The Mendota City Council approved a proclamation to recognize May 9 as World Migratory Bird Day in the city, responding to advocacy from local environmental conservation organizations.

The decision was driven in part by the Friends of Lake Kakusha, which has been working to protect the area’s natural resources. The organization picks up litter, cleans up trails and removes invasive weeds from the lake and its surrounding three miles of hiking trails.

“We’ve got a couple of different nature groups and of course the Friends of Lake Kakusha that requested that the city join up,” Mayor David Boelk said. “We always try to go along with what the community wants.”

The proclamation is connected to a larger public art initiative coming to Mendota in June. The city will host an Audubon Mural Project, a public-art initiative of the National Audubon Society that originated in New York and has since expanded to Illinois through the Sinnissippi Audubon Society. One of the murals will feature birds on the endangered species list.

“This is in connection with the mural project we’re doing in June,” Mendota Project Manager Annie Short said. “One of them will be an Audubon mural, which is representing birds on the endangered species list. And so the decision to recognize World Migratory Bird Day really stemmed from that.”