Wake Audubon Society Celebrates 50 Years of advocating for wildlife, nature and environmental conservation

December 1, 2025

The Wake Audubon Society is turning 50! Over the course of the next year we will celebrate our Community in Flight–just as many of our feathered friends migrate as a flock each year, we will focus on our journey as a community–reflecting on our beginnings, celebrating where we are today, and envisioning our future of bringing people together to protect wildlife, nature, and the environment.

When I say our community–I mean us. I mean you. You all are Wake Audubon. We are an all volunteer organization. Everything we have ever achieved is thanks to the passion and time you all have been put into it. It’s a moment to be proud.

In late September 1975, our organization officially became a chapter of the National Audubon Society. Wake Audubon Society grew out of the Raleigh Bird Club which was formed in the 1930s. The transition came from a recognition by members that as a birding club based in the state capital, we were uniquely positioned to not only provide birders a home–but to protect the homes of the birds we loved, their habitats. So we began our 50 years of advocating for wildlife, nature and environmental conservation by sharing our passions for the natural world with the General Assembly. Some of the founding members of Wake Audubon were heavy hitters: Ron Johnson was the Director of the NC State Parks system, John Funderburg was Director of NC Museum of Natural History, Ken Knapp was a top Researcher in air quality at EPA, and Tom Quay was an Ornithology Professor at NCSU.

Since then Wake Audubon has grown into a 1,900-strong community representing North Carolina’s Wake, Johnston, Franklin, and Nash counties. Over the five decades, we’ve accomplished a lot:

We’ve held at least 474 speaking programs and 1104 field trips through the years.
We’ve helped protect or establish multiple local parks–including Hemlock Bluffs, the Beaverdam reservoir, Anderson Point, and Horseshoe Farm.
We defeated the building of the Duraleigh Connector, a proposed highway that would have severed the wooded corridor between Schenck Forest and Umstead State Park.
We saved the oldest extant breeding colony of Purple Martin in the county by moving it to a new site–something we don’t think had ever been done.
We’ve monitored and protected Chimney Shift sites and built new Chimney Swift towers.
We established a lights out program that led municipalities like Raleigh and Cary to turn off unnecessary lights during the spring and fall bird migrations.
We’ve built partnerships aimed at creating a more equitable, diverse and inclusive birding community– such as those with with Field Inclusive, the Raleigh LGBTQ Center, Nami, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and the Raleigh and Wake County park system–allowing us to offer outings designed for specific communities, a Beginning Birding program, and mobility-friendly bird outings.
We’ve been a pioneer in promoting the planting of native plants and removing harmful, invasive species. For example, Wake Audubon helped move state and local municipalities to using native plants in public landscaping.

In future months, we’ll share additional 50th anniversary blogs that reflect on Wake Audubon’s history and impact since 1975, highlight our current conservation initiatives and how to get involved, and envision what’s next. We hope these stories will stir fond memories–but also serve as a call to action for the next 50 years of protecting birds, wildlife, and the places they need to thrive.

We are fortunate to have sponsors and partners who are helping to make this celebratory year possible. Please join us in thanking them and supporting their organizations in turn.

Champions