2025 ABA Bird of the Year

American Birding Association Bird of the Year is here!

The Common Loon

What beautiful birds, with a mesmerizing call … I've only seen / heard them a few times while backpacking, and won't forget the experiences.

There's also a practice of discovering your personal bird of the year -- it's the first bird you see on January 1st 🥰.

Now, I forgot that 🤣 ... maybe you did too ... and all is not lost! There are no fixed rules for choosing your personal bird of the year ... You could go outside right now and decide it'll be the first bird you see. You could choose a bird you'd like to learn more about. You could open a book you're reading and decide "hey, the next bird mentioned is my bird of the year."

I'm going to use Jim Engel 's birthday as my day to discover my bird 🤗.

Note: in 2023 I did this and got the Tree Sparrow. Now, I was tempted to be like, nah, I'll get the next one 🤭 ... I mean, a SPARROW?! Not exciting.

And yet I kept it ... and y'know, it was pretty amazing to learn about these little ones, sparrows that most of us pass by ... and to look for them in the bushes where I walked each day (they're low / mid-canopy birds 😉). Or find a poem about them ... or hear a song that has sparrows in it ... and on and on ... I found such appreciation for a bird most of us won't notice ...

So if you choose a bird of the year for yourself, ****I'd love to hear about your choice**** ... maybe we can cheer each other on in highlighting both the humble and majestic feathered friends we share the world with. Happy Birding!

Listen to ABA podcast about this year’s Bird of the Year here:

https://www.aba.org/09-01-2025-bird-of-the-year-artist-sam-zimmerman/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0j3tq_T8p61lZGQqD4kNGBp4W9PfrwstXxDg9nO1CjTuCcjO9RSQacdsI_aem_nYytVIVv6EtCa5SrNGvpNQ