While this is a free event, please support our work if you are able and make a tax-deductible donation at alaudubon.org/annualfund.
The Audubon Bird Mural Project, sponsored in part by the National Audubon Society, is an impressive effort to create murals of over 300 North American birds. Most of the murals are in the Harlem neighborhoods of Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights, where John James Audubon lived the last ten years of his life. All of the birds painted are threatened by climate change. So the project is designed not only to display the birds’ beauty, but also to make us aware of the challenges that they face. The artworks range from lovely panels that fill in a former window to spectacular murals covering the entire side of a building. We will see over 40 murals, plus Audubon’s grave site, in a 50-minute slide presentation with live commentary. There will be time afterwards for Q&A.
About the presenter: Leigh Hallingby is a licensed New York City tour guide who specializes in the Audubon Mural Project. She is passionate about exploring all five NYC boroughs and beyond on foot, mostly through organized walking tours (HarlemWalks.com). Leigh is retired from a 36-year career as a nonprofit librarian. She loves doing research about the neighborhoods in which she gives tours and sharing the information about them with attendees. Leigh is a feminist, collector, genealogist, and lover of arts, culture, and travel. She lives in Manhattan. Find her on Facebook and Instagram at @harlemwalksnyc.
A few months ago I received a request to write about the owls that live in the Magic City. The expert I consulted was Anne Miller, the founder of the Alabama Wildlife Center and recent recipient of the Alabama Audubon Yellowhammer Award.
Anne with her niece Eva Ledvina. Photo by Matt Hunter
Whenever I visit the Alabama Wildlife Center to see the orphaned baby birds or a majestic red-tail hawk, I think of Anne Miller, the Center’s founder and first director.
A family of American robins nesting at a UAB courtyard in January 2020. The latest confirmed nesting of robins in Alabama was September 2nd, before robins were hatched in this courtyard in November and December. Photo courtesy of Greg Harber
