Indiana Young Birders Network
By Aidan Rominger, IAS Youth Outreach Coordinator
The Indiana Young Birders Network (IYBN) is a free Indiana Audubon Society (IAS) sponsored community that began in 2022. ABAS has supported it through a Birdathon grant. We are working to connect Indiana youth birders and nature enthusiasts alike to the birding world. Our goal is to create a safe, fun, and innovative environment for youth birders to grow and learn with hands-on field birding experience, educational demonstrations, and much more!
My Young Birding Experience
My name is Aidan Rominger and I’ve been a serious birder for almost 13 years, having officially joined the birding scene when I was only 11! My first exposure to the bird world started at the early age of 5, after looking through my grandpa’s copy of The Sibley Guide to Birds of North America. I remember being absolutely blown away by the variety of colors and patterns each species portrayed. I spent the following years memorizing bird field guides from around the world, as well as birding local parks and my backyard with my parents. After receiving my first digital camera at age 11, I started documenting the species I had seen, kickstarting my obsession with birding.
My family would frequently visit the Eagle Creek Park, Ornithology Center, where I met my first birding mentor, Kevin Carlsen. Kevin saw my passion for birds and worked to provide me with the necessary tools I needed to enhance my knowledge of bird behavior and identification. He had suggested that I join the Eagle Creek ABAS Sunday bird hikes, to get more birding experience under my belt, and be around experienced birders. Being 11, I was easily the youngest birder the group had birded with in years. And given my age, I received some initial skepticism when it came to the legitimacy of my bird ID. However, I quickly proved myself to the community through my demonstration of proper documentation and identification skills in the field over time.
Despite establishing a reputable reputation within my local birding community, I was still the youngest birder I knew of in Indianapolis at that time. I had longed for a community of birders my age that were just as passionate for birding as I was. A year later, in October 2011, my dreams came true when a Long-tailed Jaeger was reported at Rick’s Boatyard, off of the Eagle Creek reservoir. I begged my dad to take me to go see it after school, and he agreed. When we arrived, I saw a large group of young birders viewing the bird and was almost more shocked by the sight of birders my age than my life bird, the Long-tailed Jaeger! I was approached by the head of the Indiana Young Birders Club (IYBC), Chad Williams, who was just as excited to see a new young birder as I was to see birders my age. Chad recruited me to join the club, and the rest was history!
It was by joining the IYBC that I was able to form life-long friendships with birders my age, as well as gain crucial public speaking opportunities on bird topics of my choice at the annual Indiana Young Birders Conferences. I even got the chance to bird with birding celebrities, Kenn Kaufman and Richard Crossley, through their support of the IYBC. By joining the IYBC, I was granted access to a plethora of resources I never even imagined would be possible, and I cannot thank the club enough for helping me establish a name for myself, not only amongst the Indiana birding community, but the North American birding community as well.
Establishment of the Indiana Young Birders Network
In 2018, long after my time in the club, the Indiana Young Birders Club did not have enough members to continue, and it was disbanded. Now, roughly five years later, I was asked to become youth coordinator for a new community-based birding network supported by the Indiana Audubon Society, called the Indiana Young Birders Network! My goal is to bring back the same steppingstone to networking opportunities the IYBC gave me, to other eager young birders across the state! What makes the Indiana Young Birders Network different from the past Indiana Young Birders Club is that it is totally free, and fully funded by IAS. While the IYBC had some paid activities, we don’t want money to be a factor in a young birders ability to join the network!
The IYBN will offer a plethora of opportunities to further youth interest in birding through classroom birding programs, guest speakers, and birding hikes led by experienced birders. The IYBN welcomes all nature lovers, from all walks of life, and backgrounds. Our mission is to create a safe, inviting community for all Indiana young birders to connect, grow, and learn about all things birds! The IYBN has a strict no discrimination policy and wants everyone who joins the network to feel included and safe. We want nothing more than to boost and support any and all youth interest in birds, by truly listening to what each member of the IYBN needs and values, in order to become the best birders and bird ambassadors they can be! I am extremely excited to see what amazing contributions the future faces of the birding world will be, and I hope networks such as the IYBN can provide these members everything they need to flourish within the birding world!
Indiana Young Birders Network Events
On Sunday, January 22, 2023, the Indiana Young Birders Network had its first official hike at Eagle Creek Park. We had a total of 3 eager young birders brave the snow and join us for our first hike ever, alongside 3 passionate and dedicated parents! We met outside of the Eagle Creek Ornithology Center and hiked the Coffer Dam trail for waterfowl and other bird species. It had snowed all morning leading up to the hike, making for difficult hiking conditions, but we still ended up with 28 species in 2 hours of birding! Our best bird was a single adult Cackling Goose amongst a group of 50 Canada Geese, which was a lifer for all youth birders present! For those that couldn’t make it to the first hike, we have upcoming hikes scheduled for February and March! To find out more about the IYBN’s next scheduled hike, goals, and initiatives, visit the Indiana Young Birders Network Facebook Page or visit the IAS website: Indiana Audubon Society – Birding & Conservation in Indiana.
