American Birding Association

The 2026 ABA Bird of the Year is the Horned Lark! Get ready for a great year of celebrating Horned Larks! www.aba.org/the-2026-aba...

In the latest episode of the American Birding Podcast, ornithologists Morgan Tingley and Sam Safran join host Nate Swick to describe the awesomeness and challenges of documenting the breeding avifauna of the Golden State. Listen here: www.aba.org/mapping-cali...

The ABA's marketing and communications manager Frank Izaguirre recently joined the Busted Knees and Pretty Trees podcast to talk about birding, conservation, and the birding community. Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Taxonomy changes are a bit later this year, but they have arrived! North American Birds Editor Michael Retter fills us in on why Prairie Willet, American Egret, Western Marsh-Wren, and Painted Whitestart now appear on our checklists. Read here: www.aba.org/2026-checkli...

What does it mean to be a responsible birder? Frank Izaguirre of the @aba.org joins the show for a great conversation about birds, conservation, ethics and birding culture in the age of social media! Come take a listen... the link is right here! open.spotify.com/episode/38bL...

Legendary birder Peter G. Kaestner reviews two updated field guides for Spain! The review appeared in the Oct. 2026 issue of Birding magazine. Read here: www.aba.org/field-guides...

Tune in to watch Greg and Nate at 1pm EDT! www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBX6...

New young birder piece on Owen Deutsch's blog! In “Chip, Cold, and Canada,” 12-year-old ABA Young Birder Felicity A. tells the imaginative story of two hummingbird brothers, Chip and Hue, who take very different approaches to surviving the winter. Read here: owendeutsch.com/chip-cold-an...

Birders know that the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Duck Stamp program is an effective conservation initiative, but what of the Duck Stamps themselves? This year Catherine Hamilton judged, and she joins host Nate Swick to talk about her experience. Listen here: www.aba.org/how-to-pick-...

In late September 2026, a powerful nor’easter lashed the East Coast of the U.S. and produced an impressive array of bird sightings. A massive inshore incursion of Leach’s Storm-petrel and other pelagic seabirds stole the show! Read here: www.aba.org/september-20...

The Azores aren't officially in the ABA Area. In "Riders on the Storm," we learn about recent American Goshawk records to the Azores—interesting in their own right, but also important for clarifying the puzzling status of the species in Europe. Read here: www.aba.org/riders-on-th...

Happy World Migratory Bird Day! This World Migratory Bird Day, let's celebrate migration by practicing ethical birding and helping ensure these remarkable travelers have safe places to rest, refuel, and thrive. ABA Code of Birding Ethics available here: www.aba.org/aba-code-of-...

New podcast episode! The recent split of Mew Gull into Short-billed Gull and Common Gull has offered yet another complicated ID concern for dedicated gull-watchers to ponder. Amar Ayyash talks about the status of Old World Common Gulls in the ABA Area Listen here: www.aba.org/not-so-commo...

Bay Area birders! Heading to the Berkeley Bird Festival this Sunday? Be sure to stop by the ABA table in the afternoon and catch up with Ioana Seritan, the ABA’s Young Birder Programs Coordinator! Hope to see you there!

In the upcoming Birding travel special issue, Sharon Wada will take readers to the wetlands of Costa Rica’s Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge in “Feeling the Heat in Caño Negro: A Costa Rican Hotspot Worth the Sweat.” Join the ABA today to receive this special issue! ABA.org/join

The special travel issue of Birding magazine is going to press soon, and it’s packed with birding travel inspiration. Among the feature articles is “20 Best Birds in Sichuan” by Steven An, a spectacular look into the region's jaw-dropping birdlife. Don't miss it: aba.org/join

In the upcoming travel-themed special issue of Birding magazine, Sam Woods and Keith Barnes map out a strategy for finding all 250 currently recognized families. Don't miss it: aba.org/membership

Upcoming ABA Community Weekend in Charleston, South Carolina! Join the American Birding Association for a full weekend of birding, community, and celebration in and around Charleston, South Carolina, Nov. 21–22, 2026! Learn more and sign up: www.aba.org/aba-communit...

This week's rare bird alert roundup is out. Read here: www.aba.org/rare-bird-al...

The ABA Community Weekend in St. Louis, Missouri, has concluded. Thank you to everyone who joined us for a weekend of birding, learning, and connecting, especially to our excellent partners, like St. Louis Audubon Society and Vortex Optics, who helped make the weekend a success.

We’ll have multiple opportunities to look for the iconic Andean Condor on the ABA’s Chile Birding: Deserts, Wetlands, and Rainforest, Oct. 10–22, 2027. Learn more and sign up: www.aba.org/chile-birdin...

Despite a powerful Nor’easter bringing flooding and high winds, forcing some families to cancel, our Young Birder-led Field Trip at the Maryland Ornithological Society Convention was a success! Thank you to our young leaders, their families, MOS, and everyone who made this event possible.

The Green-tailed Towhee is one of the more distinctive sparrows we search for on the ABA’s Southeast Arizona: Sparrows of the Grasslands and Sky Islands workshop. Join the ABA in southeastern Arizona! Learn more and sign up: www.aba.org/southeast-ar...

With its brilliant emerald-green plumage, orange mask, and coral-red bill and legs, the Grass-green Tanager is an unmistakable Andean tanager of humid montane forests. Learn more and sign up for the ABA's tour to Peru: www.aba.org/southern-per...

