“The Feminist Bird Club’s Birding for a Better World”

Molly Adams and Sydney Golden Anderson (2023). The Feminist Bird Club’s Birding for a Better World: A Guide to Finding Joy and Community in Nature. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

If you are new to birding, you aren’t feeling welcome to your birding community, you want to make new birders feel welcome to birding, you’re interested in taking leadership in your birding community, or you’re already a leader in your birding community, this book is written for you. I decided just to provide an illustrated table of contents for this book, rather than trying to offer my own interpretation of what these authors are saying. Here goes.

● Welcome, 9–19

Welcome spread, pp. 8–9

○ “Birding is for all of us” (p. 9).

○ What Is Feminist Bird Club? 11–13

○ The Collective Power of “We,” 13

○ So, Who Are Your Authors? 13–16

○ Why This Book? Why Now? 16–18

● Feminist Bird Club Principles, 20–21

[Be inclusive, embrace diversity, fight to conserve and protect wildlife and wildlife habitats, be respectful at birding events.]

● Glossary, 22–27 — e.g., accessibility, nature, “So-called United States”

Glossary, sample pages

○ Journal prompt + lined page for writing, 28–29

● Chapter One. The Basics of Birding: Finding Stillness and Looking Closely, 31–69

○ What Brought Molly to Birding? 34–35

○ How Did Sydney Find Birding? 38–39

○ Journal prompt + lined page for writing, 40–41

Journal prompts, with lined pages for notes, allow for personalization of the text.

○ Useful Birding Tools, 42–47 — suggestions for making birding more accessible to more people
– binoculars and scopes
– camping stool or lightweight chair
– earplugs or headphones
– guidebook or birding app — e.g., free apps, such as Merlin, eBird
○ Binocular Tips and Tricks, 47
○ Where Can You Bird? 47–48 — anywhere, if you’re respectful of the habitats and wildlife around you
○ Bird Habitats, 48–52
○ Plumage and Song, 52–55

As you can see, most pages are charmingly enhanced with lovely bird illustrations.

○ Debunking Birding Myths, 56–57

○ Journal prompt + lined page for writing, 58–59

○ Birding as Meditation, 60–63 — suggestions for letting nature offer you solace, healing, rejuvenation

Full-page illustrations are scattered throughout the book, such as this lovely Osprey with its fishy prey.

○ Journal prompt + lined page for writing, 66–69

● Chapter Two. Better Birding: Inclusivity and Accessibility in the Outdoors, 71–93
○ Striving toward Making Birding Events More Accessible, 75–77

○ Journal prompt + lined page for writing, 78–79
○ Inclusivity in the Outdoors, 81–84
○ We Take Care of Each Other, 84–88
○ Learning, Unlearning, Leaning on Each Other, 89–90
○ Journal prompt + lined page for writing, 91–93
● Chapter Three. Birding with Care: Issues, Ethics, and Responsibilities, 95–117

[Issues include habitat loss, climate change, collisions with buildings, outdoor cats, off-leash dogs, off-trail hikers, drones, …]
[Things birders and others can do to minimize threats to birds]
[Birding behavior that threatens and endangers birds: bird baiting, camera flashes, pishing, . . .]

○ Journal prompt + lined page for writing, 114–117
● Chapter Four. Birding Together: Finding Joy and Community in Nature, 119–139
○ [Feminist Bird Club and other organizations]
○ Journal prompt + lined page for writing, 124–125
○ [examples of people joining together to enjoy and protect birds]

○ Journal prompt + lined page for writing, 136–138
○ Bird Species List, 139 — a list of the 51 charming illustrations of birds on these pages
● Resources for Future Learning, 141 — an abundance of resources, within just two pages
○ Books, 142
○ Articles and Online Resources, 142–143
○ Podcasts, 143
○ Other Birding and Outdoor Organizations, 143
● Illustration Credits, 144–145
● Gratitude, 146–150
● Notes, lined page for writing, 151–159