In Color Birding Club

Somehow, this diving sea duck even looks like it was named after a British admiral. Barrow’s goldeneyes love the mountain lakes and rocky coastlines of the Northwest, eating insects and crustaceans, depending on season and habitat. Video: Dan Streiffert

🐤 Birds are an indicator species, serving a similar (unfortunate) role to the "Canary in the coal mine." They signal environmental distress.
Their population health, presence, or decline reflects the overall condition of an ecosystem, revealing issues like pollution, habitat loss, or climate change that might be harder to detect otherwise, just as Canaries warned miners of toxic gases.

If we want clean air, healthy forests, balanced soils, and thriving wildlife, we must protect bird diversity and the habitats they depend on.

Join us on February 25 as we kick off the 2026 San Diego Bird Festival with Jason Hall, host of the Bird Joy podcast and founder of the In Color Birding Club.

Over the years, Jason has transformed his love of birding into a movement for community and inclusion. He is a son of SoCal (Pasadena) and the adopted son of Philly. He is the founder of the In Color Birding Club (ICBC), a nonprofit that creates safe, joyful, and welcoming entry points into birding for historically marginalized communities. Through ICBC, Jason and his board work to expand access to nature across the Philadelphia region—partnering with local organizations to host bird outings, sponsor buses for public school field trips, provide classroom supply scholarships for teachers, and organize community food drives.

View all keynote speakers and get tickets: https://www.sandiegobirdfestival.org/keynote-speakers

If you’ve never been to The Biggest Week In American Birding this is as good a time as any to go! Among the guest speakers is a friend Nicole Jackson!!

We’re excited to welcome Nicole Jackson to the 2026 Biggest Week!

Join Nicole for "Birding and Ecoliteracy: Unlocking Nature's Warnings Through Birding" on Friday, May 15.

The birds we love to watch are sending us vital messages about the state of our world. Why are some species disappearing? Why are others arriving earlier each spring? In this talk, we'll learn the language of ecoliteracy, using birds as our key indicators to understand environmental shifts. Learn how to listen to their stories and become a more informed and impactful advocate for the natural world.

Visit www.bwiab.com to learn more about all of our presentations and workshops.

Bird ID Tips with Black Swamp Bird Observatory

Today’s comparison: Juveniles Cooper's Hawk (COHA) and Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk (SSHA)

🪶 COHA have a larger, more robust bill compared to the smaller bill of SSHA.
🪶 SSHA often appear “bug-eyed,” with eyes that look oversized for their small heads, while COHA have eyes that appear more proportionate.
🪶 Juvenile COHA show teardrop-shaped streaking on the underparts, whereas SSHA display streaks that are more uniform in width.
🪶 When perched, the tail features of SSHA line up evenly on the underside, while COHA has graduated tail feathers of varying lengths that do not align.

Which field mark do you rely on most when telling these species apart? What species do you want to see compared next? Let us know in the comments!e

Do you love birds and building community?
We’d love to have you join our volunteer-led Events Committee in 2026!

If you have ideas for new programs, partnerships, or ways to bring fresh energy to our existing spaces, please bring them forward. Together, we’ll create events that connect our community to birds across as many green spaces in Philly as possible.

We’ll be hosting an information session this winter to share more details. The date will be announced soon as we gauge interest.

Ready to help shape what’s next?

Send us a note at [email protected] and let’s build a vibrant mixed flock moving forward together!

Description:

A graphic on a black background features the In Color Birding logo at the top: a stylized bird with a red head, a blue wing, and a yellow wing, followed by the organization name in white serif text.

Along the bottom of the image is a row of colorful stylized birds matching the logo style. They form a vibrant “mixed flock” in various solid colors. The birds are brown, orange, yellow, white, blue, green, and red.

We did our first hybrid birding event at

What is that you say? We offered indoor and outdoor birding. Outdoor birding included a jaunt out to the dock and along the trails where we observed 24 species. This included some great looks at Canvasback, Hooded Mergansers, and Lesser Scaup!

Indoors we pulled up some LIVE feeder videos from Panama and Arizona! We enjoyed Mexican Jays and Chestnut-headed Oropendolas. The highlights were the Violet Sabrewings and Long-biller Hermits that zipped in and out in the canopy lodge feeders in Panama!

This was 10/10 with food and a free bird book giveaway!

Huge thanks to for helping us get this thing going. More to come!

Now seeking our next class of fellows! This full-time, 12-month paid fellowship offers the selected applicants the opportunity to gain experience in land management and community outreach, become familiar with local flora and fauna, and learn the workings of a land trust.

Launched in 2022, the 21st Century Conservation Fellowship was established to support increased diversity in the fields of environmental land management and natural areas conservation. Preserve experience will be augmented by experiences with Natural Lands’ departments – Conservation, Finance, Human Resources, Communications and Engagement, and Development. This is a hands-on position with training provided.

All applicants interested in bringing their varied lived and learned experiences to the organization are encouraged to apply:
https://secure10.saashr.com/ta/6192807.careers?ShowJob=671752002

📸 Image features current 2025 Fellows Tahlia Schreiber (left) and Fateen Stafford (right) as captured by Adam Hribar

We’re so grateful for any support you can send our way this . 💛
This year has been full of growth and countless moments of connection. Creating safe and inclusive spaces to explore the outdoors through birding is why we exist, and we’re so proud of the community that’s helped us build this far.

If you’re able, contributions can be made through the at incolorbirding.org/contribute. Your support truly keeps this work moving.

We hope you’re taking good care, finding pockets of joy, and getting outside when you can.



Description in comments.

Join In Color Birding Club for a special hybrid birding event at The Discovery Center in Philadelphia! This winter-season gathering is designed to create a warm, welcoming space for birders of all comfort levels.

We’ll explore the reservoir area with a mix of stationary and mobile outdoor birding, and we’ll also enjoy indoor birding through global live-stream cams (thanks to explore.org). Inside, a spacious event room with floor-to-ceiling windows provides excellent views of the reservoir.

Additional details in the comments.