Introducing: Windy City Bird Lab

A message from J'orge Garcia

As taxonomic creatures who love to categorize everything, the beauty of life is in seeing how much variety there is around us. The Lion King theme reminds us, "There's more to see than can ever be seen."

Before discovering birds at 31, I worked at the Chicago Public Library for several years, specializing in digital literacy, computer engineering, and digital fabrication. During that time, I helped hundreds of people leverage technology—developing maker spaces in libraries and museums, and supporting researchers in fields like facial reconstructive surgery, andragogy, and environmental science. Spending every day immersed within the library’s walls, I naturally became fascinated by how we organize and explore the world."

Then, in May 2020, I updated my camera for a gig over Zoom but accidentally purchased a lens with the wrong mount. After picking up an adapter to make it work, I found myself with a telephoto lens—and no clear idea of what to photograph. That’s when I decided to focus on birds. And that’s when I began to wonder: How can we leverage technology for birds?

Stewards of Nature and Technology

At the library, posterity was a guiding principle. Work holds the greatest value when others can build upon it—allowing us to remember the past, learn from it, and correct our mistakes. In this way, I found conservation and birding remarkably similar to library science: both are dedicated to documenting and understanding the world, with a taxonomical structure that seems infinite and so many questions yet to be explored.

By facilitating programs, we can help others discover the beauty of birds and the natural world—while building community and creating new ambassadors who carry these experiences forward. The Windy City Bird Lab combines these principles of posterity and community engagement, setting itself apart from traditional bird organizations by focusing on how Maker Education and technology can be harnessed to advance bird conservation.

Projects at the Windy City Bird Lab

Here’s a snapshot of the projects that make up our current and past work:

Chicago Bird Migration Monitoring Network

Our principal project is a network of Nocturnal Flight Call (NFC) recorders distributed across the Chicagoland region. It began in the spring of 2023 with foundational support from Cornell and Openlands, where early collaborations helped lay the groundwork for its development, including an initial deployment of eight NFC recorders at sites such as the Adler Planetarium, Loyola University, and in Peotone, IL. That fall, with support from Duke University, we upgraded our units and expanded the network to include Big Marsh, Northwestern University, and the top of the Willis "Sears" Tower.

With the University of Illinois, the network grew to 35 stations by the Fall of 2024 Now, we’re excited to collaborate with our fiscal sponsor, Illinois Audubon Society, to expand this network further, achieving a finer resolution of migratory bird movement within Chicago’s neighborhoods and improving our understanding of bird migration patterns in dense urban areas. With additional funding, we aim to extend this initiative beyond the city, across Illinois, and the Chicago Wilderness Area.

Our immediate goals include raising funds to upgrade our existing units on the Willis Tower, and in North Park Village and Peotone, as well as adding five new sites within Chicago city limits equipped with live-streaming data capabilities. These upgrades will enhance our data monitoring and sharing—while providing blueprints for future expansions to more skyscrapers and areas beyond the city.

Grosbeak Nocturnal Flight Call Monitor

A key driver of the network's success has been the development of the Grosbeak Nocturnal Flight Call Monitor. Initially, we faced three major challenges with the first units we deployed. First, the units were essentially a heap of parts, which caused hesitation among building managers when approving installations at their sites. Second, the buckets housing the microphones weren’t durable enough to withstand Chicago’s tough environmental conditions. Lastly, we lacked a reliable way to detect when units were failing, which led to gaps in data collection. These issues drove us to innovate and create a specialized, durable, and dependable unit for deployment.

We want to continue developing the Grosbeak to make nocturnal flight call research more accessible. By refining the design, lowering costs, and open-sourcing it, we aim to ensure that communities and researchers can easily deploy these units for their regions. This effort will help expand the network, gather more comprehensive data, and bring more people into the vital work of bird conservation and illuminating the mysteries of nocturnal migration.

The Grosbeak has already evolved from simple passive amplifiers to internet-enabled recorders. Next, we plan to enhance its acoustic performance further and integrate solar power and cellular capabilities, enabling more robust, self-sustaining operation across diverse environments.

Birds of the Windy City

If you’ve ever used tools like eBird to explore bird sightings, you know how powerful they can be for connecting with nature. But for those completely new to birds, platforms like these can feel overwhelming or inaccessible. That’s where Birds of the Windy City comes in—a dashboard in development for Chicago birding.

Birding is often called the real-life version of Pokémon, and we’re embracing that analogy by creating a tool that feels like a Pokedex for Chicago’s birds. Imagine being able to easily explore which species are nearby, the microhabitats where they can be found, and fun facts about them—all through an accessible, interactive platform. Our prototype, the Birding Viewer, is the first step toward this vision, highlighting the distribution of bird sightings and identifying gaps in birding engagement.

We’re excited to build this dashboard as a community-driven project, inviting input and collaboration from volunteer developers, designers, and bird enthusiasts. Everyone is welcome to join us through community engagement events or our Discord server to help bring this tool to life. By combining technology and bird conservation, we aim to create a platform that not only encourages exploration but also inspires curiosity and connection to the natural world—making birding accessible, fun, and meaningful for everyone in Chicago.

Other projects

Black-crowned Night Heron Decoy

In collaboration with the Chicago Black-crowned Night Heron Project, Lincoln Park Zoo, and the University of Illinois, we designed and developed a new decoy to support conspecific attraction efforts and foster new nesting sites for this state-endangered species.

The Urban Birding Festival

As one of the event organizers, we are thrilled to have designed the logo for this festival celebrating Chicago’s vibrant bird life and its passionate community. This event proudly highlights our city as one of North America’s premier birding destinations during the spectacular fall migration.

Illinois Christmas Bird Count

As the new state editor for the longest-running citizen science project, we will leverage our dedication to bird conservation to support the Christmas Bird Count and advocate for the recruitment of new volunteers to ensure its continued success.

Here’s How You Can Help Right Now!

Bird conservation thrives on community, and we need your help to deliver on that! Whether you’re a seasoned birder, a tech enthusiast, or simply curious, there are many ways to join us in protecting and understanding our region's bird populations.

• Donate: Every donation counts! With your support, we can grow Chicago’s Bird Migration Monitoring Network, advance conservation technology, and make bird science more accessible to all.
  • Here is what your tax-deductible donation can directly fund:
    • $30 – A spool of filament for 3D printing hardware
    • $50 – A community bird outing
    • $250 – The development of bird education materials
    • $500 – A month at our incubator, mHub, where we develop conservation tools
    • $1,000 – $1,500 – A brand-new Chicago Bird Migration Monitoring Network station

Not able to give right now? You can still make an impact!

• Volunteer: Lend your skills to projects like the Chicago Birding Dashboard, build a BCNH Decoy with us, host a Nocturnal Flight Call monitoring station to gather migratory data, or go birding and submit to eBird—especially at your local patch.
• Connect with Us: Join our Discord, follow us on Instagram and now on Bluesky too, or read our newsletter to stay informed about our developments, events, and more opportunities to get involved.
• Spread the Word: Forward this email to a friend who might be interested.

By working together, we can better understand and protect Chicago’s incredible birdlife, ensuring these species continue to thrive in our urban landscapes. Your support makes it possible—thank you for being part of this journey!

- J'orge 🐦 & the Windy City Bird Lab

Donations are processed through Illinois Audubon Society, our fiscal sponsor, and are fully tax-deductible. Even $10 helps keep our network running—give today!