01/05/2026
Happy National Bird Day!
Did you know that the very first recorded “Bird Day” was launched in 1894 in Oil City, Pennsylvania, to encourage children to value birds and nature?
In 1800, the confluence of Oil Creek and the Allegheny River was a native Seneca Indian settlement. Bears, wolves, cougars, elk, deer, and other wildlife roamed its forests, songbirds, including Eastern Bluebirds, thrived, and raptors soared; the waters were thick with trout.
By 1840, Unchecked extractive industries (iron, oil, and coal) were taking their toll, forests were denuded, the sky was heavy with industrial pollutants, rivers were choked with industrial runoff, wildlife was sparse, and the birds, once so prolific in the region, were disappearing.
Charles Almanzo Babcock, Superintendent of Schools in Oil City, understood that something important was getting lost in the rush to industrialization, but there was more. Game bird eggs robbed from nests, collections of stuffed birds, and bird feathers on women’s hats were all the rage, putting more pressure on the birds. And at least one species, the Passenger Pigeon, was well on its way to extinction.
Babcock wrote to then Agricultural Secretary Julius Morton with his concerns and ideas. Morton agreed, and established May 04 as “Bird Day” to encourage students to observe and protect the birds. The original date cooincided with Arbor Day.
In 2002, Born Free USA and the Avian Welfare Coalition were instrumental in having January 5th designated as National Bird Day.
Thank you to Superintendent Charles Almonzo Babcock, Secretary Julius Morton, the Avian Welfare Coalition (AWC), and Born Free, USA, for your passion, advocacy, public education, and perseverance in protecting our birds.
Born Free USA
