Celebrate World Migratory Bird Days April 27, 28
Dodge tall buildings and escape from a cat, compete in JeopBirdy and Bird Bingo, look through a spotting scope, learn how to use binoculars and go on a 10-minute bird walk, make a model bird and join the flock; these are just some of the 20-plus fun activities in celebration of birds at World Migratory Bird Days to be held in northeast Illinois and southeast Wisconsin.
The theme for 2019 is "Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution." The Illinois Department of Natural Resources, McHenry County Conservation District, Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge, Lakeland Audubon and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are working together to bring a worldwide celebration of birds to the Illinois-Wisconsin state line region. Participants are invited to complete activities and win prizes: the more activities completed, the more prizes won.
The weekend's schedule is:
• 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 27, at Glacial Park's Lost Valley Visitor Center, at Route 31 and Harts Road, Ringwood. Includes bird banding by USFWS biologists from 8-10:30 a.m. and activities all morning long.
• 8-10:30 a.m. Sunday, April 28, at Turner Tract Hackmatack NWR site, N545-N561 County Highway H, Genoa City, Wisconsin. USFWS Bird banding demonstrations and plenty of bird activities.
• Noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 28, at Volo Bog State Natural Area, 28478 W Brandenburg Road, Ingleside. Activities all afternoon long.
Locally, WMBD is a cooperative effort between the IDNR, MCCD, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Volo Bog, Lakeland Audubon, and McHenry County Audubon, along with approximately 40 volunteers, and nearly a dozen additional partners and sponsors.
On both mornings, USFWS wildlife biologists will be capturing and leg banding birds before releasing them back into the wild. As they weigh and check the health of each bird, participants will get to see these unique creatures up close.
Coordinated throughout the Americas by Environment for the Americas, World Migratory Bird Days aim to bring people together around a common cause: the conservation of birds and their habitats. In a groundbreaking accord between Environment for the Americas, the Convention on Migratory Species, and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, International Migratory Bird Day was combined with World Migratory Bird Day into a unified, global effort to be called World Migratory Bird Day.
Environment for the Americas will maintain its focus on the Western Hemisphere, working to engage communities at schools, parks, natural areas, museums, and other venues from Argentina to Canada and the Caribbean and to highlight the easy, everyday actions that people can take to help migratory birds.
"Birds do not recognize political boundaries, so their conservation depends on our joint efforts at the many habitats they need for nesting, migratory stopovers, and wintering grounds," said Susan Bonfield, executive director of Environment for the Americas. "This partnership represents our desire to work together for the benefit of migratory birds around the globe."