Urban Conservation

Luke Franke / Audubon

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Our Impact

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, Seattle Audubon 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, Seattle Audubon 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. The Seattle Audubon Conservation program 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

Seattle Audubon 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 Seattle Audubon’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.