KW Queer Birders: Birding Resources
About Us
We're a group of bird and outdoor enthusiasts creating queer-centered space for our community to enjoy birds. We welcome all birding experience-levels: we have a wealth of bird-knowledge among our members, and create a welcoming and safe learning space for beginning birders.
Connect with Us!
- Check out our Calendar Page for upcoming events
- Join our Google Group “KW Queer Birders” with a Google account
- Join our Facebook Group “KW Queer Birders”
- Chat about birds on Discord! Ask our organizers for an invite
- Queer and Trans Waterloo Region has a nature-dedicated channel
- There are many bird-dedicated discords that have 2SLGBTQ+-friendly moderators
In this document…
Beginner Birding Resources
Not sure where to see birds? Birds are virtually everywhere!!
Even in cities, birds are living their lives, and you can appreciate them. Rock Pigeons have gorgeous rainbows of color, Mourning Doves make their sad “cooooo coooo” song. You might see a hawk hunting from atop the buildings. House Sparrows hop down to grab your leftover French fries.
Photo by Rosemary Mosco (author of A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching
If you want to see more diversity of birds, a park or natural area will likely have more species. eBird provides lots of data on birds anywhere you go, and can see a list of birding “hotspots” in Waterloo Region. You can also track your bird sightings with the eBird app or website, making birding like “Pokémon GO”.
Download the Merlin Bird ID app for your phone for a helpful interactive tool to show you birds local to your area. Merlin even has machine-learning-powered sound- and image-recognition, which can be a really powerful tool to help you hone your own skills!
More resources!
How do we focus on accessibility?
Knowledge accessibility
Birding can seem like an intimidating space to enter. The goal of our group is to create community. This means that we are humble and generous about the knowledge we have of birds. Anyone with any level of knowledge or experience is welcome! Beginners are given opportunities to learn, and our members will gracefully answer any questions they have. There are numerous tools that exist to help identify and learn more about birds, including the free Merlin phone app, which has machine-learning-powered recognition tools for pictures and audio/sound. The eBird phone app can connect to your eBird account, tracking your bird “life list” and other statistics, making birding like collecting Pokémon! Birding books come in all sizes and price ranges, and we have several communal books to share with trip attendees.
Resource accessibility
Everyone should be able to enjoy nature. We organize carpools for almost all events, so that people can join our trips via our centralized pickup locations in Kitchener and Waterloo. If you have difficulty accessing these locations, please reach out to us. You don’t have to bring anything with you, except to be prepared to be outdoors (though we have extra warm things for the cold weather!). We have a communal pool of extra binoculars, birding resource books, and some other miscellaneous gear (sun hats). If you have any gear you’d like to donate, we’d be happy to have it and share at our events.
Location accessibility
We have been working as a group to make the outdoor locations we love enjoyable for everyone. This group is not for strenuous hiking and rough terrain, birding should be for the joy of birds! We work to pick locations that as many people as possible can enjoy. When we advertise trips, we will provide details about the trail conditions (picking locations with navigable terrain and trails), meetup locations, trip duration, location amenities (washrooms, shade, benches), and seasonal factors (snow, rain, mud, etc.).
We are beginning to offer multiple trips through the year that are advertised as “Stationary Birding”, where we stay at one location and observe the birds we can see while staying in one place, as well as “Afternoon Birding”, so not just those Early Birders can attend our trips.
One example of a great resource we are hoping to contribute more to in the Waterloo Region is Birdability. See this example of the accessibility details available for the Columbia Lake Trails.
KW Queer Birders Rules and Ethics
In all interactions with the group, during outings, and in community (online and in person), we should follow the following rules.
- Use the correct pronouns for fellow members and accept feedback gracefully if corrected
- Work to create a welcoming and inclusive community for everyone
- Never engage in racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, ableism, fatphobia, or other biased comments or jokes.
- If you hear offensive or harmful language, act to reduce harm, however the circumstance demands
Members should also engage in ethical birding practices.
- The goal of our group is to create community. This means being humble and generous about the knowledge you have of birds. Give beginners many opportunities to learn, and be graceful with any questions they have.
- We aim to have as minimal an impact on birds, animals, plants, and all wildlife as possible. To this end, we take care to remain on paths and well-traversed areas, and we ask that you leave non-service dogs at home.
- Birding is a fun group activity, but special care should be taken around threatened species to ensure that they are protected. This often means keeping a larger distance from threatened species, and not publicly sharing exact locations of birds like owls.
More information can be found in the ABA Code of Birding Ethics.
We credit the Feminist Bird Club's code of conduct, as well as the rules for the Queer and Trans Waterloo Region Discord for help with these rules.
What does a typical trip look like with KW Queer Birders?
Before the Trip
Trips are posted seasonally in Google group and on the Facebook group.
There will be a Google Form to fill out to RSVP for each trip.
Carpool
Most trips have a carpool option, one leaving from Waterloo Park and one leaving from Willow River Park. There will be a place to mark that you need a carpool on the Google Form. This will be used to organize who will drive and how many people will be picked up.
Reminder emails will be sent out about a week before the trip and Carpool emails with details for those who need a ride are sent out a day or two before the trip.
At Location
Most of our trips are in the tricity area. We will have a meetup spot where we will gather and do a quick introduction, talk about the location, which birds we might see and make sure that everyone has what they will need to enjoy the trip.
What do you need to bring with you?
Binoculars are helpful for spotting birds. Our group has some extra binoculars to lend out, but are always looking for donated ones. The library also lends out birder backpacks that have binoculars in them. Sunscreen or bug spray are also smart things to bring along, depending on the time of year. Dress for the weather and running or sturdy footwear is recommended.
Duration of the Trip
Our trips usually last about 2h. We move slowly, stopping to observe, chat and listen. The time is usually very relaxing with people sharing their observations with each other. We make our way back to the meeting spot at the end.