Workshop to teach residents how to help preserve local bird populations

Bird experts will gather in Blountville to teach East Tennessee residents how they can make their properties a better habitat for birds whose populations are declining. The workshop will share expertise from speakers on preserving birds of prey in the region, specifically focusing on the American kestrel and American barn owl, two species whose populations are declining. Speakers will share how residents, landowners, birders and conservationists can support the birds' habitats and during nesting seasons. The workshop will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26, at the Ron Ramsey Regional Agricultural Center at no cost. Experts from the Owl Ridge Raptor Center, a nonprofit that rescues and rehabilitates injured and orphaned birds of prey; the Talon Ridge Raptor Institute, a nonprofit raptor conservation organization; and environmental consulting firm MTM Environmental will all speak at the workshop. A bird from the Owl Ridge Raptor Center will also be present. The workshop is part of the "Farmland Raptor Project," a series of workshops hosted by the Foothills Land Conservancy and MTM Environmental. "Every farm and rural property is a little different, but landowners across East Tennessee share an opportunity to support the raptors that depend on these landscapes," said Mark Stevans, executive director of FLC, in a press release about the event. "These workshops give people the chance to learn directly from experts, see these birds up close and take away practical ideas they can use on their own land." The Farmland Raptor Project was launched in 2024 with guidance from Hawk Mountain Sanctuary to work with different groups and volunteers to support raptor habitat and conservation on private lands. With a $10,000 grant from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative, the project is expanding its work across the region. The grant will go toward education and conservation partnerships throughout the Tennessee Valley through July 2027.