The State College Bird Club, 1941-2012
State College, Pennsylvania
Purpose and History
Since its inception in 1941, the State College Bird Club has been a
fixture in the local community of Pennsylvania's Happy Valley. Today,
we are a diverse group dedicated to the appreciation of wild birds in
central Pennsylvania. The Bird Club attracts members from many facets
of our community: We are academics, school children, retirees, college
students, laborers, and others, all bound by the common thread of our
love for wild birds and the natural world. In a town where the local
community often lives in the shadow of a major university, the State
College Bird Club is a shining example of an organization that enjoys a
mutually beneficial relationship with Penn State.
The State College Bird Club is responsible for collecting and
cataloging important information on bird populations in central
Pennsylvania. In addition to year round record-keeping for PA BIRDS
Magazine, Bird Club members participate in the the Christmas Bird
Count, Breeding Bird Survey, PA Migration Count, the Pennsylvania
Special Areas Project, Cornell's various citizen science initiatives
and other projects. Bird Club members were also instrumental in the
development of the 1st and 2nd Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlases, and
Merrill Woods' seminal 1952 publication, Birds of the State College
Region, Pennsylvania, which was the motivation and basis for the 2010
publication, Birds of Central Pennsylvania by Nick Bolgiano and Greg
Grove with additional contributors.
Developing Bird Club efforts to promote birds and conservation include
a Bird Club website and Facebook presence. We currently maintain an
email listserv to rapidly disseminate information on rare birds and
other important local findings. Bird Club members make presentations to
schools and other local citizen's groups, publish articles in local
newspapers and state and national periodicals, and have made birds
topics on a local talk radio program and TV. The Bird Club also
maintains a presence on issues of local, state, and national
conservation concern.
The Bird Club holds monthly meetings and field trips from September
through May (all open to the public). Eight meetings per year feature
presentations with topics that run the gamut from Ph.D.- level original
research to travelogues of birding vacations. The dedication of Bird
Club members to spend time in the field and report their findings have
established the Centre Region as one of the premiere locations in the
Eastern U.S. to observe both the spring and fall migrations of Golden
Eagles.
For 70 years, the State College Bird Club has provided a forum in which
people can gather as a community to learn more about birds and about
their own place in the natural world. Our vision for the future
includes an expanded role in conservation-related projects, without
losing sight of the reason we all got together in the first place; our
never-ending fascination with the birds around us.
Nick Kerlin, 2012, President, The State College Bird Club (revision of
the original 1998 article by Tim O'Connell, Former President)
Current Officers as of September 2012
Nick Kerlin – President
Joe Verica – Vice-President for Field Trips
Roana Fuller – Vice-President for Programs
Dorothy Bordner – Treasurer
Ron Crandall – Secretary