Bird Friendly Sioux City Designation

The Sioux City is now part of the Bird City Network!

In our efforts to become a Bird Friendly City, the Loess Hills Audubon Society partnered with the Northwest Iowa Group of the Sierra Club, the Woodbury County Conservation Board, Loess Hills Wild Ones, the Nature Conservancy in Iowa, the City Parks and Recreation Department and the City of Sioux City Environmental Services Advisory Board.

Our collective fascination with birds starts with an imaginative look to the sky at a young age for most of us. An abundance of wildlife is a sign of a well maintained, environmentally sound, community. Like most aspects of maintaining a community, it takes constant attention and preening. It takes a collective effort by all of us to ensure that the place we call home is welcoming to all, including our feathered friends.

Sioux City Councilman Matthew O’Kane, October 2024

To become a Bird Friendly City, criteria need to be continually developed in three categories: Protect, restore, and enhance bird habitat, reduce threats to birds, and educate and engage people in birding and conservation. Detailed information on the criteria can be found at: https://birdfriendlyiowa.org/.

Bird Friendly Iowa joined forces with the Bird City Network. This Network unites Bird Friendly Programs working locally across the Americas to make communities healthier for birds and people. By improving our urban environment, we are protecting not only birds, but bees, butterflies, other beneficial insects, and wildlife in our urban environment.

“Birds are an extremely important means of connecting communities and citizens with our environment,” said Bruce Ehresman of the Bird Friendly Iowa Steering Committee. “Birds are important indicators of healthy soil, water, air, native vegetation, and other natural resources. Providing quality bird habitat can help reverse the dramatic decline of bird populations, Monarch butterflies, and other critical components of biodiversity, locally or even at statewide and higher levels.” Biodiversity has declined because of the loss of habitat and other outdoor threats such as free-roaming cats, inappropriate use of lights at night during migration, and window strikes.

To maintain this designation, it is necessary to work together as a community to continually recognize and actively reduce and mitigate threats to birds. By continuously working towards this goal, we can strengthen our City’s commitment to bird conservation in our urban environment.

Be an advocate for birds by volunteering and joining the Loess Hills Audubon Society in our campaign. Share your support of these efforts with local government, City council members and City officials.

To become involved or to request more information, please email Marla Kerr.

Informational Links

Bird Friendly Communities
Cats Indoors
Night Sky / Lights Out
Bird Window Collisions: https://www.audubon.org/news/reducing-collisions-glass
Organic Weed Killer Options: https://www.thespruce.com/green-weed-killers-2152938
Pesticides and Health: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/pesticides/index.cfm
Bird Decline and Habitat Loss:
Native Plants for Birds

Loess Hills Audubon Society Partner Links

Woodbury County Conservation Board: https://woodburyparks.org/dorothy-pecaut-nature-center/
The Nature Conservancy in Iowa: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/iowa/
Northwest Iowa Sierra Group: https://www.sierraclub.org/iowa/northwest-iowa/about-us
Wild Ones, Loess Hills, Iowa Chapter: https://loesshills.wildones.org

Bird City Network links

Bird City Communities and Programs: https://birdcity.org/communities-and-programs-map
Bird Friendly Iowa: https://birdcity.org/iowa
Bird Friendly Sioux City: https://birdcity.org/iowa/siouxcity
Scroll down the above page to PRINTABLE BIRD CHECKLIST and click to obtain a .pdf list of Sioux City birds.