Wild Birds Unlimited: A Longtime Habitat Champion

For anyone who has ever filled a bird feeder, there's a unique kind of joy that comes from seeing the first songbird visit. Even those who may not consider themselves "birders" quickly become enamored with the diversity of colors, sizes, songs, and behaviors, and begin to seek out ways to attract more species to their gardens.

While bird feeding has been around for centuries as a hobby, it wasn't until the 1980s that the availability of more specialized and higher-quality bird foods and feeders became more accessible and the hobby really took off. And one man in particular is a huge reason why.

In 1981, Jim Carpenter merged his interest in nature with his eye for business when he founded the first Wild Birds Unlimited store. This business offered a wide array of resources for the homeowners and gardeners who dreamed of creating their own bird sanctuary. Since then, the business has grown to include more than 350 franchise locations across North America!

Jim Carpenter poses in front of the first ever Wild Birds Unlimited storefront in Indianapolis, Indiana. Photo credit: Wild Birds Unlimited

Wild Birds Unlimited Becomes a Habitat Champion

Not only have Wild Birds Unlimited and its founder, Jim Carpenter, been amazing advocates for birds, but they have long understood the connection between birds and the larger need for habitat restoration. While seed feeders do a great job of supporting songbirds, most seed-eating species still depend on insects to feed their young. These insects, in turn, depend on native plants. It's clear that birds and native plant habitat are intrinsically connected. With this knowledge, Wild Birds Unlimited has been a staunch advocate for creating habitat as a way to support birds and other wildlife. This stance has formed the strong foundation of their long partnership with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF)'s Certified Wildlife Habitat® program.

"I've always promoted habitat creation as part of the overall hobby. That just came naturally. It's what you do: to feed the birds you really need to create a good habitat." -Jim Carpenter

In the early days, Wild Birds Unlimited stores would promote certification through NWF, even going so far as to sell the paper certification packets to make the process easy for their customers. At that time, the Certified Wildlife Habitat® program was still just about a decade old, and the support from Wild Birds Unlimited helped to raise the number of certifications from roughly 25,000 to 50,000 nationwide! Soon after, NWF introduced a more involved certification process for whole communities, known as the Community Wildlife Habitat™ certification, and Jim Carpenter and his wife, Nancy, were instrumental in getting their own hometown of Zionsville, Indiana certified as the second ever certified community! Since certifying in 2000, their community has remained incredibly involved in creating habitat that supports a variety of wildlife, and in particular pollinators.

"The Carpenters and Wild Birds Unlimited helped make our Community Wildlife Habitat Certification and the creation of Zion Nature Center, now known as Zionsville Nature Center, possible."-Elizabeth Mueller, founder of Habitat C.P.R. (Creation, Preservation and Restoration)

From Past to Present: Keeping the Partnership Going

The partnership NWF has with Wild Birds Unlimited has evolved with the times, but the shared commitment to wildlife remains. Today, Wild Birds Unlimited still helps to raise awareness of the Certified Wildlife Habitat® program and educates their customers on how to support birds not just through seed feeders, but through native plants as well.

"The great thing about us working together is that people often feel like they can't make a difference, but [National Wildlife Federation and Wild Birds Unlimited] are giving them something to do that makes a difference." -Jim Carpenter

This new Wild Birds Unlimited pollinator garden can be found and visited at Newfields in Indianapolis.

Jim and Nancy Carpenter go out of their way to support this habitat creation, including sponsoring what is now the largest designed pollinator garden in the city of Indianapolis! This garden, which was once covered in invasive amur honeysuckle, now boasts more than 100 species of native plants. Not only are pollinators supported by this garden, but other wildlife thrives there as well! This incredible site has been recognized as a Certified Wildlife Habitat® and serves as a beautiful example of how people can make meaningful change for wildlife.

Looking Ahead

Looking to the future, Jim Carpenter shares that he's excited about encouraging people to garden using containers, a method that he calls "shovel free gardening." Planting in containers opens up possibilities for creating robust habitat even in smaller spaces or yard-free properties with balconies, decks, or courtyards. He muses that there's nothing quite as magical as seeing a hummingbird visit a cardinal flower that sits just a few feet away from you in a pot. "If you put [native plants] on your deck in a container, you will be rewarded," he shares. Through this method, even more people can become songbird heroes.

Learn more about the work that Wild Birds Unlimited is doing to support wildlife and visit one of their more than 350 retail locations or online shop to get started supporting your local bird populations!

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