McLean County Times

At the October 6 Town Council meeting, the Audubon Council of Illinois awarded the Town of Normal the Bird City Illinois designation. This recognition highlights the town’s ongoing efforts to support nature and bird habitats.

“We are excited the Town has been officially recognized as a Bird City,” said Town of Normal Mayor Chris Koos. “The Town's founder, Jesse Fell, was a great believer in beautiful green spaces and planted thousands of street trees in his lifetime, some of which still stand today. The Town is committed to environmental sustainability. Part of that means ensuring native habitats and environments exist in our community for pollinators and birds.”

Normal becomes the 11th city in Illinois to receive this designation, and it is the first downstate city to be recognized. Other cities with this recognition include Evanston, Freeport, Galena, Grayslake, Homewood, Lake Bluff, Libertyville, Rockford, St. Charles, and Waukegan. The Bird City Illinois program is managed by the Audubon Council of Illinois under the National Audubon Society.

The town’s accomplishments that contributed to this designation include participation in the Mayor’s Monarch Challenge since 2021, creating a bird-friendly water feature near Connie Link Amphitheatre with native plantings and accessible paths, maintaining Tree City USA certification since 1999, restoring creek banks with native vegetation and prescribed burns, partnering with Grand Prairie Bird Alliance for bird walks at local parks, sharing bird-related information with the public and employees, providing accessible birdwatching locations such as Hidden Creek and the new water feature, conducting energy audits on municipal buildings for efficiency improvements, purchasing renewable energy for some operations, supporting green transportation through bike-friendly initiatives and trails since 2014, and constructing two LEED-certified municipal buildings.

This designation supports four out of seven goals outlined in Normal’s Vision 2050/Sustainability Plan. It also aligns with broader sustainability objectives in the Comprehensive Plan, promotes alternative transportation per the Master Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, supports conservation efforts from the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, and continues engagement with Tree City USA standards.

Bird City Illinois operates within a larger network coordinated by American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and Environment for the Americas (EFTA), with support from US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS). This network connects communities across North America working to make their environments healthier for both birds and people.