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Backyard Bird ID Workshop, March 20th

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Photo: Cerulean Warbler by Matt Felperin

Thursday, March 20, 2025
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Virtual

Free – RSVP now and start birding!

Sign-up for this exciting backyard bird identification workshop, where you will dive into the fascinating world of local birds and seasonal visitors! Whether you’re watching from your window, patio, or garden, you’ll gain the confidence to identify and appreciate the birds around you.

During this workshop, we’ll cover:

  • Common backyard bird species you’re likely to see year-round

  • Migratory warblers that might pass through your yard this Spring

  • Essential birding tools—from field guides to apps and binoculars

  • How to use Merlin to identify unfamiliar birds

  • How to use e-bird to report birds you observe

  • Tips for creating a team and participating in Birdathon

This is also a great opportunity for Wildlife Sanctuary Program participants to brush up on how to identify the Sanctuary Species that visit their yards. You need to document 10 sanctuary species to get your certification! Board Member Betsy Martin will join workshop to speak about that program and how you can make your yards friendlier to birds.

SPARROW IDENTIFICATION WITH BILL YOUNG, February 15th

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Photo: Courtesy of ASNV Savannah Sparrow, Jon Boeckenstedt/Audubon Photography Awards

Wednesday, February 15, 2023
7:00 – 8:00 PM

This is a virtual event

ASNV Members-$15.00 (Non-members $25.00)

Click here for registration details.

Sparrows can be difficult to identify. They are small birds that often skulk in the underbrush, and their plumage shows a very limited palette of colors. This class will help you to tell apart the sparrows you might see in Northern Virginia and to separate them from other small brown sparrow-like birds.

Bill Young is a writer who lives in Arlington. He is the co-creator (with Ashley Bradford) of the MPNature.com website, and he has taught numerous classes for ASNV.

Great Backyard Bird Count Workshop and Kahoot!, February 3rd

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Thursday, February 3, 2022
7 – 8:30 pm
Online.
Register here.

Save the date! The next GBBC is February 18 – 21. Bird enthusiasts of all ages count birds to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are ranging. Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time.

Now, hundreds of thousands of people, all ages and walks of life worldwide, join the four-day count each February to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds.

This FREE workshop will cover the history of GBBC, its purpose, tips for identifying birds, and the protocols to be followed while counting.

After the presentation, theyll test your identification skills with a Kahoot!

Octobird Fest at The Clifton Institute, webinars October 16th and 30th

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Winter Bird Identification
Friday, October 16, 2020
7 – 8 pm
Register here.
$20 registers you for both webinars.

Every season brings its own challenges for birdwatching. In winter similar-looking sparrows can be hard to tell apart and birding by ear becomes more difficult as birds start singing less and calling more. Join the leaders of The Clifton Institute bimonthly bird walks, including Executive Director Bert Harris, to learn some tips for identifying winter birds. Managing Director Eleanor Harris will quiz them with tricky calls and pictures and you can play along as Bert talks through the identification process. And then come out for one of their bird walks and put your new skills to the test!

Evolution and Biology of Bird Song
Friday, October 30, 2020
7 – 8 pm
Register here.
$20 registers you for both webinars.

Bird songs are beautiful and diverse and they have played an important role in the evolution of birds. Bird songs also give us the opportunity to see animals learning and sexual selection in action. In this presentation Managing Director Eleanor Harris, Ph.D., will give an overview on the biology and evolution of bird songs. And she’ll highlight some of the questions about bird songs that scientists still don’t have answers for. Throughout the talk she’ll focus on local examples.