Calling all Bird Clubs to join a network of Sister Bird Clubs stretching throughout the Americas

             Neeotropical migratory birds connect our clubs.  For many of the bird clubs in Canada and the U.S., our "birds of summer" are

Members of the Cayuga Bird Club in Ithaca, NY enjoying our

"birds of summer."  Photo credit: Jody Enck

the "birds of winter" for Clubs in Central and South America.  We know these birds.  We enjoy seeing them and being thrilled by their songs.  We anticipate their arrival and lament their departure. 

          These birds course through our veins, and fill us with life.  If

One of our declining Neotropical migratory warblers -

Black-throated Green Warbler.  Photo Credit: Greg Lavaty.

bird migration is the heartbeat of healthy ecosystems and habitats stretching the length of the Americas, then birds are like the blood cells flowing along those migration pathways.  In spring, their arrival brings a breath of fresh air to those of who have been holding our breath all winter waiting for their return.  Just like a blood cell carrying oxygen, they nourish us in so many ways.

It’s a little different in the Fall.  We do get excited about s

Holding on to another Neotropical migrant for just a little

while longer.  A Northern Parula being banded at the 

National Audubon Society's Hog Island Camp.   

Photo Credit: Jody Enck.

eeing bird species that pass by twice a year on migration.  But this also is a melancholy time as we know many of our breeding "birds of summer" will be joining those other migrants on their annual pulse.  Winter will be coming soon again for those of us in the north, and we want to hold on to our "birds of summer" just a little while longer.

But, our loss as birders in the northern part of the hemisphere is a gain for birders in clubs father south.  I know that

Members of Las Tanunas Club de observaciones de aves

from Gracias, Honduras birding one of their favorite hotspots

looking for their "birds of winter."  Photo credit: Jody Enck.

birders on the wintering grounds look forward to their "birds of winter" just as much as we northerners look forward to the arrival of our "birds of summer."  These same birds nourish birders in the south, too.

Yes, Neotropical migratory birds nourish all parts of our birding community regardless of where we live in the Hemisphere.  We know a fair amount about those birds – their ecology, behaviors, and migration pathways.  But, what do we know of other birders along those migratory pathways?  Wouldn’t it be great to connect with them through a network of sister bird clubs?

Members of Los Jilgueros club de observaciones de aves from

Mancala, Honduras work with school kids to learn about birds.

Photo Credit: David Andres Hernandez Vasquez.

If you’ve been following this blog for the last couple of months, then you know that one of my dreams is to help develop such a network.  To start bringing this dream to reality, I spend about a month in Honduras from mid-October to mid-November meeting with members of six of the seven bird clubs in the country.  The response to the idea of establishing a network of sister bird clubs between North and Central America was remarkable.  I returned to the U.S. more excited and energized than I have felt in a long time.

Now, I want to build some momentum.  The clubs in Honduras generated some great ideas about why they want to be part of a sister club network and how they see that playing out.  The club to which I belong – the Cayuga Bird Club in Ithaca, NY – has some ideas, too.  What about the rest of you?  Surely there is interest among other clubs in North America to be part of a network of sister bird clubs.  Here is your chance to get on the bandwagon while it’s still moving slowly. 

Please join me in working with my new friends, Hector Moncada (left, from

Club Los Zorzales in San Pedro Sula, Honduras) and Francisco Rovelo (right, from

Club Las Tanunas in Gracias, Honduras) to build a network of sister bird clubs

throughout the hemisphere.  Photo credit: Jody Enck.

Are you interested in joining?  What would you want to get out of this network?  What would you like to help facilitate through the network?  Please help us bring this dream to reality by leaving ideas and your contact info in the comments section below.  I’ll be in touch!