Five Keys to Seeing 800 Birds in the ABA Area
In 1968, at the age of 10, I set a goal to see 600 bird species in the U.S. by what then seemed the impossibly old age of 50. At that time, it seemed to me that spotting 600 bird species was akin to a Major League Baseball player hitting 500 career home runs, a goal which only a handful of players had reached. So, seeing 600 bird species was achievable, and certainly very special.
Bird Names for the 21st Century
What about the problem of the proliferation of honorific, or patronymic, names on the ABA Checklist? Should all those names–some of them referring to widespread and familiar species commemorating significant historical figures–be scrapped? This commentary addresses that question, and proposes a way forward.
ABA Seeks Development Manager
The Development Manager (DM) is responsible for the identification and qualification of major and planned gift prospects and assists in cultivating and soliciting donors through communications, meetings, trips, events, and other activities. The DM leads the development of an annual fundraising plan and is the main staff liaison to the Board’s fundraising committee.
ABA Welcomes New Executive Director Wayne Klockner
After an extensive search, ABA is excited to announce the appointment of Wayne Klockner as Executive Director. Wayne joins the ABA with an impressive history of nonprofit leadership experience in the conservation field, including a 38-year career with The Nature Conservancy.
WEBINAR: Birding & Nature Study on the Southern Ocean
ABA Members can view the recording of this webinar here: https://www.aba.org/community/groups/programs-webinars/ The American Birding Association kicks read more >>
Volunteer Your Time and Talent!
Many of us can attribute our passion for birding to the people and groups who fostered our read more >>
Coexistence to Conserve
Indigenous Birders, Cattle Ranchers, and Conservation in Latin America
Birding and bird photography have become popular pursuits in Latin America, and, for many, even a career. This development applies also to Indigenous communities, where some people have discovered that they can use birding as a way to protect the area they live in while deriving a livelihood.
Snowy Owl Viewing Ethics
Closer to Owls, but in the Right Ways.
Snowy Owls are one of the most recognized and beloved birds in the world. To protect them, it’s essential that birders enjoy these birds ethically.
Celebrating the 2022 ABA Award Recipients: Peter Pyle, Holly Merker, Ted Floyd, and Nate Swick
On behalf of the ABA Board of Directors and staff, the ABA Awards Committee is delighted to announce the winners of the 2022 ABA Awards. This year, the ABA Awards Committee is happy to recognize one recipient of the ABA Lifetime Achievement Award, also called “The Tropicbird,” one recipient of the Award for Conservation and Education, and two recipients of the Award for Distinguished Service. ABA Awards are given to birders who have done exceptional work in promoting the cause of birding.
The Music of Stephanie Seymour
Listen to the songs mentioned in Stephanie Seymour's interview in the December 2022 issue of Birding magazine from her brilliant album, There Are Birds.
Welcome to ABA Community!
Go To ABA Community >> We're delighted to welcome ABA members to our newest project: ABA Community. read more >>
An Interview with Julia Tchira
Birds inspire art in many ways: writing, painting, photography, film. Not least of the art forms that birds frequently move people to create is music. The work of composer and violinist Julia Tchira has been heavily influenced by the wonder of birds, including a recent piece she wrote about the ABA’s 2022 Bird of the Year, the Burrowing Owl.
Review of the Olympus M.Zuiko 150–400mm F4.5 TC 1.25x IS PRO
Holy freakin’ cow! I have uttered those words quite regularly, and rarely quietly, from the moment I unpacked my new Olympus M.Zuiko 150–400mm F4.5 TC 1.25x IS PRO. So what does the TC 1.25x in the name stand for? That’s another fun capability of this lens . . . it has a 1.25x teleconverter built in. Just flipping a switch multiplies your focal length by 25%, so the 300–800mm equivalent focal length becomes a 375–1,000mm f5.6 super telephoto birding lens.
Black Birders: Embracing the Beauty Within
As part of its celebration of the third Black Birders Week, please enjoy the ABA's two-part session of the prerecorded panel "Black Birders: Embracing the Beauty Within." The panel explores such topics as childhood experiences with birds, how to pass on generational knowledge of birds, and whether things have changed since the first Black Birders Week.
Rebecca Minardi Appointed as New Book and Media Reviews Editor for Birding Magazine
Delaware City, Delaware – Rebecca Minardi has been hired as Birding magazine’s new Book and Media Reviews read more >>
Celebrating J. Drew Lanham and Jen Brumfield!
On behalf of the ABA Board of Directors and staff, we are delighted to share our two 2021 recipients of the ABA Lifetime Achievement Award, also called “The Tropicbird”: J. Drew Lanham and Jen Brumfield. ABA Lifetime Achievement Awards are given to birders who have completed a lifetime’s worth of...
Birdability and the ABA
If you’ve had experiences with access in the outdoors, we would appreciate knowing about them.
Cemetery Birding
Spend any amount of time at all in the company of birders, and you quickly discover read more >>
2022 Bird of the Year: Burrowing Owl, Athene cunicularia
The ABA's 2022 Bird of the Year is the Burrowing Owl, arguably the world's most charismatic bird species!
