Birding: Your actions can make it a better world for birds From keeping cats indoors to avoiding pesticides in your yard, individual efforts can make a big collective impact in the conservation of birds and nature. By HERB WILSON Share As Earth Day approaches each year – this year, it’s on April 22 – I devote a column to ways we can conserve nature and birds in particular. Habitat preservation and protection is critically important, so charitable giving to organizations with broad reach – The Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club and the Xerces Society – money well spent. In Maine, the Natural Research Council of Maine and dozens of conservation land trusts work on more local scales. They need our support as well.