A Central Indiana group of bird enthusiasts is changing its name to distance itself from controversial historical figures.
The Amos Butler Audubon Society announced it is dropping ties to a naturalist who wrote about Indiana’s native birds — and was also prominently involved in the state’s eugenics movement.
“Today, more than 100 years later, we are called to re-examine Amos Butler’s and John James Audubon’s legacies through a different lens,” the group said. “Our mission remains the same, and we look forward to your continued support as we work to welcome even more of the community to birding and bird conservation in Central Indiana and beyond.”
Amos Butler, who the birding group called the “father of Indiana ornithology,” also served on a state commission in the early 1900s to study people with mental disabilities, and recommended segregating them from society. Indiana sterilized about 2,500 people into the 1970s under now-overturned state laws.
The local birding group conducted a review process and voted to drop Butler's name, and the name of naturalist and slave owner John James Audubon. It joins at least 60 other groups around the country that have decided to rename, including two others in Indiana, according to the NYC Bird Alliance.
The local group will now be called the Bird Alliance of Central Indiana, or BACI, and said it aims to include everyone in birding and bird conservation. The alliance said it aims to connect with communities not historically represented in birding, discuss ways to improve diversity, equity and inclusion, and continue to uplift the work of those “who have previously and continue” to promote its mission.
The change took place after a lengthy review process between November 2024 and May 2026, including a community survey and over 200 responses.
BACI has several bird watching events planned in the coming months, including at Eagle Creek Park and Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park.
Contact WFYI Data Journalist Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org
