What are we gonna do this weekend? It’s a constant question in our house, and I bet it is in your too. This information just came to be from Brookfield Zoo and it looks like a fun day:
Enjoy the beautiful spring weather and venture out to Brookfield Zoo for the annual International Migratory Bird Day celebration on Saturday, May 12.
Each year during the migratory season, one billion birds die due to collisions with windows. Throughout the day at the zoo’s Living Coast Plaza, guests can participate in interactive and educational activities such as window artwork and live demonstrations to learn how to help prevent birds from striking windows.
From 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., BUILD Chicago’s young artists, who are from the Austin and Humboldt Park neighborhoods, will have artwork of migrating birds placed throughout the zoo leading towards the Living Coast Plaza. BUILD Chicago’s mission is to engage at-risk youth in the schools and on the streets, so they can realize their educational and career potential and contribute to the stability, safety, and wellbeing of their local communities. The colorful bird-themed artwork is designed on saran wrap panels that are then stretched between the trunks of two trees.
Five window panels, each covered differently with store purchased tapes and decals, will be displayed to illustrate the different ways to help prevent birds from striking windows. Guests can join in and learn how to create a window panel that they can then try on their own at home. Joining in the day’s event will be the zoo’s volunteers, who will talk to guests about how to attract birds in their own backyards and distribute commemorative migratory bird magnets.
International Migratory Bird Day was first created in 1993 by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center as an educational campaign focused on the Western Hemisphere. Since 2007, International Migratory Bird Day has been overseen by Environment for the Americas (EFTA), a nonprofit organization that strives to connect people to bird conservation. Each year, EFTA helps coordinate events, programs and activities in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean at protected areas, refuges, parks, museums, schools, zoos and more. As many as 700 events and programs are hosted annually to introduce the public to migratory birds and ways to conserve them.
Admission is $21.95 for adults and $15.95 for children ages 3-11 and seniors 65 and older. Children 2 and under are admitted free. Parking is $14 for cars and $20 for buses. (A Cook County parking tax is included.) For more information about International Migratory Bird Day at Brookfield Zoo, visit CZS.org/Events or call (708) 688-8000
While you’re there, be sure you check out Wild Encounters to get up close to a variety of animals, including birds.
