Resources
Birding Opportunities
Fantastic opportunities for young birders to learn from experts, peers, be a part of the very supportive birding community, and importantly have fun!
Frontiers in Ornithology - A symposium about the various careers in ornithology
ABA Young Birder of the Year - ABA's awesome mentorship program and contest encompassing a variety of activities like community projects, field notebook, photography, art and writing with helpful mentors to guide you along the way
ABA Birding Camps - Organized birding trips by the ABA for young birders to explore
Audubon Camps - Many organized camps around the United States
NJ Audubon World Series of Birding - A New Jersey competition to count as many birds as possible in a day in Read: WSB Champion and Mentor BQ
Cornell Lab Young Birders Event - A 4-day event bringing together teenagers in high school around the globe with a passion for birds and interests in pursuing a career related to birds
Hog Island Audubon Camp - Coastal Maine bird studies for teens
Camp TALON (Teen Adventures Learning Ornithology & Nature) - A 6-day camp run by the Georgia Department of Natural resources
Rio Diablo Birding Camp - A birding camp based in southwest Texas
Young Birders Network - "Connecting young birders from around the world to share their love of birds and birding" created by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory
Mass Audubon Superbowl of Birding – Annual competition in January in the area of NE MA and SE NH)
Young Birder Clubs & Toolkit
Audubon Campus Chapters (for college)
Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Black Swamp Bird Observatory Bird Young Birders Club Toolkit
Starting a Bird Club by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
News & Blogs
ABA Fledgling - Magazine written by young birders, produced by the ABA
Beary Birding Chickadee Chat - Inspiring next-gen birders through information, entertainment and conversation
eBird For Young Birders - Young Birder's resources by eBird
Black Swamp Bird Observatory Young Birders Network - connects young birders from around the work to share their love of birds and birding
Community Science
eBird - What is eBird? A global project by the Cornell Lab uniting bird enthusiasts worldwide in mapping a diverse range of bird species.
iNaturalist - Tool to catalogue all of your flora and fauna observations (including birds) and achieve an ID
Xeno-canto - Upload your audio observations (of any animal) for science
NestWatch - Log your nestbox observations or learn how to build one for a specific species
FeederWatch - Count birds visiting your feeders in the colder months (subscription required)*
Cool Things
BirdSTAT - Processes and analyzes your eBird data into fantastic graphs and statistics
BirdCast - Forecasts and detects migration patterns in birds (only active 3/1-6/15 spring and 8/1-11/15 autumn)
eBird Status and Trends - Visualizes data in eBird with animated maps
Online Field Guides
Merlin Bird ID - (Mobile App) For your bird identification troubles including Sound ID and Photo ID
All About Birds - Comprehensive guide to North American birds detailing their life histories
Sibley Guides - Helpful identification tips and illustrations by renowned David Allen Sibley
Audubon Field Guide - Another option to study North American birds
Apps
Merlin Bird ID - For your bird identification troubles including Sound ID and Photo ID
iBird Pro
BirdsEye
BirdNET
Identification
Note: Please take the following apps with several grains of salt; they utilize AI technology by comparing your photo/audio to others. While some of them are quite impressive, no app is perfect quite yet. Please use your own identification skills and other resources in addition to the following apps before making a definitive identification.Google Lens - Photo ID (and a plethora of non-bird-related things)
Merlin Bird ID - Photo ID + Sound ID
BirdNET - Sound ID
Conservation
Books
Ornitherapy: For Your Mind, Body, and Soul by Holly Merker, Richard Crossley and Sophie Crossley Email Ornitherapy@gmail.com directly for 40% off and use "Beary Birding Discount"
Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder by Kenn Kaufman
What It's Like to Be a Bird by David Allen Sibley
Belle's Journey: An Osprey Takes Flight by Rob Bierregaard
Movies/Films
The Big Year - Starring Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin
Migration - Disney Pixar film