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YOUNG BIRDERS' CONFERENCE

The American Birding Association's goals for the Young Birder Conference are: to join together young birders (13-18) from across the country; to provide an opportunity for young people to learn more about birds from experienced birders; and to organize a fun, educational atmosphere where young birders can get together to enjoy birding with others of their own age and skills.

2009 ABA Young Birder's Summer Conference

June 21 - 27, 2009
San Diego, California
For young birders ages 13 - 18
Conference Cost, $795

Join ABA and young birders from across the continent as we explore the beaches, wetlands, mountains and deserts of southern California! The sun-splashed San Diego area is a hotbed of bird activity and home to a number of state and regional specialty bird species found nowhere else in the United States. We'll keep our schedule flexible to take advantage of local weather conditions and bird availability but the week will include the following highlights:

• A cruise upon the Pacific Ocean to beautiful Santa Cruz Island, home of the rare Island Scrub-Jay. Along the way, we'll search for gulls, jaegers, cormorants, alcids, tubenoses and a variety of other pelagic birds, whales, seals and sea lions.
• A day trip 220 feet below sea level to the legendary Salton Sea, a "crown jewel of avian biodiversity" in the middle of the desert, a veritable magnet for unusual birds and one of the country's top birding destinations.
• Trips around the region to search numerous habitats for representative bird species; coastal beaches, wetlands and lagoons for shore and water birds, riparian sage and scrublands for regional songbird specialties, low desert and high montane oak and pine forests for birds adapted to extremes of hot and cold and lush suburban areas for hummingbirds and exotic parrots and other birds.
• Outings to the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Natural History Museum. We'll meet bird professionals and discuss bird-related careers. At the zoo we'll view, sketch and photograph one of the world's greatest bird collections including a private sitting with big beautiful bird models at close range. At the museum, we'll take an in-depth look at extinct bird species and some of the wild birds we'll see during the week. We'll even prepare a bird study skin for the museum's extensive bird collection.

Potential target species we hope to see include Island Scrub-Jay, White-tailed Kite, Phainopepla, Lawrence's Goldfinch, Mountain Quail, White-headed & Nuttall's Woodpecker, Band-tailed Pigeon, Costa's & Allen's Hummingbird, Prairie Falcon, Greater Roadrunner, Cassin's Kingbird, Black Phoebe, Vermillion Flycatcher, Gray & Hutton's Vireo, Oak Titmouse, California & Le Conte's Thrasher, California Gnatcatcher, Wrentit, Bushtit, Verdin, Cactus & Rock Wren, Tricolored Blackbird, Hooded & Scott's Oriole, California Towhee, Sage & Black-chinned Sparrow, Black Oystercatcher, Elegant Tern, Western Gull, Brandt's & Pelagic Cormorant, Black Skimmer, Xantus's Murrelet, Cassin's Auklet, Leach's & Ashy Storm-Petrel and other pelagics, parrots and other exotics and numerous other exciting bird species!

We will stay at and use the picturesque University of San Diego campus as our base of operations for the conference. The lovely centrally-located Spanish Renaissance-style campus features on-site dining services offering a variety of selections for any diet, 24-hour on-campus security and emergency services and safe, quiet, clean community-style dorm accommodations with daily linen service. Further information on the accommodations is available at scweb.sandiego.edu/summerconf/scmain.htm.

Fees for the conference are $795. This cost includes a Sunday, June 21 pickup at and Saturday, June 27 return to the San Diego International Airport, transportation during the conference, a boat cruise to Santa Cruz Island, lodging and linen service, snacks and all meals (a light breakfast, picnic lunch and dinner at a University dining hall daily, dinner on the 21st and breakfast on the 25th), adult birder instruction and supervision, all entrance fees and educational activities and programming. To register or for further information, please call 1-800-850-2473 (x-237) or e-mail scarbol@aba.org. We hope to see you there!

ABA's 2008 Young Birders' Conference - Minot, North Dakota

17-22 June 2008
Leaders: Steve Howell, Ron Martin, Michael O'Brien, and Louise Zemaitis

The fifth bi-annual Young Birders' Conference takes place in Minot, North Dakota. This conference will give you the opportunity to spend time connecting with other young birders from across the continent, while at the same time birding and learning from some of the finest leaders anywhere.

