National Audubon Society
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