Birds from Behind : 22 December 2013

Oops...did you know Christmas is almost here? And I haven't done any shopping...as usual. Oh dear.
Actually, me and The Doodles don't do the giftie thing any longer. We decided a few years ago to use that money to help preserve habitat for our birdie buddies. So...I thought I'd share a few ideas with you. There are so many organizations out there that help birds and wildlife to pick from, these are our favorites.

Number one on our list is the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. Kim Kaufman and those folks are amazing! Bird banding, the Biggest Week In American Birding, the Ohio Young Birders Club and all of their education programs done from that tiny building...they deserve all the help anyone can afford!

The Las Gralarias Foundation of Ecuador is doing wonderful work in research and habitat restoration in the cloud forest of South America. They have saved many acres of land in the Mindo Valley, discovered new species of frogs and butterflies and even put up with me and The Doodles for a week of amazing birding(over 350 species!) None of that work comes for free you know...

Get a membership in the Cornell Lab, help with the Great Backyard Bird Count, there's so many ways to help in citizen science projects.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds started in 1889 and is still going strong with wonderful preserves all over the UK. We were fortunate enough to spend time visiting a great friend and birding in a number of these preserves. More great work to save our feathered friends!

The ABA has been reorganized and is bigger and better than ever. With memberships, the Birders Exchange, field trips, Young Birder events, great magazines and even a book shop, the ABA is worth looking into.

...and speaking of books...

I would feel bad if I didn't at least mention a few gifts that your favorite bird buddy might enjoy! This has been a great year for new guides, especially The Warbler Guide (my most favoritest book ever!) and the Crossley ID Guides to Birds and Raptors.

Princeton University Press has also issued a number of books on birds that may soon disappear such as The Worlds Rarest Birds and The Unfeathered Bird. They also have a great selection of fields guides for any country or island you could imagine going to for the winter...I'm dreaming right now.