Thanksgiving with the Birds at Audubon

Audubon Community Nature Center provides turkey, gravy, and beverages for Thanksgiving with the Birds, a longstanding Audubon tradition that dates back to its founding.

This communal Thanksgiving dinner is a group effort, celebrated this year on Saturday, November 23, 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m

In the event’s early days, Audubon’s hardy founders cooked soup in an outdoor pot, brought lawn chairs, and ate their Thanksgiving dinner outside in the brisk, occasionally snowy, air amongst the trees and birds.

Now participants are asked to provide their favorite Thanksgiving side dish or dessert and optional soup (broth-based and nothing with seafood, please) to share. Soup will be mixed in the backyard, followed by dinner and a program indoors.

The meal will be served at noon, and the program takes place at 1 p.m.

The program features Nature Educator and Animal Care Specialist Emma Roth and Bridgette, the Red-tailed Hawk.

Cost is $8, $6 for Nature Center members and children 3–15, free 2 and under. Paid reservations are requested by Wednesday, November 15, and can be made by calling (716) 569-2345 or through Programs and Events at AudubonCNC.org.

Audubon Community Nature Center is located at 1600 Riverside Road, one-quarter mile east of Route 62 between Jamestown, N.Y., and Warren, Pa. You can visit the nearly 600-acre nature preserve, check in on the live birds of prey, enjoy the natural play space, and hike over five miles of trails dawn until dusk daily for free.

The three-story Nature Center building houses interactive displays, a collection of live animals including the Hellbender exhibit, and the Blue Heron Gift Shop. Visitors are welcome Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m., and Sundays, 1–4:30 p.m. Nature Center members and SNAP/EBT cardholders have free building admission daily. Building admission is also free every Sunday for non-Nature Center members.

To learn more about Audubon and its many programs, call (716) 569-2345, find Audubon Community Nature Center on Facebook, or visit AudubonCNC.org. Check out AudubonCNC.org/about for a quick fly-by visit.

Audubon Community Nature Center builds and nurtures connections between people and nature by providing positive outdoor experiences, opportunities to learn about and understand the natural world, and knowledge to act in environmentally responsible ways.