New York Projects

Bird-Friendly Maple

Our Goals
Stabilize declining forest bird populations by increasing the acreage of healthy forests.
What We’re Doing
Publicly recognizing maple producers who are implementing best practices to improve forest habitat.

Through the Bird-Friendly Maple program, Audubon supports producers who are committed to managing their sugarbush (a forest stand from which sap is harvested to produce maple syrup) in ways that benefit nesting and migratory birds.

The majority of Eastern forest-dependent birds – whose populations have dropped by over 25 percent in the last 50 years - inhabit privately owned land. This is where we scale our impact.

Maple producers voluntarily enroll in our program, and when they agree to implementing practices to improve habitat for birds as well as overall forest health, they earn Audubon’s public recognition.

Maple products come from forests managed in very different ways. By purchasing bird-friendly maple syrup, you are supporting producers who are committed to managing their forests in ways that benefit an incredible variety of nesting songbirds, including Scarlet Tanagers, Wood Thrushes, and Veeries.

Look for the Maple Managed for Birds label the next time you buy maple syrup! If you really want the perfect breakfast, sip on some Bird-Friendly Coffee too!

Producers managing their sugarbush for birds

BK3 Farm LLC
Location: Neversink, NY
Contact: Ben Knight, (845) 985-0516, bloominggreen74@gmail.com

Boulderfield Farms
Location: Brant Lake, NY
Contact: Steve and Sara Mullins, s.mullins@frontier.com

Fairbanks Maple
Location: Forestville, NY
Contact: Megan Macintyre, fairbanksmaplefarms@gmail.com
Facebook: @FairbanksMaple

Fair View Maple
Location: Avoca NY
Contact: Tim Longwell, fairviewmaple@gmail.com
Facebook: Fair View Maple Farm & Apple Orchard

Firefly Fields Farm
https://www.firefly-fields-farm.com
Location: Ravena NY
Contact: Elijah Done, firefly.fields.farm369@gmail.com
Facebook: @Firefly.Fields.Farm

Giffin Road Maple
Location: Canton, NY
Contact: Ian and Becky MacKellar, cncaboose@gmail.com

Grouse Hill Maple Farm
www.grousehillmaplefarm.com
Location: Montour Falls, NY
Contact: Danielle Fleming & Mark Bonfiglio, grousehillmaplefarm@gmail.com
Facebook: Grouse Hill Maple Farm
Instagram: @GrouseHillMaple

Heaven Hill Farm
Location: Lake Placid, NY
Contact: Andrea Grout, andrea@heavenhillfarm.org

Home Farm Maple
Location: Amenia, NY
Contact: Tilly Strauss, homefarmmaple@optonline.com   
Instagram: @HomeFarmMapleSyrup

Honeybee Hill Natural Sweeteners
Location: Valley Falls
Contact: Mike and Jessica Kehn, Honeybeehill.ns@gmail.com

Laurel & Ash Farm
www.laurelandash.farm
Location: Holmes, NY
Contact: Ashley Ruprecht & Jeffrey Schad, hello@laurelandash.farm

Mapleland Farms
www.maplelandfarms.com 
Location: Salem, NY
Contact: Mary Jeanne Packer, mjpacker10@gmail.com 

Rock Forest Farm
www.RockForestNY.com
Location: Lenapehoking | Gardiner, NY
Contact: Christina & Basil, 845-633-8371
Instagram here.

Sapwood Farms
www.getsapwood.com 
Location: Dryden, NY
Contact: Sean Carter & Maria Paone, maria@getsapwood.com

Sugar Hollow Maple
Location: Watson, NY
Contact: Spencer & Sue O’Brian, sugarhollowmaple@gmail.com
Facebook here.

SUNY Oswego
https://www.oswego.edu/sustainability/
Location: Oswego NY
Contact: Kate Spector, katherine.spector@oswego.edu or sustainability@oswego.edu

Sunnyhill Farm
Location: Arcade, NY
Contact: Norm Ameis, Nameis1964@gmail.com 

TenKate Hill Maple
www.tenkatehillmaple.com
Location: Dryden, NY 13053
Contact: Mike TenKate, 607-543-1803, mike_tenkate@yahoo.com

Stone House Maple
Location: Kiantone NY
Contact: Ross Foti, 716-720-1757, rossco1955@hotmail.com

Uihlein Maple Research Forest
Uihlein Maple Research Forest | Cornell Maple Program 
Location: Lake Placid, NY
Contact: Adam Wild, Adw94@cornell.edu 

Once the nights become warmer in late March and the maple tapping season ends, nesting birds start to move in to New York's forests. But these birds need more than just maple trees to thrive.

Through the Bird-Friendly Maple project (a collaborative effort between Audubon, Cornell and the New York State Maple Producers Association), we partner with maple producers to return sugarbushes to a more natural state.

The shift will benefit nesting songbirds, including Scarlet Tanagers, Wood Thrushes, Black-throated Blue Warblers, and Veeries—and make the resulting product more appealing to bird-loving consumers.

WHAT IS A BIRD-FRIENDLY SUGARBUSH?

Through applied forest management, bird friendly maple producers strive to improve habitat quality in their sugarbushes to optimize breeding and foraging opportunities for forest birds in decline. A bird-friendly sugarbush is managed for the following features to not only provide great habitat for forest birds, but also improve the health of the sugarbush:  

  • A diversity of tree species and age classes; more than just mature sugar maple
  • Complex structural diversity: layers of vegetation; from small seedlings on the forest floor, to saplings and shrubs, to the canopy overhead
  • Standing dead trees and live trees with cavities; the bigger the better
  • Large logs and branches on the forest floor

A DELICIOUS CONSERVATION PROJECT

The Bird-Friendly Maple project is a collaborative effort to integrate bird conservation with New York’s maple syrup industry by:

  • Promoting sugarbush management practices that support birds, forest health, and sustainable sap production
  • Publicly recognizing maple producers for considering bird habitat in their sugarbush
  • Increasing awareness of the important role New York’s forests play in bird conservation
  • Educating consumers about maple syrup and its many natural benefits.
Seek Out the Scarlet Tanager!

Consumers with an appetite for conservation should look for maple syrup containers with the Scarlet Tanager “seal of approval” indicating that the syrup comes from a sugarbush that is intentionally managed for birds and biodiversity.