After much research, discussion with other chapters, and membership outreach, the Board of Directors decided last year to pursue a name change and put it before the membership for a vote. The vast majority of other chapters that have approved a name change adopted the title "Bird Alliance" (e.g., Tucson Audubon Society became Tucson Bird Alliance and the Portland Audubon Society became Bird Alliance of Oregon). In keeping with this trend and in an effort to establish a cohesive brand awareness among the chapters, the Board recommended adopting the name Sacramento Bird Alliance.

Our voting occurred with both hard copy and electronic ballots between 5/23/2026 and 5/31/2026, and the results are in! More than twice as many members voted to change our name as voted against it, with 149 in favor and 74 opposed. Thank you to all who voted! We feel this is the beginning of an exciting new era for our organization, now known as the Sacramento Bird Alliance.

John James Audubon’s monumental work Birds of North America documented bird diversity in North America at an unprecedented scale and helped bring awareness and inspire bird conservation. He was also a slave holder and a racist that produced some unethical and questionable scientific products. These facts are a distraction from our mission and may keep some people from knowing about our work and learning about birds through our work. With our new name we will distance ourselves from that distraction and keep the focus on birds.

Over the summer months, the Board will work to file the legal paperwork, update the website, all communications, and reach out to the public and our partners to let them know about the change. While we are excited about this new direction for our Chapter, we know that the resulting name change may cause some division and confusion for some members and the general public. Please know that your Chapter leaders will be putting in extra effort to make this change a net positive for the organization, our community, and for our cherished avian friends!

For those who feel disaffected by the name change, we urge you to reach out to and work with your Chapter leadership to help implement this and other initiatives planned to help expand, diversify, and invigorate our organization. Our important work of local bird conservation will not change, and we need all of our members to pitch-in to help achieve that goal!

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me. Again, thanks to all who voted.

Cliff Feldheim
Fish and Wildlife Biologist (President elect)
Conservation Chair
Sacramento Bird Alliance (formerly Sacramento Audubon)
SacAudubonConservation@gmail.com

Name Change Vote Results

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