Have you ever felt your safety threatened while on your bike?
We thought so. Same here. We'd love to see public officials, infrastructure, and education take the lead to provide the safest possible environment for cycling, but it just hasn't happened. It's similarly treacherous for wild birds, especially seasonal migrants, whose wintering homes, breeding grounds, and historical migration corridors are all being destroyed by infrastructure and agribusiness sprawl, chemical poisons, and diminishing food sources. Providing access to healthy cycling resources and efficient routes that connect the places we need to go dramatically reduces collisions, injuries, and deaths. The hazards caused by continuing habitat destruction and fragmentation, and increasingly dangerous migration corridors, expose both cyclists and wild animals to dangers we can start reversing, with your help. It's easier than you think.

You may have noticed the white vertical decal strips on our shop windows. They help migrating birds see otherwise deadly glass windows as solid objects, which encourages them to avoid collision, instead of perceiving them as either safe passage through, or as reflections of safe habitat or clear sky. Every bird collision is preventable, and it's cheap and simple to achieve.

We're passionate about conservation and protecting the vulnerable, which includes cyclists, birds, and other wild animals. Anyone and everyone can improve safety for those who lack a strong voice through simple personal actions and advocacy. 

Four easy things you can do to help birds:
How can I learn and do more for birds, beans, and bike(rs)?
BirdCast - astounding research tech collaboration with live migration maps, local alerts, and forecasts
Cornell Lab of Ornithology - leading research institution; Merlin bird ID app; eBird citizen science tools and reporting
Chicago Bird Collision Monitors - volunteer-run rescue, outreach, advocacy; report all downed birds, alive or dead
American Bird Conservancy - advocacy and outreach; extensive information portal
National Audubon Society - avian conservation science in action; local events; memberships
Chicago Bird Alliance - local advocacy, education, and events
Chicago Ornithological Society - field trips, citizen science, hands-on conservation activities
Smithsonian Bird Friendly - coffee growing certification standard and related topics
Buy bird-friendly certified coffee - you can also buy right here at the bike shop!
National Wildlife Federation - expansive info sheet on creating bird-friendly habitats
League of American Bicyclists - advocacy, law, education, events
Black Girls Do Bike - promoting participation, fun, guidance, advocacy for and with cycling women of color
Rails to Trails Conservancy - far-reaching org for trail construction, connectivity, law, mapping, outreach
Adventure Cycling Association - go-to site for cycle-touring maps, reviews, planning, support
Active Transportation Alliance - Chicago's local transportation equity org, sponsor of annual Bike The Drive