Bird conservation takes flight

Braden Woods’ Susan and John Darovec have a four bird-bath home.

Add four bird feeders and a backyard filled with scrub, and it’s more like a bird hotel.

“It is like we’re giving back to the birds because we have taken so much of their habitat away,” said Susan Darovec, a retired school teacher.

The birds give back to the Darovecs, as well.

“There is something about watching a bird take a bath — it’s so soothing,” Susan Darovec said.

Susan Darovec, 67, has been a “birder” since she was a child. She grew up in Michigan in a house that attracted a steady stream of birds.

“One time, we (Darovec and her siblings Mike Holaday and Margaret Franklin) walked through waist-deep snow for about a mile just to get some bird seed for my mom,” Susan Darovec said.

As the years have passed, the Darovecs’ love for birds has grown, but the bird population has declined.

On April 12, about 40 concerned bird lovers and environmentalists gathered in the meeting room at the Fruitville Public Library for a lecture on “Birds in Peril” where local Audubon leaders, including Sarasota’s Terry Root and Venice’s Bob Clark, discussed the impact of climate change, including sea level rise, on birds in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

John Darovec is a retired marine biologist, and both Darovecs are active in the Citizens’ Climate Lobby Group, The Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, 350.org, Florida Veterans for Common Sense, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Susan Darovec has been involved in the annual Christmas Bird Count since 1990.

“The birds are what we see of nature, moving around and flashing really fast before your eyes,” John Darovec said. “They are an easy thing to look at and watch in nature.”

Susan Darovec talked about one way to help the area’s bird population. “Plant native,” she said.

“We did not plant palm trees here at our house because native plants bring native seeds and native insects that the birds feed on,” Darovec said. “People are the only hope birds have now.”

The couple is hoping people get involved as they learn an appreciation for the area’s wildlife, and the birds that populate the area.

Susan Darovec hopes people learn an appreciation of listening to the birds. She loves listening and identifying each bird by its call.

Once identified, John Darovec’s adds his knowledge.

“John knows which family they are from and how they are related to each other,” Susan Darovec said of her husband. “Basically he knows the bird’s whole family tree.”

For more information on how to be involved, go to sarasotaaudubon.org.