Saving Birds to Save the Planet

At the Museum | Fleischmann Auditorium

Presented by the Santa Barbara Audubon Society and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

At a time when the news for birds—and for the planet—has rarely seemed more grim, there is reason for hope. We’ve restored faltering bird populations in the past, bringing back nearly-extinct raptors and waterfowl. And despite the odds today, all around the world, people are reviving bird populations, providing a roadmap for wider recovery. In his newest book, The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet, best-selling author and researcher Scott Weidensaul shows why we should never underestimate the resiliency of birds, and why creating a world that works for birds will work for everything, including us.

He’ll trace this inspiring arc from a tiny island off the Maine coast to the bird-rich Danube Delta on the Ukrainian border where even war has not stopped progress; from vulture restoration in the mountains of Bulgaria to oases of sanctuary for endangered seabirds in the highlands of Hawaiʻi, and across the world’s largest and most intact forest in Canada where Indigenous communities are permanently protecting hundreds of millions of acres of some of the most important migratory bird habitat on Earth, a win as well for social justice. This is a dose of optimism we all need.

Scott Weidensaul is the author of nearly 30 books on natural history, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Living on the Wind and the New York Times bestseller A World on the Wing. His latest book, The Return of the Oystercatcher, coming in April 2026, showcases what’s working for bird conservation around the world. Weidensaul is a contributing editor for Audubon magazine, a columnist for Bird Watcher’s Digest, and writes for a variety of other publications including Living Bird. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society and an active field researcher, studying saw-whet owl migration for 30 years, as well as winter hummingbirds in the East, bird migration in Alaska, and the winter movements of Snowy Owls through Project SNOWstorm, which he co-founded.

Courtesy of Chaucer’s Bookstore, books by Scott Weidensaul will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

Tickets $10
Click here to reserve yours online today.

For more information, contact Kelsey at kperry@sbnature2.org.

Atlantic Puffin and Greater Sage-Grouse photos by Scott Weidensaul, author photo by Bri Masko

Find more events like this