(HOPEWELL, NJ) -- On Thursday, February 10 at 7:00pm, The Sourland Conservancy presents a virtual program entitled, "The ABCs of Birding in the Sourlands: Identifying Winter Backyard Birds" via ZOOM. The Sourland region, designated by National Audubon as a continental IBA (Important BirdArea) attracts many different birds each season. This talk is a great way for beginner birders to get started on the basics of bird identification is to study the ones in their own backyards. Information will be provided on how to safely attract and feed birds in your yard, and how you can become a citizen scientist by participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) a week later!

The Sourland region, designated by National Audubon as a continental IBA (Important Bird Area) attracts many different birds each season. There are year-round residents as well as transitory migratory birds that only stop long enough to feed on their long journeys in spring and fall, neotropical migrants that come in the spring to spend the summer, and “snow birds” from the northern forests that come here to find food in the winter and then head back north in the spring. A great way for beginner birders to get started on the basics of bird identification is to study the ones in their own backyards. Feeding birds in winter is a great way to attract them for a closer look.

This talk seeks to simplify the process of learning by initially narrowing the focus to only those birds that can be at or near feeders in the Sourlands in winter. You’ll learn the critical field marks that differentiate similar-looking species from each other (not all those sparrows are the same species, and some of them may not even be sparrows!).  Information will be provided on how to safely attract and feed birds in your yard, and how you can become a citizen scientist by participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) a week later!   

Sign up via https://tiny.cc/SCWinter

Juanita Hummel has been a Sourland Mountain resident for 37 years and an avid birder for longer than that.  After retiring from a career as a lab scientist, she headed outdoors to the natural world to learn more about birds, plants, butterflies and amphibians and the habitats in which they live. She is currently serving as President of the Washington Crossing Audubon Society.  She is a Pennsylvania Master Naturalist, is a volunteer naturalist at Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, has participated in many citizen science projects, and enjoys eco-traveling to observe birds and plants in their native habitats around the world.