Brown-headed Nuthatch
Brown-headed Nuthatch by Doug Pratt

Chapel Hill Bird Club

The purpose of the Chapel Hill Bird Club is to provide engagement and educational opportunities for area birders of all experience levels. We offer interesting educational programs, local birding field trips, Christmas and spring bird counts, and connection to other members via a Facebook group. Members have access to like-minded people including experts who can answer your questions. Whether you watch birds in your yard or travel to the ends of the earth to chase rarities, our club offers something for you. We are a friendly group and welcome all to join us, especially new birders! Our members are mostly from the Triangle area of North Carolina: Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, Cary, Pittsboro, and surrounding towns.


News

Next Meeting

January 27, 2025

David Anderson and Joe Donahue—Finding Birds in Panama

Join us in person at 7:30pm in the Lounge at Binkley Baptist Church (1712 Willow Drive, Chapel Hill, NC) or via zoom (link to come).

Joe Donahue, David Anderson, and Vern Bothwell spent 8 days in March, 2024 at the Canopy Lodge in Panama. Daily field trips and observations at the Lodge tallied over 200 species. Feeding platforms at the Lodge made for some exciting sightings. And expert guides found a wonderful variety of birds in the surrounding regions.

David Anderson spent almost 40 years in the animal and conservation profession. Beginning as supervisor and interim director of the Duke Lemur Center, then general curator and associate director of the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, executive director of the San Francisco Zoo, director of Florida Audubon, strategic program director of the Bay Institute in San Francisco, and finally retiring to North Carolina, where he is chair of the Field Trips committee for New Hope Bird Alliance, and a drummer in a rock and roll band!

Joe Donahue is an avid birder. After getting a biology degree at Oklahoma State, he spent 20 years in the Army flying helicopters and airplanes "managing not to kill myself or anyone else." He then spent 2 years teaching high school in Tulsa, where he again "did not kill anyone but had serious thoughts on the subject." He returned to the aviation logisitics field for the rest of his working days.

Find the lineup of future speakers on our speakers page.

Membership and Donations

Annual dues are $25 per individual or family, or $10 if you're a student. Dues go by calendar year, Jan 1 to Dec 31, so renewal season is now for continuing members. If you are a new member, you can join now and we'll credit your membership as being for 2025. To join the club, renew your membership, or make a donation, visit the membership and donation page.

Field Trips

We have bimonthly field trips from September through April, except during bird count seasons. Check our bird walk schedule for dates and times.

Meetings

We have monthly meetings from September through May (except December), generally on the fourth Monday of the month at 7:30pm. We are exploring holding hybrid meetings this season—in-person meetings with a Zoom option. As the night of the meeting approaches, please look for an announcement with the Zoom meeting link on the Chapel Hill Bird Club email list and Facebook page, and Carolinabirds.

In-person meetings are at 7:30 pm on the fourth Monday of the month at Binkley Baptist Church, in the Lounge. Binkley is at 1712 Willow Drive in Chapel Hill, at the intersection with 15-501 near University Mall (map with meeting room pinpointed). Visitors welcome! Come at 7:15 for light refreshments. We don't have a meeting in June, July, August, or December.

Find the lineup of meetings and speakers for our 2024–2025 season on our speakers page.

Newsletter

Our newsletter is the Chapel Hill Bird Club Bulletin. Current issue: Winter 2025. For past issues, visit our archives page.

Archives and Club History

Find past zoom meeting recordings, all of our newsletters since 1999, and an article on the first 50 years of the club on our archives page.

Counts and Lists

Bird counts, the Triangle Bird Checklist, and link to the Mini-BBS are on the Counts and Lists page.

Club Stuff

Officers, Constitution, and By-Laws of the Chapel Hill Bird Club.

Questions? Email us!

Facebook Group

If you'd like to interact with other local bird folks online, check out the Chapel Hill Bird Club's Facebook group.

Other Groups

You may wish to join the Carolina Bird Club, which covers both Carolinas, as well as New Hope Bird Alliance or Wake Audubon, which also have bird-related programs and activities.

Morgan Creek mudflats field trip, 8/3/02
Field trip exploring the Morgan Creek mudflats at Jordan Lake, 8/3/2002.

Carolina Nature | Carolinabirds info | Triangle Birder's Guide

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