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Promoting the enjoyment, study, and conservation of Wisconsin's birds.

WSO Youth Grants Lead to Fun and Learning

I’m sure we’re all concerned about the consequences of bird strikes. So was 7-year-old Quinn Steinman of Slinger. She and her mother discovered a woodpecker in their yard that had died after striking a window. Quinn wanted to learn how to keep other birds from flying into a window. With her mom’s help, they contacted avian specialists at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Based on their advice,... Read More   

Rufous Hummers in WI: Vagrants or Migrants?

From Aug. 17-25, 2014, a stunning adult male Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) made its appearance in Mayville, WI. During the fall and winter of 2014, at least five more were observed in the state. Individuals were observed in Black Earth Oct. 25-27, in Waukesha County Oct. 2–Nov. 5, in Manitowoc Nov. 1-27, in Milton on Oct. 17-25, and in Ft. Atkinson Oct. 15-23. Rufous Hummingbirds are... Read More   

Improvements at Honey Creek Preserve

A lot's been happening this past year at WSO's Harold and Carla Kruse Honey Creek Nature Preserve west of Prairie du Sac in the Baraboo Hills. The earliest big change at the preserve's Cox Nature Center was the addition of the set of large new information signs that WSO President Kim Kreitinger designed for the interior walls. To make room for the signs, a number of old items came down during... Read More   

2015 Honey Creek Birdathon Results

To arrive at a 31-year average Birdathon species count of 86 and Bandathon species count of 25, there had to be some years with counts higher than those numbers and some years with counts lower. This year was one of the lower years. While the weather wasn’t terrible, it just wasn’t cooperating on a number of fronts (pardon the pun). The cool temperatures and breezy conditions limited the... Read More   

WSO Oriole Count Generates Interest Among Young Folks

For the first time in 2015, the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology coordinated its own Great Wisconsin Oriole Count, which had been last year in conjunction with the Natural Resources Foundation as part of the Great Wisconsin Birdathon. Our objective was a bit different than the Birdathon: Instead of a fundraiser, our goal was to generate awareness and interest about birds among young people.... Read More   

Great Wisconsin Birdathon: WSO Team Results

On Monday, May 18th, at the stroke of midnight, our WSO team consisting of Daryl Tessen, Jeff Baughman and Tom & Wendy Schultz departed on our Big Day bird count. Our nighttime hours took us to places such as the White River Marsh (Green Lake Co.) and Comstock Bog (Marquette Co.), during which we heard a nice variety of night-calling species, such as Barred, Northern Saw-whet and Long-eared... Read More   

Passenger Pigeon Award Winners for 2015

This May, during the 76th annual Wisconsin Society for Ornithology Convention in Wausau, eight Wisconsin residents will receive WSO awards for their outstanding contributions to the protection and appreciation of our local birds. The awards will be presented at the society’s annual awards ceremony at 7 p.m. Friday, May 22, at the Quality Inn Midway Hotel, headquarters for the convention. The... Read More   

WSO awards seven research grants

The Wisconsin Society for Ornithology has awarded seven $500 grants to support ornithological research in Wisconsin by professionals, students and amateurs. WSO provided awards in two categories: WSO Grants and Steenbock Grants. WSO Grants are intended to supplement work supported by professional institutions, such as universities or museums. In these cases, WSO funds are added to other funding... Read More   

Winter Owls Need Our Respect and Compassion

This year has been another great opportunity to see Snowy Owls, as anyone who is a Facebook user knows. There must be hundreds of photos of Snowies just from Wisconsin, and they are amazing. Manitowoc and southern Brown Counties have been very good, and up to 14 individual owls have been seen in a few hours by birders searching open fields in that area. Collins Marsh State Wildlife Area has been... Read More   

166,00 Records from first Atlas uploaded into eBird

In preparation for the launch of Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II, the atlas team has loaded about 166,000 records from the first Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas into eBird. While a valuable dataset in itself, these records also will provide helpful comparisons during the second atlas effort. Atlas staff and volunteers will quickly be able to see which species were confirmed in an atlas block last... Read More   

Green Birding Challenge winner logs 230 species over 2,269 miles

Back in 2010, Tim Vargo, manager of research and citizen science at Milwaukee’s Urban Ecology Center, issued a challenge to UEC members to see who could find the most species of birds within walking/biking/canoeing/kayaking distance of their home. Tim received an enthusiastic response from Southeastern Wisconsin birders and teamed up with Owen Boyle, species management section chief with the... Read More   
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become a memberWe welcome all birders!

donate todayHelp us promote the enjoyment, study and conservation of Wisconsin's birds!

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