IOANA SERITAN
Associate Editor, Birding magazine
Welcome to Birding Online! Here, all ABA members can access the extended online content from the June 2019 issue of Birding magazine. The complete issue, containing both print and online content, can be found at:
https://www.aba.org/birding-magazine-june-2019
The June 2019 cover features two birders, Suleka Deevi and Jessica Melfi (plus daughter Francesca), in the field. We all love a breathtaking bird photo on the cover – but isn’t it also nice to spend some time thinking about the people we meet along the way?
Suleka Deevi and Jessica Melfi, with daughter Francesca, in West Virginia. Photo by © Jeffrey A. Gordon.
When I began birding, I was just as boggled by the community of birders as I was by the birds themselves. Birders welcomed me into their carpools, taught me how to ID new species, and argued in a goodnatured way about which field guide I should get. People feature heavily in my favorite birding memories. Especially as a young woman, it was wonderful to meet so many other women who loved the same thing as me.
Now that the ABA is 50 years in, we want to honor the people, just like you, who make this community so much fun. Thank you for joining us for the last few years. As we look forward to the next 50 years, what can we do to make birding even more fun for even more people, including women, people of color, people with disabilities, and the next generation of young birders?
The Conservation & Community features (starting on page 34) include a few different ideas for how we can improve our birding community. Michael Retter organized this section for the June issue. You’ll get a crash course in geocaching (but for birds), habitat restoration in California’s Channel Islands, and the effects of playback on wild birds. Finally, you can get some inspiration from the Conservation Milestones, compiled by Raymond VanBuskirk.
So far, you saw all those articles in your print issue. Frontiers in Ornithology does include extended online content for ABA members. Click here to flip straight to Paul Hess’ description of how Great Gray Owls reacted to the “Rim Fire” that devastated the Sierra Nevada in 2013.
As always, you can enjoy extended Book Reviews online. Click here to flip to the first review. Rick Wright, longtime Editor of Birding‘s Book Reviews, is nearing his retirement from the column. He has run the column for many wonderful years. Rick, thank you for sharing your encyclopedic knowledge of birds with all of us! As Rick moves on, we will be welcoming Frank Izaguirre as the new Book Reviews column editor. To mark the occasion, Birding Editor Ted Floyd has written up his thoughts on Rick Wright’s Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America. You can click here to read Ted’s quasi-review on the ABA Blog, as well. Knut Eisermann brings us his review of two field guides for Central America. Click here to find it on the Blog. Finally, Capper Nichols reviews Mozart’s Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. Click here if you’d like to read the Blog entry.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg for the June issue, and the tip of the iceberg for the ABA, as well. If you’re able to contribute, our Nesting Appeal is currently in full swing. Any contribution that you make at aba.org/gift will support programs for the next generation of birders. I was lucky enough to participate in two ABA young birder programs, namely Camp Colorado and the Young Birder of the Year contest. I can tell you from firsthand experience that Camp Colorado and the YBY contest made me a better birder. They were a whole lot of fun, too! If you contribute, we thank you. If you don’t, we thank you for joining us anyhow. We’re glad you’re along for the ride.
Until the next issue, happy birding!
