Upper Moreland Designated First Bird Town in Pennsylvania

When was the last time you saw bluebirds in Upper Moreland Township?

The answer is probably not often enough.

Jonathan de Jonge, president of Upper Moreland Township’s Environmental Advisory Council, uses the “bluebird” question to probe at the real problem—native species like bluebirds are disappearing because of human activity and development.

“Changing one lawn is not going to make a difference,” de Jonge said. “But multiply that by tens, and then thousands, and we’ll start to see the difference.”

Upper Moreland residents have taken actions to restore the township’s native habitat for birds and create a healthy environment for people and for birds by using Audubon Bird Town guidelines in their own yards. 

Last November, Audubon Bird Town designated Upper Moreland Township as the first “Bird Town” in Pennsylvania.

“The purpose of Bird Town is to restore this American ecological [system] and to address and support the native species and create [a] healthy atmosphere,” de Jonge said. “When [we] restore the native habitat, the birds will return.”

So far, Upper Moreland and Audubon Bird Town volunteers have spent hours training nine residents to restore their backyards into natural habitats.

“We had several classes in the spring,” de Jonge said. “Basically, we would teach each person to do his or her own yard first, and then they would be available to help anyone else interested in the township.”

De Jonge said that there is no cost to taxpayers for Bird Town designation.

“Doesn’t cost anything,” he said. “For the homeowner would actually save money because there is no watering, no fertilizer, and no insecticide. We’re just promoting a healthy environment. The purpose is to have a neutral footprint.”

The benefits of becoming a Bird Town includes an improved quality for the ecological system; increased resources for native birds and native insects; a safer place to live, work and play; renewed ecosystem services, such as stormwater management; and more, according to Audubon Bird Town website.

De Jonge pointed out that Bird Town helps mitigate Upper Moreland’s stormwater flooding problems.

“Rain runs off lawn, but with native plants, water penetrates the ground and stays in the yard,” he said. “Native species also refreshes natural water tables. Most native plants have deep roots. Most lawns have shallow roots.”

Upper Moreland’s Bird Town status came by way of Pennypack Greenway.

As a council member of Pennypack Greenway, de Jonge encountered a speaker, John Rogers, at one of the meetings.

Rogers, author of Designing With Natives, suggested ways for Pennypack Park to restore the native habitat through native meadows and grass.

“This park area included 800 acres contiguous, and part of it goes through Upper Moreland and Lower Moreland,” de Jonge said. “Bird Town is a natural extension of that concept, but now we’re trying out that with homeowners.”

As a result, de Jonge brought Rogers' ideas to council, and the Upper Moreland Board of Commissioners quickly approved the Bird Town plan in November, de Jonge said.

He emphasized that Bird Town is a long-term project and will take several years.

“If we could double the participants each year, that would be nice,” de Jonge said. “This may be ambitious, but it is feasible. Anybody could get involved just by buying native plants at Pennypack and Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve.”

If restoring native plants on your own is too much work, de Jonge suggested local landscapers Youngscape.

“You don’t have to do it all at once,” de Jonge said.

For more information about Audubon Bird Town, visit www.pa.audubon.org.

For more information about Designing With Natives, visit www.dwtn.net.