National Audubon Society

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National Audubon Society

The National Audubon Society (NAS) is one of the largest and oldest conservation organizations in the world. Founded in New York City in February 1886, its original purpose was to protect American birds from destruction for the millinery trade. Many species of birds were being killed and sold as adornments to women's hat and bonnets, as well as other clothing. The first preservation battle taken on by the NAS was the snowy egret—a white, wading marshland bird—whose long plumes were in high demand. The group was instrumental in securing passage of the New York Bird Law in 1886, an act for the preservation of the state's avifauna.

The NAS was named after John James Audubon, the nineteenth-century artist and naturalist. Audubon was not a conservationist; he often killed dozens of birds to get a single individual that was right for his paintings. But he had published his life-sized renderings of all the birds in North America in 1850, and his name was the one most closely associated with birds when the society was founded.

The protection of wildlife and habitats continues to be the primary focus of the NAS. Since their founding, much of their conservation work has been accomplished through education. Their Audubon magazine is perhaps their most important educational tool. They also publish American Birds, which records many of the field observations reported to the society from around the country.

One of the most important observations published in American Birds is the data recorded on Christmas Bird Counts, an annual winter bird census maintained by NAS since 1900. During a three-week period from December to early January, teams of observers count and record every different species of bird observed within a 24-hour period in a designated circle, 15 mi (24 km) in diameter. The count circles remain constant from year to year which allows for comparison of data collected. The first circle was Central Park in New York City; the number of circles have grown from one to over 1,600 in recent years. Thousands of people participate in this annual event.

Additional educational and conservation programs have proven successful for NAS over the years, including a nature club for children and a series of ecology camps for the field study of different ecosystems in North America. The society has also produced nature films and nationally televised programs on environmental issues facing the world today. NAS also addresses these issues through lobbying on a national level in Washington, D.C., and on regional and local levels by members of the several hundred local Audubon Societies, clubs, and state coalitions nationwide. With over half a million environmentally-conscious members, the National Audubon Society continues to make a difference in the battle to conserve the natural world and the wildlife in it.

[Eugene C. Beckham ]