The September Photo Quiz is up! Good luck! www.aba.org/september-20...

It also occurs to me that @aba.org's #BirdoftheYear fits today's #BirdogtheDay #Borb theme. Check out American Birding Association's Tee here: www.aba.org/store/horned...

It is daunting to keep up with the explosion of ornithological research at the present time. Mikko Jimenez, Andres Jimenez, and Sarah Swanson join host Nate Swick to discuss recent research on everything from plover conservation to songbird migration. Listen here: www.aba.org/this-month-i...

Fall of 2026 is shaping up to be another invasion season for a few montane species, especially a couple corvids, which are engaging in widespread movements. Asher Gorbet explains: www.aba.org/ongoing-mont...

Last call to register for the ABA Community Weekend in St. Louis, Missouri! Join the American Birding Association for a full weekend of birding, community, and celebration in and around St. Louis, Missouri, Sept. 26–27, 2026. Register here: www.aba.org/aba-communit...

New book review! Rick Wright explains how Australian historian Russell McGregor’s new book, Enchantment by Birds, is a story of human encounters with 22 species which opens into the discussion of a different aspect of the history of birding in Australia. Read here: www.aba.org/micro-histor...

The Sardinian Warbler is a quintessential bird of Mediterranean scrub, and one of the species we’ll be looking for on the ABA’s Greece Spring Birding: Athens and the Greek Mainland, March 28–April 7, 2027. Learn more and sign up: www.aba.org/greece-sprin...

The intricate rufous, brown, black, and white plumage of the Orange River Francolin can make it surprisingly difficult to pick out. Join the ABA in Namibia this December and search for this handsome, ground-dwelling bird of southern African grasslands. Learn more: www.aba.org/namibia-bird...

Really unexpected lifer today in Wellfleet (Cape Cod): a Crested Caracara, which is supposed to be down the length of South America, maybe as north as Florida. Seen by many. @aba.org is this a MA first?

The ABA Staff and Board Retreat has officially concluded! We spent the past few days talking about many exciting possibilities for the future. There has never been a better time to be a member of the association. ABA.org/membership

ABA staff and board members were delighted to receive copies of two exciting new books about birds: The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, and The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet by Scott Weidensaul.

The ABA Community Weekend in St. Louis, Missouri, is coming up soon! Join the American Birding Association for a full weekend of birding, community, and celebration in and around St. Louis, Missouri, Sept. 26–27, 2026. Register here: www.aba.org/aba-communit...

Last Call: Register for the 2027 Young Birder of the Year Program before Sept. 15, 2026! The program is open to young birders between the ages of 10 and 18. Register here: www.aba.org/young-birder...

Rebecca Minardi reviews Stacey Pazar Huth and Noah T. Gibb's new book, An Experiment in Birding, a chronicle of their record-breaking Maine Big Year in 2025 and a guide on how to have your own amazing Big Year. Read here: www.aba.org/a-big-year-h...

The 2025 eBird/Clements bird taxonomy update featured some widely talked about changes, such as splits of Yellow Warbler and Whimbrel. But there are also a couple changes that flew under the radar due to not being explicitly listed in the update. Read here: www.aba.org/additional-2...

Tune in to watch What's This Bird? Live! with Nate and Greg today at 1 PM ET! www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8VO...

Few birds have the presence of a Great Gray Owl. Join the American Birding Association on next year's Minnesota: Winter in the Sax-Zim Bog birding adventure for a chance to encounter this spectacular species. Learn more and reserve your spot: www.aba.org/minnesota-wi...

Young birders leading the way! The ABA is teaming up with the Youth Members of the Maryland Ornithological Society (YMOS) for a young birder-led field trip during the MOS Convention. Learn more and register: americanbirdingassociation.wetravel.com/trips/aba-ym...

Did not really know what to expect going in. Ended up having a great conversation.

New young birder essay up on Owen Deutsch's blog! ABA Young Birder Madeleine Moon-Chun reflects on conservation, community, and what it means to be a "true birder." Read here: owendeutsch.com/true-birding...

Registration for the 2027 Young Birder of the Year Program is ongoing through Sept. 15, 2026! Register here: www.aba.org/young-birder... From last year's illustration module: Grace Jiang, "Threegrets"

Rüppell’s Warbler is one of the striking Eastern Mediterranean specialties we’ll be searching for on the ABA’s Greece Spring Birding: Athens and the Greek Mainland tour, Mar. 28–Apr. 7, 2027! Learn more and register: www.aba.org/greece-sprin...

New podcast episode! Holly Greenberg, an artist with Bird Collisions in the Anthropocene, is making a difference for birds by engaging communities about the perils of buildings and other structures for migrating birds. Listen here: www.aba.org/making-art-o...

Craig Benkman is the world's foremost expert on crossbills. In this feature-length interview in the May 2025 issue of Birding, Prof. Benkman reveals how he got started with crossbills and updates us on the latest Cassia Crossbill research. Read here: www.aba.org/a-birding-in...

The Ontario: Winter 2025–2026 Regional Report is up! Highlights include Glaucous-winged Gull, Spotted Towhee, and an irruption of Black-backed Woodpeckers in the province. Read the full report here: www.aba.org/ontario-wint...