Jeffrey A. Gordon Resigns as President of the ABA
The American Birding Association announces that Jeffrey A. Gordon has resigned from his 11-year post as president, effective 30 Nov. 2021.
A Birding Interview with Mark Obmascik
In 2004, Mark Obmascik suddenly burst onto the birding scene with the release of his first book, The Big Year—and his fame escalated when Hollywood made it into a movie in 2011.
ABA to Release New Version of Birding News
The American Birding Association is happy to announce a re-envisioned, complete make-over of our tried-and-true staple: ABA Birding News 2021.
2021 Bird of the Year: Pileated Woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus
The ABA is proud that the Pileated Woodpecker, emblem of both the wild woods and the adaptability of birds to anthropogenically altered spaces, is our 2021 Bird of the Year.
December 31, 2020 EDI Report
December 31, 2020 As 2020 draws to a close, we have the following updates on efforts and read more >>
Out Owling for Saw-whets
It turned out that I didn’t know what kinds of noises Northern Saw-whet Owls made in fall and early winter! Now I do, and it’s changed everything.
September 2020 EDI Report
Here is a concise update on our progress toward equity, diversity, and inclusion over the last three months. As always, we welcome your input, support, and participation in these worthy and long-term efforts.
35 X 25
The Tale of an Epic Big Sit in a Tiny Back Yard
Stuck at home for the entire spring migration, Greg Neise documents the birds flying through, around, and over his 35-foot-by-25-foot brick patio. Even if you're confined to a small urban swelling during this time of COVID-19, there is still birding to be had.
The ABA and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
The American Birding Association presents this summary of its recent and ongoing efforts to make our birding community read more >>
ABA Statement on Black Birders Week and Anti-Racism Efforts
Like so many in the birding community, American Birding Association staff and board were inspired by last week’s #BlackBirdersWeek, and greatly appreciate the effort to not only celebrate Black faces and voices in birding, but to draw attention to the unique difficulties birding can pose to Black people in terms of accessibility, safety, and community.
A Birding Interview with J. Drew Lanham
"Please don’t tell a person of color you don’t see color. That’s insulting. After all, most birders spend lots of time seeing color—otherwise a Red-winged Blackbird and a Snow Bunting wouldn’t be so beautifully different. So, see the color. Respect the face. Get to know me inside. The rest will fall into place."
The ABA’s Statement on the Events at the Central Park Ramble, May 25, 2020.
The American Birding Association is saddened by the situation documented by Christian Cooper in the Central Park ramble read more >>
What To Do When You Notice People Noticing Birds
The whole world seems to have started to notice birds, a phenomenon that has been widely reported in major newspapers, on network news, and at online information sites.
Celebrating birds (and birders!) during COVID-19
This spring is a historic one. For us birders and nature-lovers, sheltering in place during spring migration is a tough pill to swallow. You might have had a calendar chock full of group tours, road trips, or bird club meetings. For your own safety and the safety of others, you’re staying home… but now what?
Keep your eyes on the sky and your butt close to home!
American Birding Association Guidelines on Birding and Social Distancing The basic principles of “quarantine” birding are already well covered in the ABA Code of Birding Ethics:
So You’re Noticing Birds All of a Sudden . . .
Here’s the deal: We’re all sheltering in place, we’re all staying at home, and we’re all, frankly, looking for ways to take our minds off the COVID-19 crisis, if even for a short while. And birding, it turns out, is a superb activity if you can’t get out of the neighborhood, if you can’t even get out of the house.
An Update from the ABA on Watching Birds and Helping Each Other During the COVID-19 Crisis
With this update, we’re going to let you know what’s been going on at the ABA in the past week (lots!), how you can continue to help (not just financially), and how we can help you (we really do mean that).
A Message from the ABA Regarding the COVID-19 Emergency
Dear ABA Members and Friends, The past week has been unlike anything any of us have ever read more >>
What To Do When They Close School
Hey, everyone! My name is Hannah Floyd, and I am a ninth-grader in Colorado. Like many of you reading this, I am on an extended break due to the coronavirus. What does one do in a situation like this? Go outside and explore, of course!
Five Things ABA Members and Other Birders Can Do—and Should Do—During the Ongoing COVID-19 Emergency
First things first. We at the ABA are taking this seriously. The COVID-19 emergency is affecting read more >>
Amazing Milestone for Guy McCaskie
May 29, 2019 How many bird species are on the official list of your state or province? read more >>
A New Big Day Record for Illinois
Now we faced another long haul … but this was into unknown territory for us. The drive to Meredosia was quiet. We were in the mid-170s, the day was running out and we couldn’t see a clear path to 188. Jeff was becoming irritated. It’s the unspoken part of doing a big day. We hear all about the awesome sightings, the strategy and so on … but the grunt-work: the driving (especially, and Jeff is an especially gifted driver), and staying on-your-game when you’ve been up and going at it for 18 hours—with another day’s-worth of work ahead of you—takes a toll.