Since 2019, a series of monthly bird walks on Capitol Hill has offered a low-key way to put birds on the minds of Congress and provide common ground in a place that’s more partisan than it’s ever been.

Story by Ariel Wittenberg; photos by Chris Linder

It’s a busy morning on Capitol Hill when the gaggle of congressional staffers and their boss, U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal, gather on the back lawn.

At this moment in early October, Congress is locked in negotiations over the biggest-ever boost in federal funding to fight climate change. But this morning’s meeting isn’t about legislation in the House of Representatives. It’s about three visitors perched atop the chamber’s roof, backlit by the Capitol Dome’s soft gold glow.

“Will you look at that, House Sparrows sitting on the people’s House!” exclaims Tykee James, the government affairs coordinator for National Audubon Society, eliciting a muffled chuckle from the dozen legislative aides and interns assembled.

James often makes dad jokes as icebreakers on the bird walks he leads monthly for staffers from both Congressional chambers and political parties. He started the walks in 2019 as a way to forge connections with lawmakers and their staff who might work on bird-related legislation. But the coronavirus pandemic, and then Capitol Hill security concerns (when much of the National Mall was fenced off following the Jan. 6 riot), put the bird walks on a yearlong hiatus. Now the walks are back, and James says they serve another purpose: building common ground in a place that is perhaps more partisan now than it’s ever been.