Luke Franke / Audubon
Our Impact
Birds Connect Seattle’s Urban Conservation Program envisions Seattle as a place where both people and birds thrive. We achieve this by protecting and enhancing urban habitat, reducing the impacts of the built environment on birds and wildlife, and engaging people in projects that benefit birds, nature, and the neighborhoods we live in.
Bird-safe Cities
In July 2020, Birds Connect Seattle launched a new strategic plan called Cities at the Center. For at least the next three years, we’ll be focusing internal resources to drive Seattle-area cities to adopt strategies that reduce urban hazards to birds, prioritizing bird-safe building practices and reducing anti-coagulant rodenticide use.
Capitol Hill Connections
Capitol Hill Connections is a collaborative effort by Seattle’s Urban Bird Treaty City partners to restrict pesticide use at Cal Anderson Park, engage the Capitol Hill community in park stewadship events, and develop a vegetation plan for habitat enhancements along 11th Ave E. The planned enhancements would help connect habitat patches from Seattle University up to Volunteer Park through the most densely populated urban village in the Pacific Northwest.
Urban Bird Treaty City
UBTC Partners
In May 2017, Birds Connect Seattle with partner organizations led Seattle in becoming a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Urban Bird Treaty City. By signing the Urban Bird Treaty, the city recognizes the importance of protecting urban bird habitat, reducing hazards to migrating birds and connecting people to nature. Birds Connect Seattle leads the coalition of partners committed to protect migrating birds in the Pacific Flyway.
The Urban Bird Treaty Signing was featured on a variety of media outlets:
“Urban Bird Treaty City celebration at Lincoln Park,” West Seattle Blog, 5 May 2017
“The Jet City agrees to better share the skies with birds,” Paige Browning, KUOW, 5 May 2017
“City of Seattle, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to sign Urban Bird Treaty,” USFWS, 4 May 2017
“Guest Editorial: Neighborhood Flyways Campaign reminds us that nature is never far away,” Seth Shteir, 2 May 2017
Youth Programs
Birds Connect Seattle offers a variety of activities for our youngest bird advocates, all year round.
Neighborhood Bird Project
Volunteers conduct bird surveys at multiple points along a loop once a month in Seattle city parks. These data serve to assist Birds Connect Seattle’s advocacy efforts in land-use decisions.
DBird.org
dBird is an online tool that helps us track human-related causes of bird mortality and injury. Learn more about using dBird to report dead or injured birds.
Join the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project for Fall 2023
Volunteers are needed for the fall 2023 season of the Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project. Joining has never been easier; you can even participate from home! With your help, we can understand and prevent bird-window collisions, one of the worst causes of human-related bird death in Seattle.
Honor Snoqualmie Request
No longer a barrier, our new name represents an open door for new communities to join us in our mission to advocate and organize for cities where people and birds thrive.
Hummingbirds and Window Collisions
Read about hummingbirds and their vulnerability to window collisions. Learn ways to help prevent and further our understanding of hummingbirds vulnerability to window strikes.