Discover Middle Georgia: Our local birds and birdwatching

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Colorful, musical, and everywhere you look, you can’t go far outside without seeing one of the members of nature’s choir: birds.

We spoke with Marc Jolley, a professor at Mercer who also happens to work with the Ocmulgee Audubon Society, which is the local chapter for the Middle Georgia area.

Jolley says there’s lots of benefits to watching birds:

“If you have high blood pressure you should be a birdwatcher, its one of the most relaxing things you’ll ever do, plus it creates a lot of movement, on the trails, its very good for the person.

And beyond benefits to the birder– birds are good for the environment! Just like most parts of the ecosystem, birds are a part of everything. Birds help scatter seeds which spread native plants, birds like vultures are nature’s clean up crew, and plenty of local birds eat bugs and mosquitoes.

Jolley tells us there’s about 340 different species of birds in Georgia, including the northern cardinal, wrens, mockingbirds, blue birds, hawks, what some have coined “Georgia’s guard dogs”– crows, and more.

Much of the world’s population of birds has lessened due to habitat loss and unlikely predators. Re-using already developed spaces is a good way to help with the habitat loss, and for the unlikely predators? Jolley says its important to get your cats spayed and not put them outside, as feral cats and outdoor cats kill about 1.7 To 2.4 Billion birds a year in the U.S. – about a 3rd of those cats are domesticated cats that were let outside without supervision.

Its important to protect birds not only because they’re a pleasure to have around, but here in Macon-Bibb, its also a city ordinance! Macon-Bibb is considered a bird sanctuary, so its unlawful to harm a bird or rob a nest. Also, concerning nests– Jolley says if you find a baby bird that’s fallen out of their nest, **always** put them back in it. Birds can’t smell very well, and its a myth that the mother will reject the baby if you touch it.

You don’t have to have any qualifications to be a birder, Jolley says if you want to watch birds you just have to do that– watch birds.

If you’re interested in learning more about birds and getting involved in the birdwatching community, consider joining your local chapter of the Audubon society, buying a bird field guide, downloading a bird identifier app, or just put out a birdfeeder out in your yard.

If you’d like to learn more about the Ocmulgee Audubon society chapter and their meetings, you can check out a link to their Facebook group here.