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How Writer Amy Tan Helps Backyard Birds
Protecting birds doesn’t have to break the bank.
© Courtesy of Amy Tan
Writer Amy Tan’s work is known all over the world. And thanks to her latest best-seller, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, she’s now also known for her deep love of birds. Tan not only spends time interacting with birds, she also comes up with creative ways to help them.
This episode was produced as part of BirdNote’s From Love to Action Campaign, an effort to inspire one million people to take action to help birds by 2027. To learn more and to tell us how you’re helping birds, visit this link.
BirdNote®
How Writer Amy Tan Helps Backyard Birds
Written by Jonese Franklin
This is BirdNote.
[Bewick's Wren]
There are many ways we can help birds, from installing nest boxes to buying bird-friendly coffee. Acclaimed writer Amy Tan’s efforts have ranged from joining the board of the American Bird Conservancy to making her yard a haven for her feathered friends.
Amy Tan : I try to get the best food for them. I try all these solutions for protecting them from both window collisions and cats, but with the idea that these might help other people adopt these measures.
She came up with a creative and affordable option for bird-friendly window treatments to help deter birds from flying into the glass.
Amy Tan: I wanted to find a solution that anybody with $2 could do to protect birds, and that is to draw white spider webs up with an acrylic water based pen, and it works.
Amy says she spends a lot of time tinkering with homemade contraptions that prevent neighborhood cats from ambushing her backyard birds and keep clever rodents from raiding the feeders – ensuring the safety of both the birds and mammals in her garden sanctuary.
Amy Tan: So, you know, I've become very inventive as a result of my love of these birds and wanting to protect them.
[Bewick's Wren]
BirdNote is on a mission to inspire a million people to take action to help birds by 2027. To learn more about what you can do to make a difference for birds, visit BirdNote.org. I’m Jonese Franklin.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Bewick's Wren ML111044 recorded by Thomas G. Sander. California Quail ML111018 recorded by Thomas G. Sander.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2025 BirdNote June 2025
Narrator: Jonese Franklin
ID# TanA-02-2025-06-30 TanA-02
