2023 COS Recap
by Kris Hansen
COS members made the difference in 2023!
From bird research to habitat restoration to education, members of the Chicago Ornithological Society (COS) worked to protect birds and educate future birders in 2023. Here is what you accomplished.
Doubling their impact from 2023, the 31 volunteers with the Chicago Nighthawk Project monitored 118 locations, twice as many as last year, and visited 292 times, triple the prior year. The volunteers found the imperiled birds at 42 of these sites, says team co-leader Edward Warden. The team presented their first-year findings at the biennial Wild Things Conference, hosted by the Friends of Illinois Nature Preserve, in February 2023. COS continues to partner with the Urban Wildlife Institute to conduct in-depth data analysis.
Eighteen volunteers helped band 141 birds from 20 species—Gray Catbirds and Yellow Warblers were the most common—at the COS bird banding station at Big Marsh Park. Now in its fourth year, the Calumet Committee project also recaptured 38 birds, says team leader Stephanie Beilke. The team conducted a bird-banding demonstration for COS members, and Lila Fried presented a poster about the COS banding station at the Wild Things conference.
LaBagh Woods volunteers planted nearly 400 native trees and shrubs in 2023, bringing the total number of new native plants in the forest preserve to 4,650 since the COS initiative began in 2015. The number of participants increased 16%, to 1,281, and they increased the number of hours volunteered by 28%, to 4,269. Thankfully, the vandalism that damaged plantings in prior years ceased, so volunteers were able to finish transplanting shrubs from the fall of 2022 as well as install new plants for 2023. Volunteers also manually watered trees and shrubs to offset the drought in spring 2023.
“LaBagh has the highest number of volunteer hours of any Cook County Forest Preserve,” says Katy Krigbaum. “Many kudos to the leadership team, which operates under the auspices of the North Branch Restoration Project, for all the organization and planning that make the workdays at LaBagh so effective and fun!”
In 2023, COS led 95 public field trips and four private field trips for community groups and schools. In addition to visiting favorite spots like LaBagh Woods and Montrose Point, COS added some new parks, including Riis Park and Garfield Park.
“We organized plenty of trips within Chicago and also ventured out to suburban forest preserves and prairies such as Orland Grassland and Deer Park. We went as far as Iroquois County to look for Whip-poor-wills and Starved Rock in search of Bald Eagles,” says Field Trip Chair Christina Harber. “We also led a birding by canoe trip on the Chicago River and birded from the top of the climbing wall at Steelworker’s Park.”
COS hosted nine virtual and eight in-person programs in 2023, which continue to be free and open to the public, says Program Chair Edward Warden. COS worked with partner organizations to hold events at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Urban Rivers, and the Chicago Park District.
“Birds & Bytes, our virtual program series, continued strong for its fourth year and featured speakers from across the country, including New York City and Hawaii,” he says. “Compelling Voices, our premier partner series with the Notebaert Museum and the Chicago Bird Alliance, also continued for its sixth year.”
The Chicago Birder, COS’ digital quarterly magazine, unveiled a new look to complement the new COS logo. The publication added 10 new writers, while new photographers have enhanced its visual appeal, says Robyn Detterline, communications and technology chair.
“With the help of our new contributors, we've nearly doubled our output on the Chicago Birder blog, making sure our members stay informed with the latest COS news and updates,” she says. “Behind the scenes we continue to work on updating the new COS website, ensuring our members and the public have a streamlined experience when looking for information about COS, its work, its programs, and events.”
Membership Chair Morgan Harpster reports that COS is nearing 700 active members. “Since the introduction of JoinIt, our new membership software, over 85% of new and renewing members have chosen to autorenew their memberships, demonstrating a commitment to COS and a desire to remain long-term members and supporters,” she says.
After four long years, COS held its first fundraiser since the pandemic. Hosted by Metropolitan Brewing on August 26, the event brought in nearly $13,000, all of which will be used for bird conservation.
“This fundraiser was a major success due to a great turnout and a wonderful variety of raffle and silent auction items donated by the Chicagoland birding community,” says Jake Vinsel, fundraising chair. Next year’s event is tentatively scheduled for June of 2024.
Special thanks to everyone who made 2023 a great year for COS! If you are not already a COS member, we hope you will consider becoming one today!