BBC’s new Code of Ethics and Conduct
If you are involved with the Brookline Bird Club, we know that you have a great love for and appreciation of birds and nature. The BBC is committed to providing programs in which all participants have a safe and welcoming space to explore their own personal connection to birds and nature.
In keeping with this commitment, the BBC board thought it was time to take a fresh look at our Code of Ethics and Conduct and Trip Leader Guidelines. The resulting updates emphasize the importance of respect for birds, the environment, and for each other.
The board has also formed a Committee on Community and Culture that will assist the club in working toward its mission of building a more diverse, more welcoming community and a culture of inclusion and respect. To learn more about our work or to get involved, please contact the committee at community@brooklinebirdclub.org.
Across Massachusetts and the country, the birding community is moving forward with a new focus on programming that is more accessible to all who want to enjoy nature and policy that promotes safety and inclusion. The BBC is excited to be part of that movement!
We recommend following resources to learn more and get involved. If you have meaningful resources you would like us to add to this list, please let us know!
Resources on safer bird watching:
Safety Tips For Better Birding
The Murmuration, a crowd-sourced document of eBird hotspots in Massachusetts, including information on safety concerns.
Further reading on inclusivity in birding and nature:
It’s Time to Build a Truly Inclusive Outdoors, Corina Newsome (Audubon Magazine, Summer 2020)
Birds are Here for Everyone: How Black Birders are Finding Community, Aliya Uteuova, (The Guardian, June 2021)
Murmuration is the Movement: Panelists discuss diversity in birding, Jon Stinchcomb (Port Clinton News Herald, May 2021)
Birding While Black, J. Drew Lanham (Literary Hub, September 2016)
How to be a Welcoming and Inclusive Birder, (Ray Brown’s Talkin’ Birds)
Creating Safe Spaces: Promoting more-inclusive experiences for all (National Wildlife Federation, August 2021)
Organizations to check out and consider supporting:
2024 BBC scholarship winners
Congratulations to our 2024 BBC Scholarship winners, Evelyn and John! The Brookline Bird Club Conservation and Education Committee is pleased to announce our two annual Bill Drummond Young Birder Scholarship recipients, Evelyn Jones of Lunenburg
Shorebirds and Horseshoe Crabs need your help!
Interested in taking action to protect horseshoe crabs in Massachusetts? Migrating shorebirds depend on their eggs for critical migration fuel and there are multiple ways you can get involved as a concerned citizen: Take
Nuttall Club special event with Peter Kaestner
Peter Kaestner in his Search for 10,000 Species of Birds in the World - A Special Event Sponsored by the Nuttall Ornithological Club Peter Kaestner after seeing his 10,000th world bird species in the Philippines.
Camp Edwards Grassland Bird Tours
The Massachusetts Army National Guard’s Natural Resource Program is hosting grassland bird tours in May on Camp Edwards. This is an unusual opportunity for avid birders, naturalists and photographers to walk through the Camp Edwards
BBC daily field trips to Mount Auburn are back!
It’s that time of year again! The Brookline Bird Club will be leading daily birding trips through Mount Auburn Cemetery, an oasis for migrating birds, this spring from Wednesday April 17th through Sunday May 26th
BBC Spring 2024 Bulletin
The Brookline Bird Club's Spring 2024 Bulletin, also known as our "blue book", has arrived in member mailboxes! The spring blue book contains a wealth of information for BBC members, including upcoming meetings and our
2024 BBC scholarship winners
Congratulations to our 2024 BBC Scholarship winners, Evelyn and John! The Brookline Bird Club Conservation and Education Committee is pleased to announce our two annual Bill Drummond Young Birder Scholarship recipients, Evelyn Jones of Lunenburg
Shorebirds and Horseshoe Crabs need your help!
Interested in taking action to protect horseshoe crabs in Massachusetts? Migrating shorebirds depend on their eggs for critical migration fuel and there are multiple ways you can get involved as a concerned citizen: Take
Nuttall Club special event with Peter Kaestner
Peter Kaestner in his Search for 10,000 Species of Birds in the World - A Special Event Sponsored by the Nuttall Ornithological Club Peter Kaestner after seeing his 10,000th world bird species in the Philippines.
