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We’re delighted to welcome ABA members to our newest project: ABA Community. This online platform was inspired by the printed ABA Member Directory that served as a way for members to connect with fellow birders and trip guides many years ago. Today we are happy to share a new way to connect within a safe online network accessed through your ABA membership.

What can you do at ABA Community?

• Connect and interact with fellow birders.
• Engage in groups focused on different birding themes.
• Read and contribute to forums on specific topics.
• Get advice on bird identification, birding gear, travel, and bird sightings.
• Access special opportunities and presentations only available on Community.

To get started, log in to your ABA account at www.aba.org/community. Take a few minutes to fill out your profile and then start browsing.

Member Directory

At the heart of ABA Community is the Member Directory. Just as with the printed member directory of days gone by, you can find and connect with other ABA members. But you can do much more at ABA Community. Using the “Find a Birder!” panel, you can search for members that can help you find specific birds in specific locations. You can also easily find and connect with independent birding guides.

Groups

Groups is where you can share pictures, experiences, thoughts and ideas, news, and so on. Groups are built around a shared interest. Posts within the group are not categorized and appear in chronological order based on the most recent activity. If you’re familiar with other social media sites, you know how groups work.

Forums

Forums are different from groups in several ways, but, most importantly, forums are much easier to browse or search for information you want. Forums have a clear categorization of content and posts are organized into categories. A category is like a folder for posts based on a certain topic.

For example, rare bird alerts. In a group, as in Community or other social media sites, all of the sightings reported are tossed into the group together, and finding information about the one you’re interested in can be a challenge. In forums, each is listed as a topic, and all of the discussion concerning that sighting—such as updates, parking situation, etc.—is all contained within that topic (see the second screen shot below).

So hop over to ABA Community—built by birders, for birders—and join the conversations. We’re adding groups, and forums, and more. All birders are welcome to connect at ABA Community!