There’s something new in the world of bird websites. It’s a forum. Another forum, you say? Okay, stick with this: It’s not just another forum. It’s a better one.
We’ve had a forum with similar quality in Illinois for a while. Illinois Birders’ Forum. The guy behind it is a two-fisted type named Greg. He’s more than a bird guru; he’s an explorer. He’s hiked Amazon jungles, discovered unknown toads (yeah, toads, but he’s a bird guy), and has interesting friends.
For example, when he recently commented on our observation about “turfs” within forests, he mentioned that ornithologist buddies told him Swainson’s Thrushes defend a patch of woodland every summer in Canada, and amazingly these same individuals defend their own patch of forest in Costa Rica every winter.
Point is, Greg’s connected to the research side of things. He’s a good observer and writer. It’s good news for us that he’s taken the forum concept that he honed in Illinois, and has done a uniquely American thing: he’s created a new national version.
“North American Birders’ Forum” is in the soft-launch stage. That means there’s fine tuning going on. But it’s pretty okay, even now. It’s a single resource for whatever kind of birder you are at the moment, casual or serious.
It clues you in on rare sightings, news reports and other cool websites. It gives you a voice in the giant, democratic conversation that the web is designed to encourage.
It has a “links” section where birders can tell birders about links they like. And it’s adding a “listers central.” So you’ll be able to keep an online record of your own lists organized by month, year, lifetime, zone, whatever.
No point in our describing North American Birders’ forum any further. All you need is the web address and you can go there:
Check it out. But come back here once in a while, too. Just for the fun of it.
Yeah, thanks!
😉
-g
Thanks!