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 [...]
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Upcoming Field Trips
Horn Pond Woburn
Woburn - Horn Pond - Sturgis St 98 Sturgis St, Woburn, MA, United StatesCo-sponsored with Menotomy Bird Club. Join us as we search a different patch of Horn Pond for early spring migrants - particularly Pine, Palm, and Yellow-rumped Warblers, but there may also be phoebes, several sparrows, kinglets and thrushes. Or, let's find a surprise.
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery 536 Mt Auburn St, Cambridge, MA, United StatesWillard Brook State Forest
Townsend - Willard Brook State Forest MA, United StatesA brisk midweek walk along scenic Willard Brook and connecting trails in search of early migrants, including Louisiana Waterthrush, Pine Warbler, and other early arrivers, as well as resident Brown Creepers, thrushes, Purple Finches, and others. Terrain is rocky hillside, and the streambed can be muddy, snowy, wet, and icy. Boots, walking sticks, and warm [...]
Slow Birding at Revere Beach
Revere Beach 21 Revere Beach Blvd, Revere, MA, United StatesLed by DCR Park Staff. Come observe the beautiful details of birds and their behaviors and share observations with others in the group. Pose questions and memories that observations elicit. Birds we may see include Piping Plover, Manx Shearwater, resident gulls, with Common Tern arriving by May. Suitable for adults and children 8 years+. Children [...]