Sweeping prairies vistas, rugged badlands, forests of Ponderosa Pines, aspen and oak, and marshes - North Dakota has the habitat to support quite a species diversity! The fifth Young Birders' Conference will find us exploring the various refuges, forests, reservoirs, prairie surrounding the Minot area. As we traverse these diverse ecosystems, we may be treated to breeding Piping Plover, Lazuli Bunting, grouse, and a plethora of sparrows including Savannah, LeConte's, Bairds, and longspurs too. Multitudes of waterbirds, gulls, rails, and terns populate the prairie wetlands along with Upland Sandpiper, Sprague's Pipit, and Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow; while American Redstart, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Veery, and vireos can be found in the mature woodlands.

Our fantastic field trips will be punctuated by some terrific educational workshops taught by our knowledgeable leaders. In addition, we will have special guest speakers including scientists working in the field and rangers at the refuges we will be visiting.

This event is generously sponsored by Leica Sport Optics and WINGS Birding Tours.

ABA's Fourth Young Birders' Conference – Fort Collins, CO

The Fourth Young Birders' Conference (YBC) returned us to the Colorado Front Range with Fort Collins as our base. The trip was unforgettable with a terrific array of bird species seen, excellent workshops, and some of the best leaders anyone could hope for. Along with the Fourth of July Eastern Screech-Owl, birds seen included: Common Poorwill, White-throated Swift, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Canyon Wren, Virginia's Warbler, Green-tailed Towhee, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, McCown's and Chestnut-collared Longspur, Sora, White-tailed Ptarmigan, Dusky Grouse, Golden Eagle, Three-toed Woodpecker, and Orchard Oriole. Expert leadership for 15 excited young birders was provided by Steve Howell, Louise Zemaitis, Bill Schmoker, and Michael O'Brien with guest instruction by Jim Rising and Ted Floyd. This event was generously sponsored by Leica Sport Optics and WINGS Birding Tours. Read several write-ups about this YBC on our scholarship report page.

ABA's First Young Adult Birders' Conference

The first ever ABA Young Adult Birders' Conference was held 31 July through 7 August 2005 in the Tandayapa Valley, Ecuador. A great introduction to Neotropical bird families, the week-long conference included lectures by Paul Greenfield, one of the authors and illustrator of the monumental Birds of Ecuador, and other local bird experts on Neotropical bird families, biogeography, bird illustration, tropical ecology and conservation. The group tallied more than 300 bird species over the course of the week! This event was sponsored by Tropical Birding, Leica Sport Optics, and VENT. Read Morgan Tingley's report on this wonderful event.

Stay tuned for information on our next YABC in 2007!

ABA's Third Young Birders' Conference

The Third ABA Young Birders' Conference was held 26-30 June 2004 in the Kern River Valley and Sierra Nevada of southern California. Again sponsored by Leica Sport Optics and WINGS, this YBC was a stellar event. Field trip locations included Giant Sequoia National Monument, the Kern River Preserve, the Kern Plateau, and more. Expert leaders Jon Dunn, Steve Howell, Louise Zemaitis, and Michael O'Brien explored this unique area with the 21 participants. Birds seen included Clark's Grebe, Prairie Falcon, California and Mountain Quail, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, White-headed Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Canyon Wren, Blue Grouse, Chukar, Grace's Warbler, Wrentit, Lazuli Bunting, Indigo Bunting, and Rufous-crowned Sparrow. Read Michael Harvey's write-up of the third YBC.

Stay tuned for information on our 2006 sojourn to Colorado!

ABA's Second Young Birders' Conference

The ABA hosted its second Young Birders' Conference 31 July-4 Aug 2002 in Sierra Vista, Arizona, with instructors Jon Dunn, Steve Howell, Michael O'Brien, and Louise Zemaitis, and sponsorship from Leica Sport Optics and WINGS. The focus of the event was education through field trips and workshops. Field trips visited top birding sites in the Huachuca Mountains and workshop topics covered sketching in the field, flycatcher and hummingbird identification, and identifying passerine flight calls. Other special events during the conference included a hummingbird banding demonstration, photo quiz, and a panel discussion with the experts. Read Jessie Barry's write-up of the second YBC.

ABA's First Young Birders' Conference

The ABA organized its first Young Birder Conference (YBC) in Fort Collins, Colorado, 23-26 June 2000. The purposes of the Young Birder Conference were: to join together young birders from across the country; to provide an excellent learning opportunity for youth through teaching by experienced birders; to organize a fun, educational time whereby young birders can get together to enjoy birding experiences with others of their own age and skills.

Birding experts Jon Dunn and Steve Howell hosted workshops and led several field trips to local hotspots like Pawnee National Grasslands and Rocky Mountain National Park. Workshops featured topics like sparrow and flycatcher identification. Read Steve Howell's write-up of the first YBC.