In the fall of 1992, Kay and Jim Charter realized that many of their favorite bird species were in decline. Migrating species like Baltimore orioles, scarlet tanagers, indigo buntings and warblers were losing ground every year. Unwilling to stand by helplessly and watch the downward slide of these beautiful creatures, the Charters opted to take action by selling their lakefront home in order to purchase a large tract of land away from the water. Before the year was out, the house was sold and the couple used the proceeds from the sale, and their retirement savings, to purchase a 47-acre tract of mixed habitat away from the water. There they established a safe haven for the feathered jewels they love.
Nine years later, in the summer of 2001, Kay Charter was the driving force behind the founding of Saving Birds Thru Habitat. This organization is dedicated to the cause of teaching others about the challenges facing our migrating birds, pollinators and others, and instructing them about how to help resolve those problems. She created many engaging PowerPoint programs, including “Grow a Bird Feeder,” “A Tale of Two Cities – How to Save Birds With Habitat,” “Batty about Bats,” “Bees, Butterflies and Other Pollinators,” and others, addressing the causes for these tragic losses, and it demonstrates how every single person can make a positive difference right in his or her backyard.
Kay now moves into a well-deserved retirement after decades of hard work and passionate advocacy for migrating birds.
"Five years before I wrote Bringing Nature Home, Kay wrote her award-winning book, For the Love of Birds. In it she outlined the most basic tenet of all animal conservation: birds, insects, turtles, bats…everything that walks, slithers, or flies requires food and thus the habitat that provides that food. So obvious that few had seen that before her. Kay’s devotion to providing that habitat for birds has inspired and guided me ever since. Thank you Kay!"
Dr. Douglas Tallamy
Douglas Tallamy is an American entomologist, ecologist and conservationist and a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. His books and lectures have inspired people across the country to plant native rather than introduced flora in their yards to support nesting songbirds.
