‘Bird Town’ Media Borough is hoping to embrace its new designation
Media, Nether Providence, Swarthmore and Springfield Bird Town chapters are hosting an event on Feb. 25 to educate the public about their feathered neighbors.
Kenny Cooper is WHYY’s suburban reporter covering Montgomery and Delaware counties. He joined WHYY in November 2020. As a native of Montgomery County, Pa, Kenny graduated in 2020 from Temple University with a BA in journalism and political science.
Prior to WHYY, he covered Pennsylvania state politics through an Election SOS fellowship at the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. In early 2020, Kenny was selected to be a participant in the POLITICO Journalism Institute. He has interned at numerous news outlets including CNN, NBC News & MSNBC, NBC Sports Philadelphia, and Fox 29.
Keith Srakocic / AP Photo
A robin perches in tree branches Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Zelienople, Pa.
Media Borough birders and bird enthusiasts are humming with programs since the town received its ‘Bird Town’ designation earlier this month. The first item on the agenda is engaging residents to think differently about their winged neighbors.
“Towards that end, we, the Bird Town volunteers, are organizing in partnership with several other neighboring Bird Town chapters an educational program all about owls that will be held on February 25th right in Media,” said Kelsey Stanton-Murphy, a volunteer with Media’s Bird Town initiative.
“We’re hoping that the community can feel proud that the borough cares about the habitat within its boundaries — and maybe awaken a little bit of curiosity,” Stanton-Murphy said.
Last fall, Borough Council adopted a resolution establishing its commitment to protect avian species within its boundaries.
Julie Smith, an ad-hoc member of the borough’s Environmental Advisory Committee, said the push came from the realization that the area’s birds are struggling and officials needed to address issues such as window collisions, habitat loss and the impact of pesticides on bird food sources.
“I feel like the world has just become disconnected from nature and the more resources we have the better,” Smith said.
The borough worked for months to draft an application to Bird Town Pennsylvania after receiving encouragement from a neighboring township. The organization, which operates under the umbrella of the Pennsylvania Audubon Council, recently presented borough officials with a signed certificate on Feb. 2.
“We’re going to be able to implement more strategies and more educational advances in our community to help our birds,” Smith said.
“What we’re hoping anyway is that these initiatives can work together to achieve goals that are greater than the sum of their parts,” Stanton-Murphy said.
