King Rails at the Tipping Point in Northern Virginia
Populations are declining primarily due to habitat loss. What can we do?
Photo: King Rail, Joshua Galicki/Audubon Photography Awards
NVBA Initiates a Bird Safe NOVA Campaign
Help us protect our migrating birds from light pollution and window collisions
Photo: Purple Martins, Keith Kingdon/Audubon Photography Awards
The Report from Hog Island Educator's Camp 2024
Our scholarship winner writes about her experience in Maine
Photo: Muscongus Bay, Jeanne Lukas-Ross
To Spray or Not to Spray?
Our verdict: broadcast spraying for mosquitoes is not consistent with creating a functioning wildlife sanctuary in one’s yard. Here's why.
Photo: Carolina Chickadee, Randy Streufert/Audubon Photography Awards
Local Volunteers Boost Bluebirds, Monitor Nestboxes
Some northern Virginians are part of the comeback story for these beautiful birds.
Photo: Eastern Bluebirds, Michael Thomas/Audubon Photography Awards
Conserving and Enjoying Nature
Northern Virginia Bird Alliance is a chapter of the National Audubon Society.
Our mission is to engage all Northern Virginia communities in enjoying, conserving, and restoring nature for the benefit of birds, other wildlife, and people. We advance our mission through educational programs, citizen science, conservation initiatives, and advocacy initiatives. We envision a world where people, wildlife, and their habitats thrive.
News
The latest stories from NVBA. Looking for a particular topic? Try searching our site. We have hundreds of articles full of great information about everything from birds to advocacy to native plants.
Monday Nature Mystery continues! Read on to learn who correctly identified our last mystery.
Each summer, NVBA offers a full scholarship and transportation to “Sharing Nature: An Educator’s Week” at National Audubon Society’s Hog Island Camp in Maine. Here is what our 2024 scholarship winner shared with us.
King Rail populations have declined over the last ten years primarily due to habitat loss. King Rails are among northern Virginia birds that BirdLife International’s State of the Birds 2022 identified as at a tipping point for extinction, having lost half of their population in the last 50 years, and on a trajectory to lose another 50% in the next 50 years if nothing changes.
Billions of birds die each year from human-made causes. NVBA, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Nature Forward, DarkSky NOVA, DarkSky Virginia, Friends of Dyke Marsh, and Friends of Little Hunting Creek have formed a partnership, Bird Safe NOVA, in an effort to reduce the devastating toll on birds from excess light and window collisions.
We all know the climate is getting hotter. The week of July 22 included the world’s two hottest days in recorded history. We can only anticipate more heat and more drought in the future. How can you help your garden thrive?
As part of our ongoing commitment to inclusivity and making birding accessible to everyone, the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance is excited to celebrate Birdability Week!
The news reports are filled with coverage about the major party conventions for the upcoming Presidential race. It’s important, but don’t let it distract you from keeping track of what’s going on in Virginia.
Judy Gallagher is an ASNV board member and a regular surveyor of local wildlife who also captures photos of what she sees, in particular the less common species.
Recently, we were confronted by the question of whether a yard where the homeowner has taken many steps to improve habitat can be certified as a Wildlife Sanctuary when the homeowner also employs a regular mosquito spraying service. We reviewed the evidence and decided that the answer is no: broadcast spraying for mosquitoes is not consistent with creating a functioning wildlife sanctuary in one’s yard.
The Northern Virginia Bird Alliance (NVBA, formerly Audubon Society of Northern Virginia) has been associated with Occoquan Bay for over 30 years, conducting regular bird, insect, and plant surveys on the Refuge grounds and providing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) staff with valuable data for making decisions about Refuge management.
Find more stories on our News page.
Upcoming Classes and Events
We have resumed some in-person bird walks and are holding our classes and events both in person and online. You can also watch recordings of past virtual events on our Online Programs page.