National Audubon Society

National Audubon Society is one of the oldest and most effective bird conservation organizations in the Western Hemisphere. Audubon has more than 650 staff and a score of partner organizations working in 10 countries. Audubon also has an extensive network of community and campus chapters working on behalf of birds and people in their local areas.

The National Audubon Society launched in 1905, on the heels of American conservationism and a growing movement to protect birds. As with many efforts to conserve nature, women led the way: The first Audubon Society was organized by two Boston environmentalists, Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall, in response to the widespread slaughter of waterbirds, the gorgeous feathers of which were used to make women’s hats. The pair’s efforts in Massachusetts soon helped inspire similar organizations across the country.

By the time the National Audubon Society incorporated in New York State, local members had already established key bird conservation efforts across the country, including the Christmas Bird Count, where volunteers take stock of early winter bird populations, and the United States’ first National Wildlife Refuge, Pelican Island in Florida.

In the decades that followed, the organization was on the front lines of the conservation movement, influencing policymakers to pass key legislation. Notable conservation laws in which Audubon helped pass include the Audubon Plumage Law in 1910 that protected wading birds from the depredations of the plume industry, the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act—still one of the strongest bird-protection laws in the world today—that made it illegal to kill any non-game bird in the U.S., the Endangered Species Act in 1973, and the mammoth climate-change-focused Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. Audubon has also recently launched Conserva Aves in multiple countries in Latin America, a partnership that will protect 2 million hectares across nine countries. Meanwhile, Audubon also built nature centers and sanctuaries across the country; and helped to increase populations of many imperiled bird species, including Bald Eagles, Piping Plovers, California Condors, Least Terns, Great Egrets, and many more. Audubon’s work continues today across the hemisphere in the form of scientific research, policymaking, education, community engagement, and the conservation and management of 300 million acres of bird habitat.

Our Work
The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation.

Our Work Across the Hemisphere
A hemispheric approach to bird conservation directs our work to the places where birds need us the most. It recognizes that the majority of bird species in the Americas migrate annually between Canada, the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Audubon’s programs will be like the birds—unencumbered by political boundaries and seamlessly integrated across the Western Hemisphere.

Habitat Conservation
Habitat loss, exacerbated by climate change, is driving bird declines across the hemisphere. Fueled by the unmatched science of the Migratory Bird Initiative, and in collaboration with local communities and partners, Audubon will ensure the protection and restoration of the places birds need. This includes the migratory pathways of today and the refuges birds will seek out as climate impacts worsen, from vast forest to urban canopies.

Driving Meaningful Change for Climate and Conservation Policy While Inspiring Others to Join Us

We leverage public and corporate policies and funding to achieve gains in habitat and climate, while building a base of supporters inspired to change the world for birds. As a result, we are prepared to inspire, influence, innovate, and achieve unprecedented impact.

We work to bend the bird curve.
For more than a century, the National Audubon Society has preserved bird habitats, conducted scientific research, influenced policymakers to enact commonsense conservation laws, and engaged communities across the hemisphere to protect the natural resources upon which birds—and we—depend. By “bending the bird curve,” we are working to halt, and ultimately reverse, the decline of birds across the Americas.

Our Mission
Audubon protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow.
Across aisles. Across landscapes. Across borders. When it comes to our environment, birds are a uniting force. Birds cross borders, from neighborhoods to states and beyond, migrating tens of thousands of miles across multiple countries from one tip of the planet to the other. And so do we. Audubon’s hemispheric approach recognizes that the majority of bird species in the Americas migrate annually between Canada, the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Audubon’s programs are like the birds—unencumbered by political boundaries and seamlessly integrated across the Western Hemisphere.

Protect Birds Now
We’re in a race against time to give birds a fighting chance in a changing world. Your support will help secure the future for birds at risk from climate change, habitat loss, and other threats.

PRINCIPLED PROTECTION FOR BIRDS AND THEIR HABITATS
For more than 100 years, Audubon has embraced the mission of protecting birds and the places they need. Your gift funds a well-integrated program of science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Your support lets us stand up for birds, defending the clean air, clean water, healthy habitat, and stable climate they—and we all—require.

How will my donation be used?
Your contributions support science, education, advocacy, and on-the-ground action for birds and the places and resources they need—work that inspires and empowers people to protect them.

These priorities encompass the range of places and resources birds need to thrive, including resilient shorelines, clean lakes, bird-safe cities, and healthy habitat strongholds that will sustain birds as the climate changes and their old homes disappear.

You can learn more about the critical programs and efforts that your donation supports by visiting Audubon.org/Conservation. Audubon has received four out of four stars from Charity Navigator.

Birds need our help. Here’s what you can do.
Do you want to take action but aren’t sure exactly how? There are many ways to get involved.

Get Involved: https://www.audubon.org/get-involved

Contact Audubon:

Headquarters
Address:
National Audubon Society
225 Varick St
New York, NY 10014
Phone: 212-979-3196