State of the Birds 2025
Download the ReportWHAT IS NABCI?
The U.S. Committee of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) is a coalition of conservation and scientific organizations and entities working to advance biological, social, and scientific priorities for North American bird conservation.
This 2025 edition of the State of the Birds report is a status assessment of the health of the nation’s bird populations, delivered to the American people by scientists from U.S. bird conservation groups.
Pointing the Way Forward
The report’s Executive Summary highlights three key takeaways that together point the way forward for the conservation of our nation’s priceless ecological resources:
- Sobering evidence that America’s birds continue to decline across the board.
- Despite ample evidence that conservation can work, the status quo approach to conservation is not turning bird populations around.
- What’s needed now is policy that implements proven conservation measures that help birds, habitats, and people.
One-Third of U.S. Birds Need Conservation Action
Birds are telling us that the habitats people depend on are vanishing. Declines are happening across the board: in grasslands, aridlands, western and eastern forests, in Hawaii’s fragile ecosystems; and with our shorebirds and seabirds. Even waterfowl, which had rebounded strongly thanks to decades of conservation work, are seeing sharp recent declines.
Bird-Friendly Policies Help People, Too
Birds strengthen American communities, and the more than 100 million Americans who watch birds contribute $279 billion to the nation’s economy each year. Adopting policies that protect birds yields benefits in income, jobs, tax revenues, mental health, and more.
