If you’re just getting into birding and trying to figure out where to go, when to go, what to bring, and how to identify the birds you see, this program will provide both direction and inspiration.  Matt Igleski, Executive Director, Chicago Bird Alliance, will discuss field guides, phone apps, weather patterns, bird identification, birding terminology, and other topics to equip you with a quick start guide to all things birding.

Three years ago, headlines delivered shocking news: nearly three billion birds in North America have vanished over the past fifty years. No species has been spared, from the most delicate jeweled hummingbirds to scrappy black crows, from a rainbow of warblers to common birds such as owls and sparrows. Veteran journalists Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal traveled more than 25,000 miles across the Americas to chronicle costly experiments, contentious politics, and new technologies being implemented to save birds at risk of extinction. Their new book, A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds, offers insight into encouraging breakthroughs that indicate there is still time to change course if we act quickly.