Address
4124 Roseway Road
Minneapolis, MN 55409
Contact
Phone: 612-230-6400
Email: info@minneapolisparks.org
Features & Amenities
Good to Know
The Friends of Roberts Bird Sanctuary lead educational and volunteer activities in the Sanctuary. Please see www.friendsofroberts.org for more information.
Main entrance located adjacent to Lyndale Park Gardens parking lot.
Peak Visiting Time: April and May for spring migratory birds, especially warblers.
Glorious Gardens
From grand expanses to hidden gems, gardens throughout the park system offer flowers, history, sculpture, community hubs and more.
Details
The Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis (ACM), through a volunteer partnership with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), has led bird walks and invasive species removal events in the Sanctuary.
The Thomas Sadler Roberts Bird Sanctuary is within Minneapolis’ Chain of Lakes Regional Park. This Regional park has been designated an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society.
The Important Bird Areas Program is an effort to identify and conserve areas that are vital to birds and other biodiversity. By working with Audubon chapters, landowners, public agencies, community groups, and other non-profits, Audubon endeavors to interest and activate a broad network of supporters to ensure that all Important Bird Areas are properly managed and conserved.
Roberts Bird Sanctuary Improvement Project
Three goals were developed for improving the condition of the Sanctuary as part of a management plan:
- Protect, preserve, and enhance the bird habitat and native plants contained within the Sanctuary for present and future generations of people and wildlife;
- Educate and inspire people about birds and their habitats, Minnesota native plants, and the natural world;
- Provide a minimal infrastructure for the Sanctuary that honors the integrity of this undeveloped natural area as a bird sanctuary and a place that connects people with nature.
The project also includes identifying and implementing volunteer stewardship programs and educational opportunities.
Improvements to the Sanctuary are anticipated to begin in 2015.
History
The official designation of the bird sanctuary in Lyndale Park occurred in 1936. The designation had been requested by the Minnesota Audubon Society. One of Christian Bossen’s first acts as the new park superintendent in 1936, after Wirth retired, was to request the park board to designate the park as a bird sanctuary. The park board went him one better and designated all city parks as bird refuges. One of Bossen’s favorite places in Minneapolis parks was the trail through the wetlands north of Lake Harriet. Upon his death in 1956 his ashes were scattered along the path that is now named Bossen Lane. The bird sanctuary was named in 1947 for Thomas Sadler Roberts, a retired doctor who had become a professor of ornithology at the University of Minnesota and director of the University’s Museum of Natural History.
Park history compiled and written by David C. Smith.
