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About Us

Mission

Founded in 1940, the Monterey Audubon Society is a volunteer organization dedicated to conserving and celebrating the birds and wildlife of the greater Monterey Bay region. Our chapter includes 1,200 members throughout Monterey and parts of Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties. We engage in an array of educational, community science, and advocacy initiatives geared toward protecting the region's birds and its biological diversity. 

Organizational Materials

Brown Creeper clinging to a tree

A singing Brown Creeper in the Monterey pine forest is a familiar sound in the summer.

What We're All About

A Bird’s Eye View By Amanda Preece, MAS Environmental Advocate (c. Dec 2023 Annual Report) Dear friends, 2023 flew by, and in reflecting back, I see in my jam-packed calendar the multitude of ways our organization is celebrating and conserving birds in the region. We celebrate birds by leading recurring beginner friendly trips, plus classic birding field trips to exciting locations, striving for high counts, rare birds, and a welcoming community. Throughout 2023, we partnered with local organizations like the Big Sur Land Trust, Monterey Peninsula Regional Parks District, and the Bird School Project to celebrate birds through outreach, field trips, and events like California Wildlife Day and the Monterey Bay Festival of Birds. I ran a marathon of Earth Day events in April - three Saturdays in a row! My idea of celebrating is sharing the love, sparking the curiosity, encouraging the wonder. Setting up a spotting scope and having a kid lock eyes with a screeching juvenile Cooper’s Hawk is the best way to celebrate birds - get someone else hooked! To fulfill the second half of our mission, Monterey Audubon conserves birds through direct action. We monitor the seasonal nesting success of the Black Oystercatcher, and speak up on their behalf, using the information we’ve collected to steer policy and land management. We conduct bird banding at Fort Ord National Monument to help contribute to continent-spanning datasets related to songbird populations and gather baseline information on the health of the Toro Creek riparian corridor. We have been financially and logistically supporting the ongoing volunteer-driven restoration work in the Monterey Pine forest of George Washington Park in Pacific Grove, home to at least 124 bird species. Our Conservation Committee keeps an eye on local and county policy issues, submitting comment letters that encourage decision makers to make choices that are good for their human and non-human constituents. These choices often overlap. But the work is never over, and as our world gets hotter and weather gets more extreme, populations struggle to adapt to these rapid changes. It’s not easy to have hope when our brains program us to fear the worst, prepare for disaster. But I have hope. You all give me hope. I couldn’t do what I do, nor could Monterey Audubon have such a positive impact, without the many dedicated birders, naturalists, policy gurus, biologists and business owners who have monitored birds, sat on committees, donated funds, food, or equipment, volunteered at events, designed pamphlets, or organized people to better help us help birds. Thank you for the innumerable ways you are helping. With gratitude, Amanda

Audubon California logo

You may be wondering how we are related to the National Audubon Society. We are the official local chapter of the national organization, but we are a separate non-profit organization. To conduct local bird surveys, recruit and manage volunteers, provide educational programming, and host birdwatching events for people of all ages and abilities, we rely on the support of local chapter members.

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We are also part of the Audubon California network, including 49 local chapters throughout the State of California. To find your local chapter, head to the Audubon California website by clicking the Audubon California logo.

A group of people looking at birds along the rocky coastline.
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