Potential names should reflect Chicago's heritage, culture and diversity.

An avian soap opera is playing out in Waukegan where this year’s piping plover breeding season has been full of unexpected plot twists.

The Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort is reporting a record-setting 90 pairs of plovers in 2026, the most since the bird was listed as an endangered species in 1985.

“Flyway City,” a new exhibit at the Chicago Architecture Center, calls on Chicagoans to do better by birds. It shows solutions that are saving lives.

More than 1,100 people participated in the contest, submitting more than 3,200 options. A committee narrowed the choices down to three finalists.

Monitors with both Chicago Piping Plovers and Lake County Audubon Society reported eggs laid at Montrose Beach and the Waukegan shoreline, respectively.

The Chicago Park District has erected barriers at the Southeast Side park where a pair of eaglets and their parents are nesting.

For the first time in more than 100 years, a bald eagle has been born inside the city’s limits, the Chicago Park District announced Wednesday.

Most birds migrate over Chicago at night. A new network of acoustic monitors is tracking their movements by listening for what can't be seen.

Monitors have confirmed that for the third year running Sea Rocket has returned to Montrose and Blaze is back at Waukegan.

Pepper has been spotted on a Waukegan beach, where he and mate Blaze nested in 2024 and '25.

A bird-friendly building ordinance has once again been introduced to the Chicago City Council — the second time such legislation has been brought before City Council since 2019 — but advocates fear the measure was dead on arrival.

Once again, early bird honors go to Pippin, the unlucky-in-love bachelor who’s marking his third year at Montrose in search of a mate.

Birders inadvertently provided researchers at Loyola University with a key bit of documentation related to invasive species and microplastics.

Holding a snowy owl in his hands was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for bird rescuer Ken Reinert. It’s an experience he hopes he never has to repeat.

After a career spent largely in the shadows, Field Museum ornithologist Dave Willard is enjoying a moment in the spotlight for his contributions to conservation.