About Birds and Birding
Get into birds! Audubon has a website that will help you get started.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society both have bird species identification sites, with calls, distribution maps, andother facts about our birds.
Chicago Birds
Birds of the Windy City is a great pamphlet about birds, birding, and the birding community in Chicago. You can download it at the bottom of this page.
Going on birding field trips is the best way to learn more. Birders are a welcoming group, and there are lots of them in the Chicago area. Check out this calendar to find local field trips.
Practice, Practice, Practice
In the daytime, there's birding - and in the nighttime, there's online quizzes! Here's a link to a very comprehensive site – it has different level quizzes and links to online practice quizzes, and it covers the birds of our region and not too many others.
Cornell's Celebrate Urban Birds encourages groups to get out and bird urban areas. They distribute a kit which includes posters of the birds we are most likely to see.
There are many excellent field guides in book and e-book or app form. Choose one that you like. To begin, many find it easier to choose one that has the birds of the East only.
There are lots of great books about birds. Humboldt Park birder Sam Burkhardt recommends The Bird: A Natural History of Who Birds Are, Where They Came From, and How They Live Paperback by Colin Tudge
We have a strong local birding community. The Bird Conservation Network has information about local bird clubs (which all have programs and field trips), list serves, forums and more. Reach out.
Bird Note Podcasts
Bird Note is a series of daily two-minute podcasts about birds full of fascinating information.
Related
Water Attracts Birds
Water features such as birdbaths, fountains or small ponds bring migrants down out of the trees so you can enjoy them.
Birding for Beginners
Love birds? Discover birding with this page of resources to get you started.
Ways You Can Help
Join A Chapter
Audubon chapters create a culture of conservation in local communities through education and advocacy, focusing on the conservation of birds and conservation of important habitats.
Donate to Audubon
Help secure the future for birds at risk from climate change, habitat loss and other threats. Your support will power our science, education, advocacy and on-the-ground conservation efforts.