[MASSBIRD] Association of Massachusetts Birding Clubs

[John Nelson]

The Association of Massachusetts Birding Clubs was founded in 2016 to improve communication within the birding community and work toward common goals. The Association now includes 19 clubs representing well over 4000 birders from across the state. 

One mission of the Association is conservation advocacy. In recent months the Association has signed on as a co-sponsor of a Massachusetts Act to Protect Pollinators, which would reduce residential use of pesticides, and we have signed on to an American Bird Conservancy petition that opposes any weakening in interpretation or enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. We also encourage members to participate in Citizen Science projects, like breeding bird censuses of Mass Fish and Wildlife properties, reporting of sightings of state-listed breeding birds, and current Mass Audubon projects such as the Eastern Meadowlark Survey and an Avian Collision Team survey of window strikes in downtown Boston.

Many member clubs have also joined the New England Birding Calendar, sponsored by the journal Bird Observer, which provides a service to birders by listing club field trips and other events across Massachusetts and New England. You can access the calendar at www.birdingcalendar.com

The Association will hold its next meeting from 10:00 to 12:30 on Sunday, July 14 at the Mass Fish and Wildlife offices at Westborough WMA in Westborough. All meetings and the Association's Google Group are open to any individual member of any member club. If you have questions, want to join the Google Group, or need further information, you can contact me privately. 

John Nelson

Acting Chair, Association of Massachusetts Birding Clubs

Chair, Brookline Bird Club Conservation and Education Committee