COS Conservation Work
The LaBagh/Lower North Branch Project
COS’s flagship conservation initiative, the LaBagh Woods restoration project, has become a model in bird based habitat restoration practices. Since 2015 over 4,000 shrubs have been planted and thousands of invasives removed to create high quality habitat for birds. The project is now expanding to other preserves along the Lower North Branch of the Chicago River.
The Calumet Initiative
COS has joined efforts to restore and revitalize the Calumet region, a critical area for migratory and breeding birds. Through a combination of scientific, educational, and conservation projects, we are working with communities to protect and enhance the region’s environment for people and wildlife.
Motus Tower at Big Marsh
In partnership with the Chicago Park District, COS has erected an antenna as part of the Motus wildlife tracking system, a network of receivers designed to help scientists track wildlife from birds, to bats, to butterflies on their epic migration journeys. We are joining a global scientific community working to reveal the secrets of migration and greatly improve our understanding of bird movement not just in Chicago but across the country.
Bird Banding at Big Marsh
In 2020, Chicago Ornithological Society established the Big Marsh Bird Banding Station. The station is part of the Institute for Bird Populations’ MAPS Program (Monitoring Avian Productivity & Survivorship), which deploys a standardized bird banding protocol for studying breeding birds and offers us a glimpse into the lives of urban birds.
Park 566 Monitoring and Restoration
Former COS board member Dan Lory has meticulously documented the avian diversity of Park 566 in the Calumet area. What has emerged is a picture of wildlife returning to and indeed heavily using the park. From common to endangered species, the diversity of birds present rivals that of some of the highest quality natural areas and speaks not only to the importance of conserving this site, but to its immense potential as restoration work continues.
Young Piping Plover named Hazel; photo by Tamima Itani
Protecting Chicago’s Piping Plovers
With only 70 breeding pairs remaining in the Great Lakes region, Piping Plovers arriving at Montrose Beach in Chicago in 2019 was a thrilling surprise. The pair named Monty and Rose stole the hearts of Chicago and the world! Chicago’s birding organizations, including COS, sprinted into action and organized volunteer monitoring teams with help from Fish and Wildlife protections for the birds on one of Chicago’s busiest summer spots. COS continues to support the Plovers with annual Plover watch and with efforts to keep Montrose beach habitat clean and bird-friendly.
An adult Common Nighthawk with young; photo by Marion Miller
The Chicago Nighthawk Project
COS has developed a volunteer monitoring program launched in response to notable population declines across their range and is designed to track, study, and conserve the Common Nighthawk in urban areas. The project aims to fill gaps in observational data about nightjars and their precipitously declining populations.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker killed by window collision; photo by Robyn Detterline
Advocating for Bird-Safe Buildings
The COS board and members are active in promoting the Bird-Safe Buildings Act that the Chicago City Council has passed but not yet acted on. We advocate for bird-safe design when notably dangerous projects are proposed in the Chicago-area, including the Bally’s Casino downtown, a Carvana building in Skokie and a project in Lincoln Yards. Additionally, we provide support to the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors and many of our members volunteer with that organization to rescue injured birds.
Bird Conservation Network
COS is a founding member organization of BCN, a coalition of bird-oriented groups in the Chicago area. Its mission is to conserve birds and the habitats they need to survive. The organization conducts extensive monitoring of bird populations and trends, works in conservation and restoration efforts, and provides land management and policy recommendations.
COS Conservation Committee
Our Conservation Committee addresses a variety of issues impacting birds within the city of Chicago and on public lands, including county forest preserve districts, municipal parks and natural and open spaces. The committee raises awareness of threats to birds in our community and often interfaces with City Council and leadership in other organizations to promote welfare of wild bird populations.
Chicago Wilderness Alliance
COS is a member of Chicago Wilderness Alliance, a collaboration of organizations working across the Chicagoland area toward protecting ecosystems around the southern shores of Lake Michigan using landscape-scale approaches.
MEMBERSHIP
For less than the cost of dinner out, you can be a part of one of the most active bird conservation groups around. Your support is what makes our mission possible and as an all volunteer run organization, you know that every dollar goes straight toward that mission of advocating for birds and birders across Chicagoland.
VOLUNTEER
Excited by what you see? We are always looking for volunteers to help us achieve or conservation goals and support birds all across Chicagoland.
Have skills you’d like to offer? Great!
Don’t know what you have to offer but still want to help? Great!
Whether you can swing a few hours or a few minutes a week, we want to hear from you. Email us at chicagobirder@gmail.com to get involved.