Still looking for the perfect gift, or are you ready to treat yourself after a long year? Check out the CBA gift guide! We’ve included ideas for last-minute holiday presents that tie back to the Chicago Bird Alliance, from Rosemary Mosco being the keynote speaker at the Urban Birding Festival and Amar Ayyash speaking at the annual member meeting in March, to recognizing local birder and involved CBA member Riley Phoebus Mazok and, most importantly, appreciating the Piping Plovers who made Chicago their home. These gifts are sure to make any Chicago birder merry this holiday season!

Picture a nest of cattails, sedges and weeds, lit by the spring sun, that holds an olive-colored, gray-speckled egg. Every day for 30 days or so, beginning in April and ending in May, the proud parents take turns incubating this egg. Finally it cracks open, revealing a Greater Sandhill Crane chick covered in down feathers…

With the arrival of Snowy Owls at Montrose Beach back towards the end of November, it’s good to remember that these birds can be easily negatively impacted by human interaction, causing stress and disrupting hunting. It’s common birding practice to follow several important steps, including keeping a respectful distance, that’ll protect the Snowy Owls during the winter season and allow other birders to safely observe them as well!

If birds ever observed their human neighbors parading around one October night, looking decidedly unlike themselves, and wanted to celebrate their own version of Halloween, some could hide their identity with little effort. Below are five examples of ways one bird can look like another, given their existing similarities

For the second year in a row, the now 2-year-old Urban Birding Festival was a hit with birders from within and outside the Chicagoland area. It was an incredible opportunity to appreciate urban bird life, make new connections, and spot some lifers!