How to turn down the volume and protect wildlife in your yard and garden
[June 04, 2025]
By JESSICA DAMIANO
In the garden, the start of the growing season means the return of dirt
under our fingernails, the scent of freshly spread mulch and the first
blooming roses. In my neighborhood, and perhaps yours, it also means an
audible onslaught of lawnmowers, leaf blowers and other tools of the
landscaper’s trade.
From 8 a.m. through at least early afternoon — five or six days every
week — the hum of power tools and other machines disrupts my peace. But
even more concerning is that my peace pales in importance to that of my
property’s other residents.
Birds, squirrels, rabbits, frogs, insects and other wildlife are
critically affected by human-made noise. They’re outdoors right in the
middle of what must seem to them a war zone — with no escape. And the
battleground noises that surround them aren’t merely nuisances; they
disrupt the basic instincts the animals’ lives depend on.
Instincts such as those that alert them to the presence of predators
become masked under the gas-powered cacophony prevalent throughout most
of suburbia.
The unnatural sounds can also force birds, bats and insects into
changing their feeding, nesting and mating habits, says Kevin Munroe,
Long Island Preserve Director for The Nature Conservancy, based in Cold
Spring Harbor, New York.
“Quite a few animals communicate primarily through song, and their songs
are how they find each other,” Munroe said. Those with soft and quiet
songs, like warblers, small species of owls, bats and some species of
crickets, for instance, can be so badly drowned out by noise pollution
that “they literally cannot build families or reproduce,” he said.
To illustrate the point, Munroe likens the animals’ songs to navigation
systems.
“Imagine these songs are the birds’ roadmaps to each other, and imagine
you’re using your GPS to get somewhere and all of a sudden it turns off,
and that’s the only way you can find your family. Now, with it turned
off, there’s no way you’ll find your family. That’s what song is like
for these animals,” he said.
Artificial noises from power equipment, traffic, construction and
industrial sources, can also cause stress and hearing loss in animals. A
University of Georgia study even found that highway noises can elevate
heart rates in monarch caterpillars.
Thoughtful planning can reduce the noise
This may seem like a losing battle in modern society, but there are
steps we can take to help.
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This May 7, 2022, image provided by The Nature Conservancy shows a
black-and-white warbler. (Derek Rogers via AP)
 The Nature Conservancy recommends
changes to industrial practices that include accounting for
sensitive areas when siting noise-producing facilities, such as
access roads and compressor stations, and designing them to include
sound barriers such as walls, vegetative screening and
noise-absorbing equipment.
Altering the timing and duration of noisy activities during breeding
and hibernation periods could also reduce adverse effects on
wildlife, the organization said.
What you can do at home
On our own properties, small changes can make a big impact. Because
birds do their “most important talking to each other” between dawn
and 9 a.m., Munroe recommends shifting noisy yardwork later. Another
critical time for many species of wildlife is after dark, he said.
“You can play music and have fun, but try not to make any loud
noises,” he said.
In addition, creating sound buffers by planting dense native trees,
evergreens or deciduous shrubs, and switching from gas- to
battery-powered tools, including leaf blowers, string trimmers and
chainsaws, are simple things homeowners can do to avoid causing
harm.
Educating and introducing change to local communities is important,
too. Munroe suggests working with your homeowners association,
schools, businesses and churches to limit loud, destructive activity
on their properties.
“Talk to local municipalities about their noise ordinances and
(encourage them to) create a sound sanctuary in the neighborhood (to
protect) wood thrushes, katydids” and other wildlife, he said.
And always observe noise ordinances at home and in public places,
like parks.
Wild animals serve as “pollinators, affect pest control and have a
positive effect on our agriculture and our economy,” Munroe said.
“We want them in our neighborhoods.”
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