Who We Are:

BCN is a coalition organization whose current members are 20 bird clubs, Audubon groups, ornithological societies and other conservation organizations located primarily in the Chicago metropolitan area. The members of our member groups aggregate in excess of 40,000 people. BCN’s mission is the conservation of birds and the habitats they need to survive. There is no full time staff; BCN’s board is made up of volunteer representatives from the member groups who carry out the needed work.

What We Do:

• Monitoring of bird populations, both breeding and migratory, following established scientific protocols.

• Helping provide informed, science based information on bird related issues to public and private landowners.

• Providing volunteers to work with public agencies in habitat restoration.

• Urging that dog parks be established to avoid natural areas.

• Convening conferences on habitat restoration, migrant and breeding birds, bird mortality from collisions with window glass (in planning), and others.

Working with the Chicago Park District on:

    a)   Bird friendly landscaping

    b)   Design & improvement of lakefront hotspots like Montrose Magic Hedge, Jarvis Bird Sanctuary, & Wooded Island in Jackson Park.

    c)   USX

    d)   Northerly Island (with LMF, Sierra Club, Open Lands & FOTP)

Working with the City’s Department Of Environment on:

    a)   Bird Treaty Committee

    b)   Birding Trail of the Chicago Region guide

    c)   Lights Out campaign

    d)   Cats Indoors campaign

    e)   Lake Calumet

Other regional efforts by BCN include protecting Swainson’s Hawk populations in Kane County, working with IDNR to protect endangered Common Terns and shorebirds at Great Lakes Naval Training Center, and protecting Fermi Lab from a potentially destructive road.

The purpose of the BCN is to advocate for and promote the perpetuation and appreciation of the native avian fauna of the Chicago region, both resident and migratory, with its associated native flora and fauna, and the habitats that support them through a coalition of birding organizations and individuals. To achieve this goal, an understanding is needed: of the habitat needs of birds during all seasons of the year; the influence human activities and natural processes have on those habitats and all the species that occur in them; and how that influence affects their avian denizens. Promotion of a sound ecological relationship between human populations and their environments, and the education and involvement of the birding community and the public at larges in such efforts, is also critical.

If your club is not a BCN member, please consider joining us. Organizational dues are only $75 a year, and you'll be doing the best thing you can to support conservation of bird habitat throughout our area. In addition to our work on habitat conservation, we also coordinate bird monitoring throughout the Chicagoland area.  Contact us for more details.

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