The importance of Black Americans in conservation and environmentalism is GREATLY underrepresented and it requires some digging to learn about the significant past and current Black contributors and advocates of birding, conservation, and environmental justice.
Calling all shutterbugs and bird enthusiasts! We want you to capture the vibrant avian life of Chicago through your lens and participate in the inaugural "Chicago Birds Photography Contest." Photographers of all experience levels are invited to compete with winning submissions eligible for eternal bragging rights and cash prizes!
This time of year, owls become the focus of many nature lovers. The presence of humans can be stressful for owls, so it’s important to understand more about owls and follow simple guidelines to ensure their safety.
In the interest of being more mindful and considerate in our gift buying, supporting Black and BIPOC businesses and creators, and - and well, BIRDS! - here is an alternative list of ideas to make your 2022 gifting thoughtful, fun and bird friendly!
Congratulations to the 34 birding leaders who successfully completed the Bird Outing Leader Training program, hosted by the Chicago Bird Alliance (CBA) and the EcoWomanist Institute (EWI)! There were two cohorts offered this year, with one meeting on Saturdays from April 5th to May 17th and the other on Tuesdays from April 8th to May 20th. Each week the groups met at Rainbow Beach in South Chicago to learn different aspects of birding and to build a community.
Spring is one of the most critical seasons in a bird’s life cycle. As temperatures rise, millions of birds migrate north to their breeding grounds, seeking food, shelter, and safe nesting sites along the way. For many species, backyards in urban and suburban neighborhoods aren’t just flyover zones — they’re essential rest stops or even permanent habitats. That’s why what homeowners choose to plant, build, and illuminate can make a huge difference. Check out some tips by our friends at Cat Topia to make your backyard more welcoming to birds, and keep your cats safely enclosed.
Although Earth Day comes once a year, it is important to make every day bird-friendly. There is already a heavy loss of avian life, with a decline of around 2.9 billion birds since 1970, and it would be calamitous if this trend were to continue. The following are five types of pollution to keep in mind and their detrimental effects on class Aves
The 2025 Bird Outing Leader Training program will be kicking off in April, and this initiative wouldn’t be possible without the support of Veronica Kyle and the EcoWomanist Institute (EWI). The mission of this inspiring organization is to focus on societal and environmental issues that affect women of African descent, who are typically the healers of their community, and underserved communities in general.
If you like reading a good memoir, or if you’re needing inspiration as Earth Day 2025 comes around, you should pick up Trish O’Kane’s 2024 volume, Birding to Change the World: A Memoir. It is, in her own words, a “braid of science, personal story, and an activism story” that comes as close to riveting as any memoir can.
This article looks at gull identification through the lens of evolutionary biology and genetics. It discusses when it becomes necessary to move beyond rigid taxonomic categories and instead focus on variation in genes and traits. For birdwatchers, who can only deal in observable traits, this approach is crucial to avoid unwarranted assumptions about genetics—assumptions that can lead to false confidence when assessing vagrancy or hybrid ancestry.
There is progress! In June experts in avian conservation, urban planners, architects, City of Chicago Departments and other relevant experts will provide policy recommendations on bird-friendly design. Data on which new construction developments have selected bird-mitigation options from the Sustainable Development Policy during the year since the updated policy was released will be considered.
When you think of romance between birds, perhaps Monty and Rose, arguably Chicago’s most famous bird couple, come to mind. This Piping Plover pair captivated Chicago from 2019 to 2021. But every year, numerous birds around the Chicagoland area signal their willingness to pair up, mate, and form a family. Ardor to a bird comes in many varieties. It can be…
With freezing temperatures, limited daylight and lengthy nights, many birds have eschewed Chicago for warmer climes. But there are still a number of hardy souls here, such as the Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, and Northern Cardinal. They have adopted diverse strategies that allow them to endure a Chicagoland winter.
Lately, it hasn’t always been apparent that the Chicago area is knee-deep in winter – for one thing, there’s been very little snow to be knee-deep in! However, many birds in our area provide a clue to the current astronomical season: their winter plumage. What we see in winter is non-breeding or basic plumage. Here we’ll learn about some dramatic and some subtle plumage changes in birds that we may see in Chicago this winter.
December marks the beginning of the Christmas Bird Count, and with the holiday season in full swing, the iconic song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” has been playing relentlessly. But did you know that the birds in this classic song can essentially be found in Illinois? Learn which birds you can observe for the Christmas Bird Count that also show up in “The Twelve Days of Christmas!”
Did you know that Wild Turkeys, the symbol of Thanksgiving and November, have been sighted right here in Chicagoland? Learn about the history of turkeys in Chicago, from their reintroduction to save them from the brink of being wiped out to how they’ve rebounded so well that they’ve gained new, potentially uncharted, territory.
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