Seattle Audubon Society, since renamed Birds Connect Seattle, is a nonprofit

environmental organization An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environmen ...

that advocates and organizes for cities where people and birds thrive. It is a chapter organization of the National Audubon Society, and is one of the oldest natural history organizations in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

. Seattle Audubon is involved in protecting and enhancing urban

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

, reducing urban hazards to birds, and engaging community in conservation and science initiatives directly in their neighborhoods. Its main office is in

Wedgwood, Seattle, Washington Wedgwood is a middle class residential neighborhood of northeast Seattle, Washington with a modest commercial strip. Wedgwood is located about north, and slightly east, of the University of Washington; it is about northeast of Downtown. The nei ...

. It serves a chapter area in a large part of

King County, Washington King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the ...

. Seattle Audubon collaborates with the

Seattle Parks and Recreation Seattle Parks and Recreation (officially the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR)) is the government department responsible for maintaining the parks, open spaces, and community centers of the city of Seattle, Washington. The department mainta ...

Department, the Capitol Hill EcoDistrict, Seattle University, University of Washington, and many other local environmental, community, and government partners. In July 2022, the organization became the first large chapter in the National Audubon Society network to publicly declare its intention to remove "Audubon" from the organization's name. In March 2023, the organization announced that its new name is Birds Connect Seattle.

History

Seattle Audubon was founded in 1916. In 2002 Seattle Audubon launched BirdWeb, an online guide including species of special concern, rarities, and a searchable database of birds. In 2005, BirdNote, a two-minute radio show about birds and nature, created under the auspices of Seattle Audubon, began airing on KPLU, a local

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

affiliate. In 2020, Seattle Audubon partnered with New York City Audubon to expand dBird.org, an online platform for reporting bird mortality and injury. Scientists and conservationists across North America use dBird.org to track and prevent human-related bird mortality.

Programs

Community science

Seattle Audubon leads several community science projects, including the Neighborhood Bird Project, Puget Sound Seabird Survey, Climate Watch, and the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project.

Education

Seattle Audubon offers classes and field trips about bird identification, ecology, conservation, and more.

Urban conservation

Seattle Audubon works to conserve birds in an urban environment.

Urban forestry

Seattle Audubon has been involved in tree protection in Seattle since its founding when early members advocated for action against illegal tree removal in Seward Park. More recently, its staff have twice served on Seattle's Urban Forestry Commission. The organization advocates for stronger tree protection regulations, improved urban forest management structures, and increased investment in urban forest enhancement.

Urban hazards

In 2020, Seattle Audubon launched a strategic plan, "Cities at the Center," that put an emphasis on understanding and reducing the impacts of urban hazards on birds. Conservation priorities include understanding and preventing bird-window collisions and reducing pesticide use.

References

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External links

Seattle Audubon Society

Northwest Shade Coffee Campaign

Forest Friendly Lumber

BirdWeb

dBird.org
Environmental organizations based in Washington (state)

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

National Audubon Society Organizations based in Seattle Education in Seattle 1916 establishments in Washington (state) Organizations established in 1916