This is Bird Note.

Gettysburg, Antietam, Monocacy.

They each hold significance in American history as the sights of decisive battles in the Civil War.

But these iconic battlefields have significance for birds, too, as detailed in this letter home from a grasshopper sparrow.

Dear Ma, the grasslands of my forebears are lost to time.

Habitat loss has chipped away at our territories until it seems like there is nothing left.

Our only refuge is in the historic National Battlefield Parks.

Okay, so birds aren't sending messages to their families from the front lines.

But National Battlefield parks are grassland habitats worth writing home about.

Tall grassy fields aren't typically considered beautiful, much less

valuable to conserve. Battlefield parks are maintained as historic sites, with the side effect of preserving

excellent habitat. Most of the parks are sites of civil war battles in the eastern U.S.,

but there are four from the Revolutionary War

and a handful of others as far off as Michigan and Montana. Today, rather than the roar of

cannons, fields like Antietam are filled with the songs of blue grosbeaks.

Eastern Meadow Larks.

Field sparrows.

Indigo buntings.

And, of course, grasshopper sparrows.

Music And, of course, grasshopper sparrows.

For our grassland birds, these two are hallowed grounds.

For bird note, I'm Michael Stein.

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