Wilson’s Warbler | Mick Thompson, Eastside Audubon Society
A week to celebrate and protect birds
Birds provide city people with daily opportunities to watch and experience wildlife. These experiences improve our physical and mental health by helping us connect with nature.
We believe that’s worth celebrating and protecting. So does the City of Seattle, which has proclaimed October 2–8, 2022 “BIRD-SAFE SEATTLE WEEK”. Click here to read the proclamation.
Click the link after a particular day to discover activities that highlight the importance of birds and the threats they face in our cities:
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- Day 1, October 2: Birds and nature for all
- Day 2, October 3: Trees and urban forests
- Day 3, October 4: Bird-window collisions
- Day 4, October 5: Light pollution and birds
- Day 5, October 6: Pets, pests, and wild birds
- Day 6, October 7: Climate change and birds
- Day 7, October 8: Enjoying birds in your own way
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Click here to jump to calendar of all events.
We’ll be adding more events throughout September. Check back often to see what’s new!
Follow #BirdSafeSeattleWeek on social media
Watching birds on the Duwamish at dusk | Wendy Walker
Daily themes and events
Sunday, October 2, 2022
Birds and nature for all
We’re lucky to share our parks and neighborhoods with more than 170 bird species. Birds bring the beauty and joy of nature close to our homes and provide other benefits, too.
- Stay in one spot and let the birds come to you at a bird sit at Magnuson Park. Drop in for 10 minutes or stay for an hour. No registration needed. Click here for time and location details.
- Click here to explore Washington’s birds on BirdWeb.org.
- Visit our Nature Shop for a wide selection of books, optics, and to learn more about our programs in action.
Monday, October 3, 2022
Growing our urban forest and our city at the same time
Trees provide habitat to more than 100 bird species in Seattle. They also provide people with food, shade, cleaner air and water, and a long list of other benefits, too.
- Take a tour of Georgetown’s notable street trees with Taha Ebrahimi, local author and illustrator of the upcoming book, Street-Trees of Seattle. Click here to sign up.
- Click here to email your city councilmembers to protect the urban forest.
- Get your hands in the dirt at The Heron’s Nest Outdoors by volunteering at a Land Stewardship Day. No sign-up needed. Click here for details.
- Click here to watch “Trees AND: What you can do to grow our urban forest and our city at the same time.”
Tuesday, October 4, 2022
Understanding and preventing bird-window collisions
Have you ever seen or heard a bird fly right into a window? It happens all the time and takes a surprisingly heavy toll on birds. Why does it happen? And is there anything we can do to prevent it?
- Click here to register for an online presentation to help you understand and prevent window collisions.
- Click here for resources to read or download about preventing bird-window collisions.
- Has a bird ever hit your window? Click here to tell us your collision story.
- Click here to learn how to report dead or injured birds on dBird.org.
- Click here to learn about our local window collision research and how you can get involved.
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
Turn lights out to save birds, save energy, and see stars
Light pollution can attract, confuse, and disorient night migrating birds, increasing their risk of window collisions and exposing them to other dangers.
- Sign up for an online class, Lights and Wildlife, with local naturalist Brendan McGarry. Class will be held on Tues, Oct. 11. Click here to register.
- Go on a twilight owl prowl at Discovery Park. Click here for details.
- See live birds of prey with John the Falconer at a family-friendly event at Seward Park. Click here for event details.
- Learn about night migrating birds and light at night with Cornell scientist Andrew Farnsworth. Click here to watch the video.
- Take the Lights Out Pledge. Click here to reduce your impact this migration season.
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Controlling pets and pests to help wild birds
The way we manage other animals, including the ones we love, like cats, and the ones we don’t love so much, like rats, matters to our wild birds.
- Click here to take a free online class, “Indoor Cats Are Happy Cats: Understanding Cat Behavior” from 12–1 p.m., with animal behaviorist Penny Bolton.
- Click here to learn how rat poison and other pesticides harm birds.
Friday, October 7, 2022
Climate change impacts birds
The National Audubon Society found that 108 bird species in King County are vulnerable to the growing threat of climate change and may not survive.
- Explore how climate change may impact King County’s birds. Click here to visit the National Audubon Society’s Birds and Climate Visualizer.
- Volunteer to use your birding skills to advance our understanding of climate change’s impact on birds. Click here to learn about Climate Watch.
Saturday, October 8, 2022
There are infinite ways to experience birds and nature respectfully
There’s no “right way” to enjoy birds and nature. There are as many ways to enjoy nature as there are people.
- Stay in one spot and let the birds come to you at a bird sit! Click here for details for Roxhill Park.
- Join a Neighborhood Bird Outing. No sign-up needed. Click here for details for the outing at Carkeek Park, here for Union Bay Natural Area, and here for a Neighborhood Bird Outing geared toward young adults (>40) at Volunteer Park.
- Click here to learn how Seattle Audubon uses community science to improve our understanding of local birds and conservation.
- Join bird observers from around the world by submitting an eBird checklist for October Big Day.