San Francisco Master Birder Program 2023
Golden Gate Audubon Society and California Academy of Sciences are very excited to offer our Master Birding Program in 2023 for the ninth cohort! The objective of the course is to help up to 20 ambitious students enhance their birding and conservation skills, and to develop 20 new active conservation community members for GGAS, The Academy, and other Bay Area institutions.
The Master Birding Program is an advanced class, and is one full year in duration. We will have 11 classes and 11 field trips spread throughout 2023 calendar year. Classroom meetings will take place at The Academy, assuming that COVID protocols allow to take advantage of The Academy’s collections and facilities (in case of COVID restrictions, we are now adept at doing classes online when necessary). Field trips are designed to reinforce class subject matter and to provide firsthand experience with the breadth of birds that occur in the Bay Area. Prior to taking the course, prospective students are expected to be able to identify California birds at an “intermediate level” (100+ species by sight, and 25+ species by sound). To successfully complete the program, students must complete at least 100 hours of volunteer service with a MB designated organization (GGAS, The Academy, and a long list of other Bay Area birding or conservation organizations) over a two-year period, and participate in at least 70% of the classes and field trips, and learn a variety of other skills.
Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will have developed a field notebook documenting sightings of over 200 bird species, will know how to identify some of the more difficult local bird species, will learn about avian physiology, behavior, taxonomy and other topics, and will develop an understanding of avian habitats and bird communities. Graduates will have participated in over 20 organized field trips, developed a backyard (local patch) list, and will have made a 10-minute presentation to the class on an avian topic of their choosing. Click here for additional information about course curriculum and requirements.
Instructors are Jack Dumbacher, Eddie Bartley and Bruce Mast. Fee for the class is being updated, but members of the California Academy of Sciences or the Golden Gate Audubon Society will pay a discounted rate. The class will start in February, 2023, and will typically be held on the first Wednesday of each month, 6:30 – 9:00 PM, with a couple of exceptions. The class will finish in December 2023. Field trips will typically be on the weekend immediately following each class meeting.
To enroll, please click on this link and fill out the enrollment questionnaire...
Note that our 2024 class is full and underway. We will decide in December whether we will be offering the class next year (2025) and we will update this website with new information then. Thanks!
The Master Birding Program is an advanced class, and is one full year in duration. We will have 11 classes and 11 field trips spread throughout 2023 calendar year. Classroom meetings will take place at The Academy, assuming that COVID protocols allow to take advantage of The Academy’s collections and facilities (in case of COVID restrictions, we are now adept at doing classes online when necessary). Field trips are designed to reinforce class subject matter and to provide firsthand experience with the breadth of birds that occur in the Bay Area. Prior to taking the course, prospective students are expected to be able to identify California birds at an “intermediate level” (100+ species by sight, and 25+ species by sound). To successfully complete the program, students must complete at least 100 hours of volunteer service with a MB designated organization (GGAS, The Academy, and a long list of other Bay Area birding or conservation organizations) over a two-year period, and participate in at least 70% of the classes and field trips, and learn a variety of other skills.
Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will have developed a field notebook documenting sightings of over 200 bird species, will know how to identify some of the more difficult local bird species, will learn about avian physiology, behavior, taxonomy and other topics, and will develop an understanding of avian habitats and bird communities. Graduates will have participated in over 20 organized field trips, developed a backyard (local patch) list, and will have made a 10-minute presentation to the class on an avian topic of their choosing. Click here for additional information about course curriculum and requirements.
Instructors are Jack Dumbacher, Eddie Bartley and Bruce Mast. Fee for the class is being updated, but members of the California Academy of Sciences or the Golden Gate Audubon Society will pay a discounted rate. The class will start in February, 2023, and will typically be held on the first Wednesday of each month, 6:30 – 9:00 PM, with a couple of exceptions. The class will finish in December 2023. Field trips will typically be on the weekend immediately following each class meeting.
To enroll, please click on this link and fill out the enrollment questionnaire...
Note that our 2024 class is full and underway. We will decide in December whether we will be offering the class next year (2025) and we will update this website with new information then. Thanks!
Not Wimpy! Our 2014 Master Birding cohort at our final day trip to Cosumnes River Preserve near Sacramento. We've just been well fed, and we're headed back out to see Sandhill Cranes, geese, and other migratory waterfowl and over-wintering birds in California's Central Valley.