Creating a Bird Friendly Yard
As winter gives way to spring, it’s a natural time to think about how your yard can better support birds. Read more.
Well, How Did We Get Here?
In January, Farmland Raptor Program volunteer Michelle Huston climbed to the top of a silo to install a nest box for American Barn Owls with her husband Jayson who assembled the box below. Michelle tells the story of how they became volunteers and regional box managers for the program. Read more.
Scout Leads Barn Owl Nest Box Construction Project
Scout Matt Florez led a Scout project in December 2025 to build eight American Barn Owl nest boxes for the Maryland Farmland Raptor Program. Read Matt’s story about how he became inspired to take on this project. Read more.
Build Nest Boxes for Maryland’s Farmland Raptors
The Maryland Farmland Raptor Program has made it easier than ever to help with building nest boxes for barn owls and kestrels with a series of YouTube videos demonstrating how-to construct three different types of nest boxes. Read more.
Bird Cities in Colombia Make Magic on World Migratory Bird Day
As the state coordinator for Bird City Maryland, Pamela Kellett was part of an international delegation to Colombia in South America this past fall. When they arrived in Colombia there were two Bird Cities, and by the time they left there were twelve Bird Cities! Read more.
Will American Kestrels Breed on the Lower Eastern Shore Again?
American Kestrels are almost entirely absent during the breeding season on the Lower Eastern Shore, according to data collected during the Maryland and DC Breeding Bird Atlas 3. The Maryland Farmland Raptor Program is working to bring the iconic raptor back. Read more.
Volunteer Spotlight: Chet Anderson
2025 Farmland Raptor Nest Monitoring Results
The Farmland Raptor Program expanded nest box installation and monitoring efforts this year. We added 19 American Barn Owl boxes and 59 American Kestrel boxes. By installing and monitoring these nest boxes, we are creating real opportunities for recovery of these species while building the long-term dataset needed to guide our conservation work. Read more.
Westminster: Maryland’s Newest Bird City
Maryland Bird Conservation Partnership is pleased to announce that the City of Westminster has been recognized as Carroll County’s first Bird City Maryland community. Westminster values high-quality greenspace for both birds and people, something highlighted by their status as a Tree City for 35 years. Their improvements to Wakefield Valley, a golf course-turned-park, showcase this. Westminster has planted 6,000 trees, created pollinator meadows, and maintains a paved-walking path for better accessibility with plans to enhance this even further. Read more.