Conservation is not just an ideal that we read about; it works.

Not all is doom and gloom. We are beginning to understand the natural world and are gaining a reverence for life - all life.

The truth of the matter is, the birds could very well live without us, but many -- perhaps all -- of us would find life incomplete, indeed almost intolerable without the birds.

Birding, after all, is just a game. Going beyond that is what is important.

Butterflies may be better indicators of the health of our environment than birds.

Birds, it must be admitted, are the most exciting and most deserving of the vertebrates; they are perhaps the best entre into the study of natural history, and a very good wedge into conservation awareness.

Birds ... are sensitive indicators of the environment, a sort of "ecological litmus paper," ... The observation and recording of bird populations over time lead inevitably to environmental awareness and can signal impending changes.