Camp Edwards Grassland Bird Tours
The Massachusetts Army National Guard’s Natural Resource Program is hosting grassland bird tours in May on Camp Edwards. This is an unusual opportunity for avid birders, naturalists and photographers to walk through the Camp Edwards
BBC daily field trips to Mount Auburn are back!
It’s that time of year again! The Brookline Bird Club will be leading daily birding trips through Mount Auburn Cemetery, an oasis for migrating birds, this spring from Wednesday April 17th through Sunday May 26th
BBC Spring 2024 Bulletin
The Brookline Bird Club's Spring 2024 Bulletin, also known as our "blue book", has arrived in member mailboxes! The spring blue book contains a wealth of information for BBC members, including upcoming meetings and our
2024 BBC scholarship winners
Congratulations to our 2024 BBC Scholarship winners, Evelyn and John! The Brookline Bird Club Conservation and Education Committee is pleased to announce our two annual Bill Drummond Young Birder Scholarship recipients, Evelyn Jones of Lunenburg
Shorebirds and Horseshoe Crabs need your help!
Interested in taking action to protect horseshoe crabs in Massachusetts? Migrating shorebirds depend on their eggs for critical migration fuel and there are multiple ways you can get involved as a concerned citizen: Take
Nuttall Club special event with Peter Kaestner
Peter Kaestner in his Search for 10,000 Species of Birds in the World - A Special Event Sponsored by the Nuttall Ornithological Club Peter Kaestner after seeing his 10,000th world bird species in the Philippines.
Camp Edwards Grassland Bird Tours
The Massachusetts Army National Guard’s Natural Resource Program is hosting grassland bird tours in May on Camp Edwards. This is an unusual opportunity for avid birders, naturalists and photographers to walk through the Camp Edwards
BBC daily field trips to Mount Auburn are back!
It’s that time of year again! The Brookline Bird Club will be leading daily birding trips through Mount Auburn Cemetery, an oasis for migrating birds, this spring from Wednesday April 17th through Sunday May 26th
BBC Spring 2024 Bulletin
The Brookline Bird Club's Spring 2024 Bulletin, also known as our "blue book", has arrived in member mailboxes! The spring blue book contains a wealth of information for BBC members, including upcoming meetings and our
News Categories
Upcoming Field Trips
Field Trips / Events
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Mt. Greylock
Mount Greylock Visitors Center 30 Rockwell Road, Lanesborough, MA, United StatesGreylock and October Mountain trips may be swapped for best weather on the Greylock day. If wet weather predicted for the Berkshires, contact the leader in advance for potential change. This will be an exciting trip with the occasional surprise. Mourning Warbler has always been a specialty of this trip. Enjoy the warblers and other
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October Mountain
Lenox - October Mountain 380 New Lenox Rd, Lenox, MA, United StatesGreylock and October Mountain trips may be swapped for best weather on the Greylock day. Contact the leader in advance. Multiple habitats make this trip more diversified than the prior day’s Mount Greylock trip, as we begin along the Housatonic River WMA and make our way over October Mountain. Cosponsored by the South Shore Bird
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Breeding Bird Survey, Plymouth Airport
Plymouth Airport 246 S Meadow Rd, Plymouth, MA, United StatesLimited participation. 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. We will be allowed to survey the entire airport grounds before the airport opens to flights to confirm as many breeding species we can. This special habitat has Upland Sandpiper, American Kestrels, Eastern Meadowlarks, and Grasshopper Sparrows, all species of special concern. Also includes pine barrens specialists like Prairie
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New Member Walk at Fresh Pond, Cambridge
Cambridge - Fresh Pond - TD Bank 235 Alewife Brook Pkwy, Cambridge, MA, United StatesThis walk is intended for new members! Get to know your fellow club members. Bring a friend if you like. An easy 2-mile walk through pondside meadows and forest paths at Fresh Pond. We'll see summer residents including breeding birds. We will meet in the parking lot of the TD Bank at Fresh Pond Circle,
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Fruitlands Museum, Harvard
Harvard - Fruitlands Museum 102 Prospect Hill Rd., Harvard, MA, United StatesCosponsored with Boxborough Birders. We will look for resident species including Indigo Bunting, Savannah Sparrow, Hermit Thrush, Scarlet Tanager, Veery, Blue-headed Vireo, Wild Turkey, American Kestrel, and a variety of warblers. Expect to walk about two miles on trails through meadows and woods, with some steep sections. Prepare for ticks. We will bird at the