Contribute to the campaign to save our hawks, eagles and owls!

We’re making progenitors!

The Chicago Planning Commission is hearing a case that will permanently transform the south lakefront and ruin a lot of important bird habitat. The letter sent by Bird Friendly Chicago contains our recommendations to improve the site for birds. Please help! Here are two things you can do.

Rodenticide kills birds but doesn’t kill many rats. Stop using it, Chicago!

Chicago today is home to many Indigenous people. On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we share some works that delve into the Indigenous history of Chicago. Follow the links to explore them.

Bird Friendly Chicago and its supporting organizations are looking to assemble a group of volunteers that can help speak up for bird conservation as new building projects work their way through city permitting.

Our recommendations:

1. Landscaping that supports native birds, including at least one new bird sanctuary, all with diverse plant structure (canopy, understory, shrubs and ground cover), many areas of plant density and good plant species diversity

2. Preservation of specific areas, i.e., Montrose Beach, Jarvis Bird Sanctuary, etc.

3. Creation of migratory bird habitat as a buffer between the lakefront and dangerous buildings

4. Creation of shorebird habitat on islands, if possible

The Attorney General of Illinois joins the opposition to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed new 25-foot high dump of toxic dredged wastes to be built on top of the now closed confined disposal facility (CDF).The Confined Disposal Facility is a dump that juts out into Lake Michigan between two well-used birding locations, Steelworkers’ and Calumet Parks in Chicago. Our partners Environmental Law and Policy Center are suing on behalf of Friends of the Parks and Alliance of the Southeast to ensure that the Army Corps does not build a 25-foot tall dump at the site, which is slated to be turned over the the Chicago Park District. We held a rally to support them. Here’s a recap of the day.

We are working with artist Holly Greenberg to make replicas of every bird killed from a window collision and collected on the streets of Chicago in 2023. Make a bird with us!

The Blitz was fun - and we saw some good birds!

Come work with us!

Be part of an effective and happy team.

Check out the details here.

The Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) failed to make bird protection mandatory in its recent draft of its 2024 Sustainable Development Policy (SDP). Bird Friendly Chicago, its partners, and its supporters asked the city of Chicago to make bird protection mandatory in this update, a measure that would be critical in preventing bird mortality. Unfortunately the DPD failed to do so, even in the face of overwhelming public support for this measure.

Some of the city’s prime bird habitat is along the lakefront. Chicago Bird Alliance is collecting ideas about how to improve the area for birds and how to minimize disruptions to bird habitat. We will deliver these ideas to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. We’d like your feedback.

What makes good migratory bird habitat? At the LaBagh Woods restoration, planners thought that structure is the key. A group of local birders studied the results, 8 years later.

We celebrate 50 years of bird walks at Wooded Island, and remember Paul Douglas and Doug Anderson

Take action now to prevent the deaths of birds at Chicago’s buildings

McCormick Place is putting out bids for bird-safety retrofitting options

Chicago Audubon Society Online Native Plant Sale is held every spring, offering a wide variety of perennials. Order form is posted here - order before April 26. Pick up will be at North Park Village Nature Center on the afternoon of May 26, 2024.

On Valentine’s Day, the board of the Chicago Park District voted to approve the petition submitted by Chicago Piping Plovers on behalf of our organizations, requesting that the 2021 expansion of 3.1 acres to the Montrose Dunes Natural Area be named The Monty and Rose Wildlife Habitat, honoring one of Chicago’s most famous couples, Monty and Rose, the Great Lakes Piping Plovers.  

Despite developing an ordinance and guide that two other municipalities have already implemented - despite promising that regulations would be enacted a year ago - despite the international attention that the October debacle at McCormick Place where over 1000 birds died at one Chicago building in one morning - the Chicago Department of Planning and Development is dragging its feet. Your help is needed to end unnecessary bird deaths in Chicago.