What do Birds and Trees Mean to You?

“I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree.” Joyce Kilmer

Incredible Climbing Tree Beaver Lake ~ Bird Sanctuary by Anita Adams of NC Trees Photography

Trees are lovely, and beyond their aesthetic virtue, the important role trees play in our environment as bulwarks against the ravages of climate change are well known and documented.

But let us talk about something less recognized, yet equally important: birds.

Birds, you say? It's quite simple: Birds need trees, and trees need birds for seed dispersal and reforestation. Birds perch in trees, nest in trees, roost in trees and eat the insects that live in and on trees.

One of my earliest memories is taking naps under the two oak trees in our front yard, waking up to the song of the birds around us. Thus began my love of birds – a love shared by millions of birdwatchers in the U.S., and locally by members of the Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society. 

Recently, researchers with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon, the American Bird Conservancy and several other U.S. and Canadian institutions reported that over the past 50 years the U.S. and Canada have lost 29% of our bird populations – over 3 billion birds lost.** Other research on the impact of bird extinctions indicate that significant losses of insect-eating birds would result in significant increases in insect pests and consequently, in plant damage to our forests. As insects and other pests are developing resistance to chemical controls, natural pest-control by birds is increasingly important.*** Trees increasingly need birds.

​The Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society is enhancing its Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary by planting more native trees thus making it even more of an attraction to birds and people. People from all over Asheville and beyond come to the Sanctuary to walk peacefully among the beautiful trees that make up the Sanctuary and enjoy the birds that are drawn there.

An Eastern bluebird perches in a tree near the Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary in Asheville, N.C. (Photo: Angeli Wright/[email protected]) Katherine Burgess, The Commercial Appeal, Feb. 12, 2020 (https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2020/02/12/collierville-group-among-global-effort-document-bird-population-migration-great-backyard-bird-count/4627249002/)

The relationship between birds and trees is yet another measure available to us in assessing the role our urban tree canopy plays in our environment and in our society. We need to recognize this tremendous asset and the need to protect it by providing a guardian and a plan for this treasure that Asheville is so fortunate to have.

I encourage you to share your memories of what trees and birds meant to you as a means of demonstrating the need for an urban forester to manage an urban forest master plan for Asheville.

Share your thoughts.

Cathy Walsh, Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society
Chair, External Relations and Advocacy, Tree Protection Task Force

Catherine Anne Walsh is a licensed clinical psychologist – now licensed in North Carolina, and previously licensed in South Carolina where she worked in private practice for 27 years. Walsh currently lives in Asheville where where she is on the board for Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society and is a certified Blue Ridge Naturalist. She is in her second year on the Asheville Tree Protection Task Force.  Since 2000, she has been a weaver and member of the Western North Carolina Fiber and Handweaving Guild.