Imagine yourself as a 12-twelvemonth-quondam again. What would you lot do if your grandfather gave you his stimulus check to donate to the charities of your selection? Would you have donated it to a bird conservation nonprofit? Well, that's what Ian Thorstad did.

Ian is a 7th grader living in Denver, Colorado. Iv years ago, his grandparents, who are birdwatchers, started taking him and his sister on their birding walks. "Equally nosotros did information technology more, I started to enjoy looking for birds and identifying them and learning more almost them," explained Ian in an email interview.

Nearly every bird-lover has tried at in one case or another to introduce a friend or family member to birds, only to be met with resistance or indifference. Fortunately, Ian has whatever it is that makes a person autumn for nature. "I beloved beingness out in nature and watching birds because they are such amazing creatures," said Ian. "I also love being with my family and exploring the corking outdoors every bit I spotter birds and learn more nearly them."

With that love often comes a concern for conservation. In learning most birds, we inevitably learn virtually the threats they face up. This is why Ian chose Audubon Rockies as a recipient of his gift. "I beloved birds and know that they are becoming endangered as people destroy their surroundings. I wanted a way to help them and educate other kids about ways we can help them," he said.

It seems pretty natural right? Birds are inspiring and they demand our help, and then supporting local bird conservation efforts is an obvious selection. And that's what thousands of Audubon supporters in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah do every year. But why is information technology and then rare for young people to practice so?

There are undoubtedly many reasons why. Kids are spending less time in nature, they take less capacity to donate and volunteer, at that place aren't many friends their age to share their love of birds with, or they might see birding as uncool. We at Audubon Rockies are working to change that. With our Community Naturalist programme, we're helping youth detect their ain connections to birds and nature.

Luckily for us, Ian understands this. "I want to tell other kids that we are the hereafter, and then the more nosotros know nearly our Earth and its animals, the ameliorate nosotros can protect them and the brighter this globe can get," he said. "I hope my money will get towards educating kids virtually birds and means we tin can protect them and their habitats."

It will. Thank you, Ian.

If you'd like to bring together Ian in helping conserve birds and the places they need through education, advocacy, and science, you can brand a donation to Audubon here .