Lahontan Audubon Society (LAS) was founded in December 1963 by Fred Ryser, John Davis, and Marge Sill.  LAS started the Truckee Meadows Christmas Bird Count  that same year, and has collected over 50 years of data for that original count circle, as well as creating several other area Christmas Bird Count circles.

LAS is a non-profit organization serving all of northwestern Nevada and represents a membership of about  1,300 conservation-minded individuals and families.  Many of our chapter’s members are dedicated birders.  Others just enjoy viewing the birds they see in their yards and at their feeders.  We are conservationists, hikers, birders, and educators. And we share our experiences and values with others through a variety of nature-oriented programs.

LAS is dedicated to helping restore, preserve, and improve habitat for birds and other wildlife, to providing education to children and adults about birds and their habitats in Nevada and adjacent areas of California, and to helping the people of northern Nevada enjoy, appreciate, and protect our local wildlife and their habitats. 

LAS is a fully independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

What We Do

Lahontan Audubon Society seeks to foster knowledge, appreciation, and enjoyment of birds and the natural world, and to be a significant resource for our communities through our education, environmental recreation, and conservation programs.  Northern Nevada has many threats to lands and habitats that are essential to birds, other animals, and people.  LAS wants to make a positive difference for the future of wild places and the creatures that live there.

We involve people through recreational birding, extend their horizons through education activities, and engage them in conservation actions from counting birds to working with local, state, and national policy makers. 

Our primary activities include guided birding trips for the public and for school groups, site clean-ups and improvements, annual bird identification classes, and participation in the annual Christmas Bird Count. We publish occasional position papers on key Nevada conservation issues, and we participate in or partner with various Nevada conservation agencies and groups.

Our flagship conservation effort is our Nevada Important Bird Areas program, part of a hemispheric program to identify and preserve key bird habitat areas.

Members join in birding outings, educational events, classes and workshops for adults, and conservation projects.  Monthly membership meetings feature exciting and informative presentations. Each year, hundreds of students receive natural history lessons through our Lahonton Audubon school programs and field trips.

The NVBirds Listserv provides email information about Nevada birds and birding for those who might like to go looking for some of those birds, as well as a fine armchair experience of Nevada birds.