Minnesota River Valley Audubon Chapter (MRVAC)

08/27/2026

Sign Audubon's petition in support of the Roadless Rule continuation. The rule prohibits industrial logging and most roadbuilding within intact areas of our public forests while allowing for active management to mitigate fire risk, ensure community safety, and maintain healthy habitat.

07/17/2026

The national Farm Bill is one of Audubon’s top legislative priorities this year, as it represents the largest investment in voluntary working-lands conservation efforts in the United States.
Click here to sign an Action Alert petition

The Farm Bill represents our country’s single largest investment in conservation on private lands, and can help reverse the alarming decline of grassland and forest birds.

07/17/2026

Grow Bird-Friendly Outdoor Spaces with "Less Lawn, More Life", a free, nationwide, 12-week program that guides you through one simple, expert-led action per week, from planting natives to adding water features to reducing pesticide use. Balcony gardens, small plots, and rural acres all count. No experience needed, and no lawn required! Watch this video to learn more and sign up. https://click.everyaction.com/k/135481979/634353708/196847382?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9UU00vVFNNQVUvMS81NzU0NSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICI0MzM1ZWE4Mi0xNzgyLWYxMTEtYjMzNy0wMDBkM2ExNTU4Y2UiLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImxlZWFsYW5kc3Ryb21AcHJvZGlneS5uZXQiDQp9&hmac=FylbAYaa1lrMwuY6jj8xsQWUrM78UmOZWL-XguBxtJQ=&emci=90964291-fc81-f111-b337-000d3a1558ce&emdi=4335ea82-1782-f111-b337-000d3a1558ce&ceid=1302955

07/13/2026

Here's a link to a booklet on bird-friendly buildings. Spread the word. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CqnmyFTWo/

Most bird-window collisions occur below 100 feet, although any building with glass on the exterior poses a threat to birds. Thankfully there are easy steps everyone can take to make the buildings you live in or manage just a little bit safer for birds.

Here are five easy to adopt practices called out in a new guide from the City of Chicago, the "Make Your Building Bird-Friendly Chicago Toolkit."
1. Apply a pattern to the outside of exterior glass or use window screens.
2. Pull indoor plants away from the window by a few feet.
3. Reduce or eliminate outdoor lighting late at night.
4. Close blinds or curtains at night.
5. Make sure windows near bird baths or feeders are bird-friendly.

The 22-page guide, which details other strategies to take broken out by season and building type, can be downloaded at bit.ly/chibfd.

The Nature Conservancy contributed to the development of the toolkit, which was spearheaded by the City of Chicago Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy, under Alderwoman Maria Hadden's direction. Other contributors included American Bird Conservancy, BOMA Chicago, City of Chicago Department of Planning & Development, Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, Field Museum, Skyline, Studio Gang, Bird Friendly Chicago, and Chicago Alderpersons Daneil La Spata, Ruth Cruz and Brian Hopkins.

📷: Andi Edwards/Getty Images via Canva

06/23/2026

Happy Pollinator Day. Pollinator conservation is a big task; you can help by adopting four simple steps: growing pollinator-friendly flowers, providing nest sites and shelter, avoiding pesticides, and spreading the word.

06/17/2026

Audubon Upper Mississippi River (aka Audubon MN) posted they received these 'Legacy' funds approved by the Legislature:

$840,000 (ENRTF) for Adopt a Flyway: Enhancing Minnesota’s Migratory Pitstops. This project will empower landowners across Minnesota to voluntarily manage their land to improve migratory and breeding habitat quality. Audubon will provide financial assistance to pursue adoption of bird-friendly land management practices on public and private lands while monitoring the impacts of the applied management on certain targeted bird species by using autonomous recording units.

$26,000 (ENRTF) to provide bird-friendly technical assistance to guide the Minnesota Board of Soil & Water Resources' Biodiverse & Resilient Spaces program—an effort to develop a biodiversity and resiliency guide, case study projects, and provide outreach, education, and technical assistance to communities regarding the management of public and private lands.

$1.3 million (OHF) for A River of Birds in the Sky: Conserving Minnesota’s Flyway. This project will expand habitat enhancement and restoration on permanently protected land along the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers as they flow through eastern Minnesota. This region contains unique and critical habitats that are home to over 320 birds and 150+ non-avian Species of Greatest Conservation Need.

06/16/2026

Sign-on opportunity about neonic pesticides. Due to a lawsuit, the MN Dept of Agriculture is forced to accept public comments on whether they are sufficiently enforcing rules on pesticide use, specifically neonics. Here is a link to a group sign-on which will be sent to the MDA.

This is an important opportunity to make comments to the State of Minnesota regarding neonicotinoid pesticides. Pesticide use is the driving force behind pollinator decline. Please add your name to our group comment asking the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to protect our state from neonicotino...

06/12/2026

Here is a story about bird song volume and pitch and how those affects song learning in young birds.

05/28/2026

In case you, or someone you know, finds a baby bird. Here is a handy flow chart of what to do.

05/22/2026

A fun reference chart.