2024 is the Year of the Peregrine Falcon!
Twenty-five years ago, after a hard fought election campaign with six contenders and 42,000 ballots cast, the Peregrine Falcon was declared the City of Chicago’s official bird. COS is marking this milestone by declaring 2024 The Year of the Peregrine Falcon.
Join us as we celebrate with falcon themed trips, programs, and media all year long and take this opportunity highlight an incredible species with a long and important history in our city.
Upcoming Events
COS is excited to once again be a co-organizer of the Chicago area team in this year’s City Nature Challenge!
RSVP Required
Join COS after work on a bilingual bird walk! Thatcher Woods is a unique site where we can expect to see a lot of woodland and migratory bird species.
Únanse con la SOC para un paseo de aves después de las horas del trabajo. El Bosque de Thatcher es un sitio único donde podemos esperar ver muchas especies de bosques y aves migratorias.
RSVP Required
Join COS for a bird walk through Northerly Island. If we're lucky, we might even catch a glimpse of nearby nesting Peregrine Falcons in advance of our Year of the Peregrine program after the walk.
RSVP Required
Riis Park is home to many species of birds. We will observe birds that can be commonly found in the park such as Northern Cardinal, American Robin, Great Blue Heron, and woodpeckers. We will also observe birds that are just stopping by on their migration up north.
El Parque de Riis es el hogar de muchas especies de aves. Observaremos aves que se pueden encontrar comúnmente en el parque como el cardenal rojo, el mirlo primavera, la garza morena y los pájaros carpinteros. También observaremos aves que están de paso en su migración hacia el norte.
In Person Program
RSVP Required
It’s the Year of the Peregrine! Join COS at the Field Museum for a behind-the-scenes journey through the Field Museum's Bird Collection highlighting peregrine specimens!
Join us for a spring migration walk at Park 566! This uniquely urban habitat is host to countless migratory birds and one of the best places in Chicago to observe grassland birds, raptors, waterfowl, and many other species on their journey north.
RSVP Required
Join COS for an afternoon walk as we decompress from a long day at work and look for birds at the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary.
Join our partners and your fellow nature nerds for a party where the field guides are the main dish! Following the City Nature Challenge, we need all hands to help identify the many birds found and uploaded to inatualist.
RSVP Required
Join IndiGo Birding Nature Tours guide David Rupp for a walk through Jackson Park. We will look for warblers, vireos, thrushes, and all other Neotropical migrants that are passing through the park on the first day of May. All levels of birders are welcome!
Join the annual Illinois Spring Bird Count and help support one of the longest running citizen science efforts in the state.
RSVP Required
Join COS for a morning of birding at one of Cook County's best kept secrets. Expect a nice variety of migrating waterfowl, shorebirds, and early spring passerines.
Join us for a habitat restoration workday at COS’s flagship stewardship site LaBagh Woods, and help bring back critical bird habitat.
COS Blog
Field Trip Leader Em DeBlas recaps the April 16 COS field trip to McKinley Park.
La líder de la excursión, Em DeBlas, resume la excursión de COS del 16 de abril al Parque McKinley.
Field Trip Leader Tarik Shahzad recaps the COS spring woodcock walks.
The Department of Planning and Development failed to make bird protection mandatory in the draft of its 2024 Sustainable Development Policy update. Learn how to express your objection to this proposal during the 30-day public comment period.
Ten walk participants joined a fun birding adventure led by guides Stephanie Beilke and Jake Vinsel at Indian Ridge Marsh in the Calumet Region.
Learn how to become a BCN monitor and take part in their annual breeding bird survey.
David Hoyt puts forth his manifesto for protecting Chicago’s iconic wildlife through a bird-friendly design ordinance.
LaBagh Woods Project
COS began restoration work in 2015 at LaBagh Woods on Chicago’s North Side. We host regular work days to clear invasive buckthorn and to plant shrubs. After the spring of 2022, we have planted almost 4,000 new native shrubs, with more plantings to come. We hope this healthier habitat attracts and supports more birds. Click the button to learn more about this keystone project and to sign up as a volunteer.
Calumet Initiative
The Calumet Region on the south side of Chicago was once dominated by wetlands but decades of industrialization have severely damaged the health of this critical ecosystem. More recently, work has begun to restore and revitalize this unique community. COS has joined countless partners to lead the way in restoring the Calumet region to a healthy place for people and wildlife. We invite you to learn more about this initiative and support this important work through volunteering and donations!
Art courtesy of Miranda Brandon.