From Extinction of Experience to Noticing Nature: Leveraging Social Science Insights for Collective Action on Behalf of Birds and Biodiversity

Since 1970, bird populations have declined by an estimated three billion birds in the U.S. and Canada, representing a staggering decline in biodiversity fueled by habitat loss and other anthropogenic effects. Such biodiversity losses have significant implications for the health of ecosystems, given the key role that birds play in the food web and the ecosystem services they provide in seed dispersal, pollination, scavenging, and pest control.

Encouraging more human-nature interactions is critical to stem the decline in biodiversity and avert what some have referred to as “Extinction of Experience” resulting from a steady decline in human-nature interactions, which can lead to decreased affinity for and protection of nature. In contrast to the ‘Extinction of Experience’ cycle, the ‘Noticing Nature’ cycle describes feedback loops that occur when yards and gardens are managed for wildlife, which in turn attract more biodiversity such as birds and pollinators to yards. This can lead to more observations of nature, which leads to increased interest, connection, appreciation, and protection of nature. Thus, encouraging bird-friendly gardening practices has the potential to benefit people, birds, and local biodiversity.

Here we share results of a new initiative begun in 2025, leveraging social science insights and the Theory of Planned Behavior to engage more than 6,000 citizen scientists from the Great Backyard Bird Count in enhancing their yards to attract more birds. We present the initial social science research findings that informed the 8-month long guided behavior change campaign (Garden for Birds) to encourage and promote native plant gardening on behalf of birds and biodiversity. We also share learnings from the campaign as to what worked and didn’t for increasing engagement as well as the role of yard signs to instigate social diffusion. Our work underscores the need for continued social science research for creating targeted behavior change campaigns designed to minimize barriers and encourage adoption of activities at impactful scales that benefit birds, biodiversity, and people.