The Fledgling
The Fledgling is a magazine produced by and designed for young birders. Topics in The Fledgling vary from exciting travel stories to identification tips to ways to get involved in your community and everything in between. In addition to fascinating articles, prepare to be amazed by The Fledgling’s stunning photos and artwork from young birders. This magazine is both enlightening and fun, and it showcases the amazing talent of the next generation of birders and scientists.
If you want to get more involved in the young birder community, why not start now? If you are a young birder, please consider writing an article or contributing photos or artwork to The Fledgling. We are always looking for more content, and we would love to include some of your work. If you’re interested in contributing, please send us an email at thefledgling@aba.org.
hannes_leaonard
Hannes Leonard
tony_belejack
Tony Belejack
westonbarker
Weston Barker
hanna_floyd
Hannah Floyd
Chelsea-Mosteller
Chelsea Mosteller
katiewarner_rmnp
Katie Warner
Ronan-Nicholson
Ronan Nicholson
Gracie-McMahon
Gracie McMahon
silas_powell
Silas Powell
William-Young
William Young
Meet Team Fledgling
Hannes Leonard, Editor
Tony Belejack, Assistant Editor
Weston Barker, Field Editor
Hannah Floyd, Copy Editor
Chelsea Mosteller, Content and Layout
Katie Warner, Content and Layout
Ronan Nicholson, News and Notes
Gracie McMahon, Tailfeathers Column
Silas Powell, Book Reviews
William Young, Founder
Issue Three Highlight
American Birding Association 2023 Bird of the Year Reveal!
The ABA Bird of the Year tradition started over a decade ago, in 2011, and the program has been popular and successful ever since. The 2023 Bird of the Year and the cover art is something many of us look forward to, and it is fun to guess “What species will it be?” This year, we asked young birders to submit their artwork to The Fledgling depicting their guess of the 2023 Bird of the Year!
Issue two
Issue Two Highlight
Special Guest Writer
Mary Gustafson, “The Mentor’s Corner”
Mary Gustafson reviews records for eBird, supports WhatsApp chats for birders in south Texas, organizes leaders and field trips for the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival and the Spring Chirp Birding Festival, and participates in pelagics as often as possible. Work is usually limited to mentoring biologists and monitoring wildlife, though she gets sucked into so much more. Bat Falcon was her ABA classic number 800. Her great regret is not getting out and birding more.
Issue one
Issue One Highlight
Special Guest Writer
Scott Weidensaul, “The Mentor’s Corner”
Scott Weidensaul is an author and researcher who has written more than 30 books, including his newest, A World on the Wing, about global bird migration. He is a co-founder of Project SNOWstorm, tracking Snowy Owls, and the Northeast Motus Collaboration, expanding wildlife telemetry in the East, among other projects. He and his wife live in New Hampshire.
A fantastic magazine! I love it.
Congratulations on the first issue, and thank you for the advice on how to run a Young Birders club!
Is this magazine available in hard copy?
Hi Suzanne,
The fledgling is not available in hard copy
Absolutely lovely newspaper — congrats from a fellow young birder!! A lot of younger people often see birding as a boring, retiree-dominated, and sometimes daunting field and as a result miss out on the great wonders of birding, so I think it is fantastic that you guys are crafting this newspaper for us. I would love to help if possible!
Hi Xavier,
You can send us an email at thefledgling@aba.org, and we will find a way you can get involved.
Thank you Hannes! I sent an email over.
This is great! It reminds me of the “Bird’s Eye View” back in the 90s. I think I wrote the very first article for it too. Back then everything was still in black and white though lol. Look forward to checking The Fledgling out.