Forest Preserves of Cook County 2022 Spring Brochure

Preserving Nature, Protecting Birds Weaving throughout Chicagoland are interstate highways, shipping canals, flight paths, and even bike trails, all serving as integral routes for transportation. But just as people rely on local transportation options, native and migrating birds also depend on a local thoroughfare: the Mississippi Flyway. During this biannual voyage, nearly 300 species of birds rely on the healthy habitats found in the Forest Preserves of Cook County to provide them with needed food and shelter. But we need your support to continue these efforts, and expand them outside the Forest Preserves to backyards, school playgrounds and workplace gardens. From helping restore our local natural lands to making your windows bird safe, there is plenty you can do to help our avian friends! Image: Great Egret Touching Down , Alan Kwak, April 2020 Each year, hundreds of different bird species travel along the Mississippi Flyway—a route connecting Canada and the United States to locations in Mexico, Central and South America—for spring and fall migration. How Can You Help Birds? 26