Chapter History

Bird Alliance of Central Indiana (BACI) was first established in 1938 as the Amos W. Butler District of the Indiana Audubon Society. In 1952 the name was changed in conjunction with the Board’s decision to officially became a grassroots chapter of the the National Audubon Society. If you are wondering who Amos W. Butler was, he was a man widely considered to be Indiana’s greatest naturalist. Among his many accomplishments, in 1890 Amos Butler published The Birds of Indiana, the first book of its kind for the state.

Bird Alliance of Central Indiana has a long and successful history of championing the cause of birds in Central Indiana. One major BACI accomplishment was assisting in the purchase and preservation of the largest rookery of Great Blue Herons in Indiana. Now called the Millard Sutton/Amos W. Butler Audubon Nature Preserve, BACI was a major financial contributor toward the purchase of the 76 acres of wooded land along an oxbow of the White River in Johnson County, south of Indianapolis.  To protect the nesting herons, this site is not open to the public.

BACI assisted in the purchase and preservation of Burr Oak Bend, a 120-acre site along the White River in Hamilton County, north of Indianapolis. The site is an extensive intact forested riparian corridor along a high-quality stretch of the White River. It is being restored from an agricultural field to 31.5 acres of mixed hardwood forest and 12.5 acres of prairie.

BACI frequently works with the Central Indiana Land Trust, Inc. (CILTI) to preserve quality bird habit. In honor of our 75th anniversary, BACI made a $75,000 contribution to the Glacier’s End project. This is part of CILTI’s Hills of Gold Core Conservation Area in southwestern Johnson County.

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, our primary fundraising efforts take place during our annual Birdathon event in the spring. BACI has had great success with this event and has raised more than $900,000 since 1987 for conservation and education projects.  This consistent achievement is largely the fruit of the notable commitment and work done by the long-time volunteer and past Birdathon Chairperson Donna McCarty.

Our chapter covers Indianapolis (Marion County) and the surrounding counties of Boone, Hendricks, Hamilton, Hancock, Johnson, Shelby and northern Morgan.