Bird Alliance of Oregon

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Bird Alliance of Oregon

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The leading bird conservation organization in Oregon.

10/30/2026

Whether you’re hoping to build your birding skills, find creative inspiration, or simply spend more time appreciating the natural world, there’s a place for you here. Come curious, bring your love of nature, and sign-up for our November classes and outings!

Join us outdoors for beginner birding, peaceful forest therapy, seasonal field trips to discover birds, berries, and fall foliage, and immersive walks through native plant habitats. You can also slow down and tune in to nature with a relaxing sound bath focused on deep listening.

Want to put a bird on it? Explore your artistic side with in-person watercolor painting, bird journaling, and an online class creating snow bunting holiday cards. Want to learn from home? Our online classes dive into the fascinating worlds of seals and sea lions, Oregon’s incredible natural history, waterfowl, and the wildlife we share our neighborhoods with.

👉Explore our November classes and outings, and find your next nature adventure by visiting bit.ly/BAO-Classes!

10/29/2026

It’s hard not to love Sandhill Cranes. They’re the tallest birds in Oregon, with an elegant, gangly grace that turns delightfully goofy when you see them hopping, bowing, and flapping their wings in exuberant courtship dances each spring.

Some Sandhill Cranes begin breeding as early as age two, while others wait until they’re seven or older which is probably wise considering they typically mate for life, and a partnership can last 20+ years! And pairs stay together year-round, not just during breeding season.

In Oregon, we typically start seeing cranes arrive in November, with favorite viewing spots including Sauvie Island and Ridgefield. They travel in large flocks and you'll hear their loud, bugling calls long before you spot them.

📷:
1. Eric Ellingson
2 & 3. Scott Carpenter

10/28/2026

Imagine nesting on the peaks of the highest mountains in North America - we're talking the Brooks Range, the Rockies, the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada, and the slopes of Denali - enduring fierce winds, snowstorms, and freezing temperatures. For the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, this is home for a large chunk of the year. As such, despite their delicate appearance, they are some of North America’s hardiest songbirds!

In winter, they move to lower elevations, sometimes appearing at feeders alongside other rosy-finch species. They eat black oil sunflower seed scattered on the ground or on platform feeders.

📷:
1. Lorie Shaull
2. John Breitsch
3. John Matthews

10/27/2026

Beautiful. Loud. Charismatic. Troublesome. People have lots of opinions about crows, but one thing is certain: No bird is as well known or often noticed in Portland as the American Crow.🐦‍⬛

Join Brodie Cass Talbott at this special Nature Night on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. to learn what makes this familiar bird so unique, from its exceptional intelligence to its incredible winter congregations in downtown Portland, and discover how we can be good neighbors to the ultimate urban animal. Here's just a sampling of what we'll cover:

-What’s with crows dunking their food in bird baths before eating it?
-What’s behind those enormous flocks of crows commuting across the sky at sunrise and sunset?
-If I start leaving snacks out for crows, might they repay me with a few treasures?
-Why do crows seem determined to rip up the grass in our yards?
-What makes crows such clever birds, and how do they put all that brainpower to use?

👉Register to reserve your spot at bit.ly/CawCaw!

📷: Tara Lemezis

10/26/2026

The Golden Eagle ranks among North America's largest, fastest, and most agile birds of prey so it’s no surprise that it’s the most common official national animal in the world, serving as an emblem of Albania, Germany, Austria, Mexico, and Kazakhstan.

With a wingspan reaching up to seven feet, keen eyesight, and powerful talons, Golden Eagles are formidable hunters. Their diet consists primarily of mammals such as rabbits, hares, ground squirrels, and prairie dogs. They inhabit a wide range of open landscapes, from grasslands and deserts to rugged mountain terrain.

Some Golden Eagles migrate thousands of miles between northern breeding grounds and wintering areas, while others remain in the same general region year-round.

📷: Ignacio Ferre Pérez

10/23/2026

Give it up for the Western Fence Lizard’s blue belly. If you see this species out in the wild, you’ll likely only see its upper body, which are earthy browns, tans, and greys. But if you’re lucky, you’ll get a flash of that incredible bright blue underside. It’s more vibrant on males and more discreet on females.

