Annual Birders Meeting Returns Live to Holy Cross on Sunday, April 2, with Special Guest David Sibley

LINCOLN, MA—Mass Audubon welcomes birders of all abilities and backgrounds to its 31st annual Birders Meeting taking place Sunday, April 2, 8 am-4 pm, at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester.

This year’s gathering will feature author, field guide writer, and nature artist David Sibley, considered to be the successor to the iconic naturalist Roger Tory Peterson.
Each year, Birders Meeting attracts hundreds of birding enthusiasts and other nature lovers from throughout New England for an all-day communal gathering focused on presentations ranging from the latest field research to appreciations of specific bird species.

This will be the first Birders Meeting to be held live since shifting to a virtual format in 2021 in response to the pandemic. This year’s event is also being held about a month later than in past years, to align more closely with early-spring migration and the enthusiasm of birders who will have already been using their binoculars and scopes this year.

Mass Audubon President David J. O’Neill will welcome attendees to Birders Meeting, which will feature four presenters this year:

• Environmental writer/photographer and former Boston Globe columnist Derrick Z. Jackson will discuss how “Puffins & People Share the Same Sacrifice Zone.” Co-author with Steve Kress of “Project Puffin” and “The Puffin Plan”, Jackson will explore the connection between the climate threats to puffins and to environmental injustice for communities hundreds of miles away from puffin islands. He is a UCS Fellow with the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Center for Science & Democracy.
• Mass Audubon Coastal Resilience Ecologist Annalee Tweitmann will focus on “Salt Marsh Restoration Across the Massachusetts Coast.” She will share how the conservation organization’s Coastal Resilience Program is using climate adaptation and nature-based climate solutions to focus on the protection, management, and restoration of four coastal priority habitats: beaches, bird breeding islands, coastal uplands, and salt marshes.Tweitmann has worked in coastal ecology for over six years, working on living shorelines and shellfish restoration projects up and down the East Coast.
• Author, science writer and cartoonist Rosemary Mosco will defend “The Most Misunderstood Bird - Why Rock Pigeons are Secretly Amazing”. She will share ancient stories and the latest science to show why this species is worth a second look. Mosco is the creator of the nature cartoon “Bird and Moon,” which won the National Cartoonists Society’s award for Best Online Short Form Comic. She has written and drawn for The New York Times, Audubon, PBS kids’ Elinor Wonders Why, Ranger Rick, and more.
• Using a selection of illustrations and information from his best-selling book “What It's Like to be a Bird”, Sibley will talk about some of the incredible things that birds are able to do, and the adaptations that make those things possible. Sibley is the author and illustrator of the series of successful guides to nature that bear his name, including the New York Times bestsellers “The Sibley Guide to Birds” and “What It's Like to be a Bird.” He is the recipient of the Roger Tory Peterson Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Birding Association and the Linnaean Society of New York’s Eisenmann Medal.

Mass Audubon Director of Conservation Science Jeff Collins said that a big part of the allure of Birders Meeting is that it offers a fun and social atmosphere as attendees have a chance to catch up with past acquaintances and make new birding friends.

But the natural world is facing serious threats as the planet warms, Collins noted. “With climate change impacting wildlife and the habitats they depend on around the world, protecting and promoting broad biodiversity, including bird life, has never been more urgent,” he said. “Meaningful climate action now threads though every element of Mass Audubon’s work, and we hope the takeaway from this year’s Birders Meeting is to have inspired everyone who participated to help meet the challenge.”

Continental breakfast and lunch will be included in the registration fee, which is $85 for Mass Audubon members, $100 for nonmembers.

The conference will also include an area for vendors and sponsors. Sponsors include Naturalist Journeys, Conservancy Travel, and Ray Brown’s Talkin’ Birds, the popular radio program and podcast. Host Ray Brown has also been invited to attend.