The Urban Birding Festival continues to grow in its third year, with around 850 festival-goers, presenters, guides, volunteers, and vendors traveling from 23 states to attend this year! It is a testament to the power of birds and the awe they inspire that they can bring so many people together.

From Friday, September 18 to Sunday, September 20, attendees joined guided birding trips, presentations, workshops, and social events; during registration, participants chose from a list covering 116 options and 53 locations. Although rain unfortunately affected some outings, overall feedback was very positive, and people are already looking forward to next year’s festival.

*Dexter Patterson discussing why he co-created the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin*

Friday night festivities were capped by a rousing keynote presentation to a packed room from Dexter Patterson, who delivered an informative yet entertaining talk around his love of birds, his work in making birding more inclusive, and why birdwatching is really about community.

The next day, the keynote dinner was headlined by Tommy Siegel and Billy Libby of Extremely Accurate Birds. The audience was treated to live music, videos, and rejected New Yorker cartoons (that frankly should have been accepted), and the duo were so well-received they got an encore request.

*Tommy Siegel (left) and Billy Libby providing a humorous explanation of their music*

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum must be profusely thanked for being the host of The Urban Birding Festival three times in a row, and much appreciation to all the volunteers, guides, vendors, presenters, and sponsors who made this event possible! A special shout-out to Joe Feliciano who designed the logo this year.

Putting together the festival was a collective effort by Chicago BIPOC Birders, Chicago Ornithological Society, Feminist Bird Club, Red Hill Birding, Windy City Bird Lab, and Chicago Bird Alliance, and we are grateful to everyone who decided to spend their weekend in the Chicagoland area birding and connecting with fellow avian enthusiasts.