This species can live in a variety of habitats including desert canyons, grasslands, and coniferous forests. It just needs rock piles and/or logs. They feel on insects like beetles, mosquitoes, and grasshoppers.

Photo by Scott Carpenter

10/22/2026

We often talk about feathers which come in beautiful colors, but let's talk eyes: red eyes. Oregon is home to a number of red-eyed birds, which range from songbirds to raptors to waterfowl. Here we have pictured the Wood Duck, Spotted Towhee, Black-crowned Night Heron, Cooper's Hawk, Eared Grebe, Red-eyed Vireo, and Western Grebe.

What causes red eyes? It's not one single thing for every species. For some species it's large blood vessels, for others it's pigment compounds. But regardless of the reason, they are striking.

Photo credies: Scott Carpenter Black-crowned Night Heron, Spotted Towhee, Western Grebe, Eared Grebe, Wood Duck, Red-eyed Vireo. Mick Thompson: Cooper's Hawk

10/21/2026

During fall migration it’s easy to think of who has left. We’ll miss the warblers, grosbeaks, orioles, and more. But…we also gain birds in the fall/winter. In October we’ll see these three species arriving in Oregon. Have you spotted any yet? Welcome back to the Golden-crowned Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and Fox Sparrows!

Want to learn more about bird migration? Check out our brand new free Oregon Bird Migration Guide! https://birdallianceoregon.org/go-outside/oregon-bird-migration-guide/

Photos by Scott Carpenter

10/20/2026

The Wild Arts Festival is approaching! Join us as a volunteer at the Wild Arts Festival at the Wingspan Event & Conference Center! We have open shifts on December 4 for setup and for the festival itself on the 5 and 6. A robust flock of volunteers lead nearly every aspect of the festival, including artist assistance, admissions, helping at the book fair and silent auction, as well as setting up and tearing down the festival. Most shifts are less than 4 hours and, while most roles are active, there are a few seated activities. It is a fun volunteer opportunity to do with a friend, colleague(s), partner, or high school aged child.

New volunteers can sign up on the festival website. https://www.wildartsfestival.org/volunteers Returning volunteers can view shifts in Better Impact.

Thank you for volunteering at the Wild Arts Festival! We couldn’t do it without you.

10/19/2026

Many of you will remember the Arctic Fox that was found wandering the streets of Portland in October 2024. While we never learned her true origin story, it was clear from her behavior that this fox had only known a life in captivity, and was likely someone’s illegal pet. She didn’t show an appropriate fear response to people and was actually approaching humans when rescued. We believe she either escaped from, or was dumped by the person who illegally held her.

Our Wildlife Care Center took her in, gave her medical care, and enrichment. As a captive bred animal who couldn’t survive in the wild, our only option was to find a home at a zoo or sanctuary, so we worked hard to help find a facility that could take good care of her. This beautiful animal was transferred to the Ochsner Zoo in Baraboo, WI. We spoke with Katie Gries, the zoo manager and got some updates on Luna. Yes, her name is now Luna. So, here is a snapshot of Luna’s life out in Wisconsin.

➡️ Luna shares an enclosure with a male Arctic Fox named Apollo and two Black Bears, Taglu, an adult, and Aspen, a cub.

➡️ Luna was initially scared of Apollo and Taglu, but now is the instigator, often starting play, like nipping Taglu on the butt to get him to chase her.

➡️ Like we knew she would, Luna loves the snow, including activities like rolling and digging.

➡️ Luna gets behavioral based enrichment, which means that they choose enrichment that brings out her natural behaviors. Things like smelling, digging, chewing, listening, grooming, and more. For smelling, Katie likes to bring over items from the enclosures of other animals, like guinea pig shavings, or a log from the beaver enclosure.

➡️ She’s very sneaky and smart (something we know firsthand!) and definitely keeps the staff on their toes.

➡️ Luna is a fan favorite at the zoo. She likes to sit out in the front of her enclosure, attracting a lot of attention. Luna is fully sponsored which means all her care, enrichment, and food are supported. We love that.

Photo Credits: First two photos were taken at Bird Alliance of Oregon's Wildlife Care Center. The other three are of Luna at Ochsner Zoo

Address

5151 NW Cornell Road
Portland, OR
97210

Website

http://www.birdallianceoregon.org/

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