With a leadership gift of $25,000 or more, you can help Friends of the Chicago River install a high-quality nest cam at the osprey platform at the Chicago Botanic Garden, opening a rare, real-time window into the lives of these remarkable birds.

Be an Osprey Hero

In partnership with the Forest Preserves of Cook County, this camera will advance vital research on nesting behavior, migration timing, and habitat use, while also inspiring thousands of people through an up-close educational experience. Your support will bring science, conservation, and public engagement together in one powerful project.

Why It Matters

Osprey are a national conservation success story, but they remain endangered in Illinois. For more than a decade, Friends and the Forest Preserves have worked side by side to bring them back by installing nesting platforms, restoring habitat, and monitoring their return. Today, 21 platforms stand across the preserves, including five built by Friends.

Last year marked a major milestone: the first osprey chick was banded at Friends’ platform at the Chicago Botanic Garden. With your help, we can build on that momentum—using new technology to deepen our understanding and strengthen protections for this iconic species.

Friends has also led innovation in platform design. Our elevated, offset nesting structures –mounted on 80-foot poles – provide osprey with the open views they prefer while allowing researchers safer, easier access to study and protect the birds and their young.

Make your impact today

Your gift today will bring us one step closer to launching the osprey nest cam, expanding knowledge, inspiring stewardship, and ensuring a stronger future for wildlife along the Chicago-Calumet River system.

Every donation helps us protect, restore, and celebrate the river for all people, water, and wildlife.