SAFE NORTH AMERICAN SONGBIRD In 2023, Roger Williams Park Zoo joined the SAFE North American Songbird program, a program that works to reduce threats to North American songbirds through education and conservation efforts.
The SAFE North American Songbird program focuses on native songbird conservation through reducing bird collisions, reducing free-roaming cat impacts on wildlife, and it focuses on preserving, enhancing, and building native habitats. This program also begins to address reducing contaminants that affect North American songbirds, promotes smart consumer choices like buying Bird Friendly Coffee, encourages participation in community science, and aims to reduce North American songbird trafficking.
Accomplished in 2023: Planted more native plants to provide food and refuge to birds. Installed new decals on windows to help prevent bird collisions. Transitioned to serving certified Bird Friendly coffee, thanks to our partners at Fogbuster Coffee Works, available for sale at locations throughout the Zoo. Installed a new Motus Tower on top of the Ed. Center. The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is a large-scale, collaborative research network that uses a fixed radio-telemetry array to study the movements of birds, bats and large insects for the benefit of conservation. This tower will help biologists track who's visiting the city through nanotagged birds flying overhead. This work was made possible with the support of the USFWS Migratory Birds Program, Providence Parks Urban Wildlife Refuge Program, and the Friends of the National Wildlife Refuges of Rhode Island. 16
