Q: Churches will only provide copies of baptismal records to the person baptized or their parents or guardians of that person.  If you are not one of these parties, you will likely not be able to receive a copy of a baptismal record.  Be sure you or your child actually was baptized.  Some people simply assume that they were because they were too young to remember the event. You will need to provide proof of your identity and your relationship to the baptized person in order to receive a copy of the baptismal record. While baptism is a common practice among most sects of Christianity, each branch of the larger religion has specific baptism practices.  The common branches of Christianity that practice baptism are:  Anabaptist Baptist Church of Christ Reformed Protestantism Roman Catholic Jehovah's Witness Latter-Day Saints The identification the church or higher office may require can vary significantly depending on the policies they follow.  Obtain any forms of identification you may need to verify you or your child’s identify as well to justify any name changes.  You will need to provide evidence of a name change such as a marriage certificate or a name change certificate from the social security office if you or your child’s name do not match the name listed on the baptismal record. If your child is adopted you will need to provide proof of the adoption in the form of adoption papers. If you are trying to find a baptismal record for a family member that passed away some time ago, you may be able to find it on a website that specializes in genealogy and documentation.  Websites like Ancestry.com or Genealogy.com may contain copies of the baptismal record if they have been uploaded by other members of your extended family or someone that knew that family member personally. If the baptism took place in a country outside the United States, they may have uploaded their baptismal records to an online database.
A: Ensure you are eligible to receive a copy of the baptismal record. Note the specific religion that conducted the baptism. Gather all pertinent information about your or your child. Try a genealogy website.

Q: When a bird looks at a window, it sees the reflection of the ground or the sky, so it thinks it’s found somewhere safe to fly. Unfortunately, this leads to as many as 1 billion bird deaths each year in the U.S. alone. To help prevent this from happening in your home, cover your windows with light-colored blinds or curtains, or place window decals or screens over the glass to make the windows less reflective.  Keep your drapes or blinds closed when you aren’t home, since they won’t protect the birds if they’re open. You can also use suncatchers or stained glass to help keep birds from flying into your windows. Cats are natural hunters, and that instinct will lead them to chase and kill birds even if they’re already well-fed. If you have a cat, keep it indoors as much as possible, or provide it with a screened-in area on your porch or patio, often called a catio, where it can enjoy the outdoors without posing a threat to local wildlife.  If you do need to let your cat outside, consider fitting it with a breakaway collar with a bell. The bell will let birds know when the cat is approaching, which may give enough warning to get away.  Keeping your cat indoors can also extend its lifespan, since it has less of a risk of being injured, captured, or trapped. Indoor-only cats also have less risk of being exposed to dangerous illnesses.  You can find tutorials online for building your own catio! Shrubs and small trees are excellent hiding places for predators like cats and hawks that might prey on smaller birds. Avoid putting your bird feeder too close to these or other hiding places. That way, it will be harder for the predators to ambush birds while they’re eating. You should also ensure that the bird feeders are away from any windows. If a bird becomes startled while it’s eating, it might fly into the window and get hurt. Birds can sometimes carry bacteria or parasites, which can then be spread to other birds if you don’t clean your bird bath or your bird feeder. Change the water in your bird bath every day, and change the seed in your feeder every 3 or 4 days when the weather is dry, or every day if it’s wet or snowy outside. Moisture can also cause mold to grow in your bird feeder, posing an additional risk to the birds. Birds have very delicate systems, and chemical pesticides can harm or even kill them. Avoid using foggers, which disperse chemicals through the air. Instead, opt for non-toxic pest control methods, like diatomaceous earth or a plant spray made from hot peppers and garlic, for instance. If you’re having trouble with a specific pest, do a search online for organic or non-toxic methods to remove that specific insect or animal. Native plants are the plants which naturally grow in the area where you live. They tend to thrive without much assistance, and they’ll provide a natural habitat for your birds to live in. In addition, they may provide local birds with an additional food source, either from the berries and seeds the plants produce, or by attracting native insects that the birds can eat. Search online to learn more about which plants are native to your area. In most cases, if you see a baby bird on the ground, it’s probably a fledgling, or a bird that’s trying to learn to fly. Typically, the bird’s parents will be close enough to watch the bird, even if you can’t see it right away. If you’re not sure whether the baby bird is being tended to, watch it for several hours to see if its parents bring it food.  If you see a baby bird on the ground and it doesn’t have any feathers, gently scoop it up from underneath and place it into its nest or a nearby sturdy branch. If the bird is obviously injured or orphaned, call a wildlife conservation organization. In many places, it’s illegal to try to rescue and raise a wild bird on your own.
A:
Cover your windows with drapes, blinds, or decals. Keep cats indoors or on a catio. Place bird feeders at least 10–12 ft (3.0–3.7 m) away from shrubs. Clean your bird bath and bird feeders regularly. Avoid the use of pesticides in your yard. Add native plants to your yard or garden. Don’t try to rescue baby birds you see on the ground.