Conservationists are in a race against the clock to save a five-acre patch of rare Illinois prairie from being bulldozed as part of a 280-acre expansion of the Chicago Rockford International Airport's cargo operation.
0:49
Audubon Mural Project Rockford is hosting a free Zoom event on Tuesday night with the goal of bringing more bird murals to Rockford.
Baltimore Oriole bird mural by Brett Whitacre located at 203 N. Church St. in Rockford.
Credit Jennifer Kuroda
If you ve been in downtown Rockford the last three years, chances are you’ve seen at least one of the four colorful bird murals. Jennifer Kuroda is the president of the Sinnissippi Audubon Society and she spearheads this public art project. She says the murals feature birds named in a study of birds and climate change by the National Audubon Society.
0:44
Every winter for the past 121 years, people across the country have fanned out to list the birds they see. This is the national Audubon Christmas Bird Count and it runs every year from Dec. 14-Jan. 05. There were fewer count circles this year because of the pandemic, but that didn t stop Sinnissippi Audubon Society President Jennifer Kuroda and her daughter Jackie Kuroda from participating.
The Kurodas were assigned the Sandy Hollow Golf Course in Rockford. From dawn till dusk, the mother and daughter counted 232 birds, with 19 species represented. It was mostly your typical backyard birds, Kuroda said. People that have bird feeders out are attracting chickadees and juncos, plus cardinals. Those are the common birds you ll see during bird counts when you re doing residential areas.