Homewood Earns Bird City Illinois Recognition
Congratulations to the Village of Homewood on achieving Bird City Illinois certification! Thorn Creek Audubon collaborated with the Village's Tree Committee and other community organizations to earn this recognition. Audubon Council of Illinois President Jennifer Kuroda presented the certification to Homewood's Mayor and Board of Trustees at their June 11 Board meeting.
The goal of the Bird City Program is to encourage all communities to implement sound bird-conservation practices by offering public recognition to those that succeed in enhancing the environment for birds and educating the public about the relationship between birds and people and how that contributes to a healthy community.
The Bird City program, inspired by the Arbor Foundation's Tree City USA Program, was started in 2009 by conservation and birding groups in Wisconsin. Since then, it has expanded to other states. The Audubon Council of Illinois launched its state-wide program in 2022.
A Bird City Network website that recognizes municipalities across the western hemisphere was launched in 2023. This website is sponsored by the American Bird Conservancy and Environment for the Americas along with major support from the US Fish & Wildlife Service. (Learn more at > Bird City Network)
How Communities Earn Certification: Each program has a menu of "action item" options. The choices focus on improving habitat, addressing threats to birds, engaging adults and students, and promoting sustainability. A municipality needs to meet a minimum number of criteria and describe & document how it meets criteria in an online application. A required action is to have an annual World Migratory Bird Day event. Homewood met 24 action items.
To learn what actions earned Homewood this honor, go to > Bird City Illinois Homewood
Kudos to the Village of Homewood and all of the local organizations whose programs and actions demonstrate Homewood's commitment to a green future and provide an environment where birds can thrive.
Interested in Encouraging Your Community to Earn Bird City Status?
If you want to learn more about how a municipality can earn this recognition, go to > Bird City Illinois and select Apply/Renew from the menu. Then, consider suggesting to your hometown that pursuing Bird City status would be a beneficial way to enhance conservation and bird protection throughout the community.
A similar program is available in Indiana. Go to > Bird Town Indiana and select Apply/Renew from the menu.
June 17, 2024