Programs

Following is a listing of our upcoming bird and wildlife programs. To receive notice of future programs and field trips, please sign up to receive our email newsletter (click link). You can also follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook page.

Many of our programs since 2020 were recorded on YouTube with permission of the presenters. These programs can be selected and viewed here.

Currently, we are transitioning from Zoom back to in-person programs. In-person programs are held at  Heller Nature Center at 2821 Ridge Road in Highland Park, Illinois 60035 (directions) unless otherwise noted. All programs are open and free to the public unless noted. Membership is not required to attend these programs. Donations to support our coffee & snacks are welcome but not required. Good deal, huh? If you like our programming, here are ways to support our organization.

Posterboard
Posterboard
February – May 2023 Feb – May 2023
Feb
21
Tue
Feb 21 @ 7:00 pm
7:00 pm
Tickets
Oaks are a keystone species critical to ecosystem health including bird survival, but the Chicago region’s oak trees have suffered massive declines both in savanna ecosystems and on residential streets. The Oak Ecosystem Recovery Plan[...]
Heller Nature Center
Mar
21
Tue
Mar 21 @ 7:00 pm
7:00 pm
Tickets
The Black Tern is one of the most rapidly declining wetland birds in the Great Lakes region. Breeding populations have likely been completely lost in Indiana and Ohio, and this species is on the brink[...]
Heller Nature Center
Apr
4
Tue
Apr 4 @ 6:30 pm
6:30 pm
Tickets
(Note earlier start time: 6:30 PM) Warblers are the stars of the show in spring with their gaudy colors and unique patterns (just a few of the nearly 30 species that show up in Chicago[...]
Heller Nature Center
Apr
18
Tue
Apr 18 @ 7:00 pm
7:00 pm
Tickets
In 2020 Bill Volkert, a longtime Wisconsin DNR naturalist at Horicon Marsh, published his book Journey of a Thousand Lifers documenting the 55,000-mile, eight-month birding and wildlife journey that he and his wife Connie took through[...]
Heller Nature Center
May
16
Tue
May 16 @ 7:00 pm
7:00 pm
Tickets
Black-crowned Night Herons (BCNH) are endangered in Illinois and six other Great Lakes region states. Yet a breeding colony of these herons has thrived in Chicago’s Lincoln Park since 2007. Since their arrival, they have[...]
Heller Nature Center
February – May 2023 Feb – May 2023