Birders of the Grove: Our History

April 23, 2026

Birders of the Grove: Our History

Elm Grove Birders

Author: Pat Donohoue

History

Our group was organized during the pandemic, and its goal was to achieve and maintain “High Flyer” status. This was achieved in 2022, building on the recognition of Elm Grove as a “Bird City Wisconsin.” Another focus was participation in citizen science projects, and both goals are still the focus of the group.

The first meeting was December 11, 2021, when 6 members convened. We meet every other third Monday at 9:00 AM in January, March, May, July, September, and November.

Since spring 2025, we have hosted several birding walks for the community at the Village park trail. This year we will have two Waterfowl Walks on March 26 and April 16 at 10:00 AM, meeting at the entrance to the library. We also plan to host a Songbird Stroll again this year, as we did on May 30, 2025.

We aspire to educate our community about important environmental efforts that impact birds and their migration, such as Lights Out and Leave the Leaves. Other efforts include promoting window treatments to help prevent bird strikes and reducing the number of outdoor cats, which are a major threat to birds.

Bird City Wisconsin | Bird City | Lake Michigan Bird Observatory

Bird City Wisconsin is one of 475 Bird City Network Organizations across four countries in the Western Hemisphere: the United States, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil.

The mission of Bird City Wisconsin is: “To encourage all communities in Wisconsin to implement sound bird-conservation practices by offering public recognition to those that succeed in (a) enhancing the environment for birds and (b) educating the public about the interactions between birds and people and about the contributions birds make to a healthy community.”

Bird City Wisconsin is administered by the Lake Michigan Bird Observatory, established in 2010 and a regional leader in avian research and conservation. Communities can achieve Bird City Wisconsin status by fulfilling criteria related to environmental conservation, protection of bird populations both stationary and migratory, educational programs about birds and habitats, and more. “High Flyer” status is awarded when even more criteria are met.

Citizen Science Opportunities

Our members have participated in several citizen science projects that anyone can join, including the following:

Christmas Bird Count is the world’s longest-running community science project, having started in 1900. This event runs from December 14 through January 5 every year and involves the entire Western Hemisphere documenting the numbers and species of birds during the Northern winter and Southern summer. Learn more at Audubon.

Individuals and groups that participate in the Christmas Bird Count must be recognized and certified by the Audubon Society and follow its guidelines regarding acquiring and submitting data. Several Elm Grove Birders joined the Wauwatosa Christmas Bird Count Group on December 20, 2025, where we helped gather data in the Forest Exploration Center.

Elm Grove Birders participating in the 2025 Christmas Bird Count in Tosa: Jennifer Morris, Nicci Sternitzky, and Pat Donohoue
Project FeederWatch (feederwatch.org) is an annual citizen research study sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that gathers data on the numbers of individual birds in each species observed at your home or another community location from November 1 to April 30.

It has a fee of $18 per year, which supports the analysis and interpretation of data. Other data collected include features of the environment such as mammals, number of feeders, predators, plants, and water sources.
Great Backyard Bird Count is a worldwide effort to count and document bird species. The project is a collaboration of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Audubon Society, and Birds Canada, and is sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited.

Participation can be as an individual or in groups. The dates for 2026 were February 13–16. Learn more at birdcount.org. Members of our club and guests met and documented birds spotted along the Village Park trail on the morning of February 15, 2026, and identified and submitted data on 11 different species.

Photo by Jennifer Morris
Great Wisconsin Birdathon is a statewide effort to document bird species in Wisconsin. It is a fundraiser to support bird conservation through the Natural Resources Foundation.

Participating groups or individuals count birds on any day from April 15 through June 15 and request donations from friends and relatives based on the number of species counted. Learn more at wisconservation.org.
World Migratory Bird Day occurs in the U.S. and Canada on the second Saturday in May and will be on May 9, 2026. Learn more at worldmigratorybirdday.org.

It celebrates the hundreds of species that migrate between nesting habitats in North America and nonbreeding habitats in Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Elm Grove has celebrated this event with a village-wide festival for people of all ages in the Village Park.