Into the Woods with Bird-Friendly Maple

Barred Woods Maple Syrup bird friendly maple program.

On June 07, 2025 Barred Woods Maple partnered with Audubon Vermont and the Vermont Land Trust to offer an exciting program focused on creating bird-friendly habitat in Vermont maple sugarbushes.  The event consisted of banding migratory birds for tracking and research, a discussion of habitat requirements of these birds, and a tour of Barred Woods Maple sugarbush to see first-hand, forestry practices that have been implemented to improve the habitat for migratory songbirds while at the same time improving the maple syrup production of the forest.  The event was through registration only and the spots filled up quickly after the program was announced.  The audience was a mix of bird lovers, maple syrup producers, and foresters and environmental science professionals.  

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Bird Banding

Two forest birds were banded by the Audubon Vermont team, an oven bird and a black-throated blue warbler. Getting an up-close view of these birds memorized the participants.

Setting Up for Bird Banding

Explaining the Process

Banding The Leg

Releasing the Black-Throated Blue Warbler

Sugarbush Management For the Birds

The second half of the day focused on forestry techniques to promote habitat for our songbirds. Our Vermont forests provide ideal breeding habitat for these migratory songbirds while at the same time being exceptional resources to produce a sustainable, delicious sweetener - maple syrup. The bird friendly maple program focuses on forestry practices to optimize both of these objectives.

Tracking the Results

Barred Woods Maple has been actively managing its sugarwoods as part of Bird Friendly Maple for over 7 years. We have completed multiple projects including some co-sponsored by Vermont Audubon. One question is: how are these programs working? To get at an answer the bird friendly maple program has started a survey process to assess the impact of various management practices on bird populations. Our initial survey was completed in June 2025 with 33 differenct species observed!