As a small token of our immense gratitude for your support of BSBO's mission, we cordially invite you and a guest to these special opportunities to meet our Biggest Week in American Birding keynote speakers.

​To reserve your place, simply complete the RSVP form and select the presentations and dinners you'd like to attend. Please contact Kimberly Kaufman at [email protected] with any questions. 

​We look forward to sharing these special experiences with you!

Learn more about each keynote presentation below:

Laura Erickson

Fifty Years a Birder

Birds, birding practices, and the birding community have changed enormously in the past 50 years. Some of the changes have been wonderful, and some species have fully recovered from endangerment even as many others have declined tragically. Laura will talk about her birding experiences over the years, highlighting historical trends she has personally witnessed for such birds as the Lesser Prairie-Chicken, Kirtland's Warbler, and Hawaii's Iiwi, her backyard favorites, the Pileated Woodpecker, Blue Jay, and Black-capped Chickadee, and more.

Coralie Rossbach

Understanding Changes in Hummingbird Migration

As the effects of climate change have increased over the past few decades, scientists and society have worked hard to understand and predict its impact on birds and the broader ecosystem. Migratory hummingbirds, in particular, may be especially vulnerable to climate change and habitat destruction. Hummingbirds have incredible migrations, some of which seem impossible–yet these amazing birds travel incredible distances every year anyway!​

​Coralie’s talk will connect perspectives and learnings from her research on how climate change and human activity impact various migratory hummingbird species in different ways. She will talk about her research on the relationship between Ruby-throated Hummingbirds pre-migratory health and precipitation, changes in Rufous Hummingbird migration over time, and her newest research on interspecies social cues to trigger migration. This talk will raise awareness about hummingbirds and how to help them in this ever-changing environment. 

Joanna wu

The Most Overlooked Birds in North America: Females

Female birds often hide in plain sight. Typically drabber and more inconspicuous than males, there is an unconscious bias towards male birds in birdwatching, photography, and even in our scientific knowledge about birds. This talk explores the history of focus on male birds, why it’s important to focus on females, and gives female bird identification tips. Joanna challenges the audience to confront their own biases towards a more equalized birding experience.
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Scott Weidensaul

The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet

At a time when the news for birds – for the planet – has rarely seemed more grim, there is reason for hope. We’ve restored faltering bird populations in the past, bringing back once nearly extinct raptors and waterfowl. And despite the odds today, all around the world, people are actually reviving bird populations, providing a roadmap for wider recovery. In his newest book, The Return of the Oystercatcher, best-selling author and researcher Scott Weidensaul shows why we should never underestimate the resiliency of birds, and why creating a world that works for birds will work for everything, including us. He’ll trace this work of optimism and progress from a tiny island off the Maine coast to the bird-rich Danube Delta on the Ukrainian border where even war has not stopped progress; from vulture restoration in the mountains of Bulgaria to oases of sanctuary for endangered seabirds in the highlands of of Hawaiʻi, and across the world’s largest and most intact forest in Canada where Indigenous communities are permanently protecting hundreds of millions of acres of some of the most important migratory bird habitat on Earth, a win as well for social justice. ​

Day scott

The Wild Rewrote Me: Birds, the Journey, and Becoming​

​After surviving a traumatic brain injury, Day Scott’s world shifted. Her body, mind, and sense of self felt disconnected in ways that would change how she navigated through life forever. Amid that fear and uncertainty, she found healing in an unexpected place: with birds. Observing them grounded her; learning about them gave her joy, and writing about them gave her connection. Those moments helped in her continuing recovery and influenced her path toward becoming a wildlife ecologist. Through the lens of science, this talk shares a story of transformation and the silver linings discovered along the way. Her journey reminds us that, like the wild itself, we are shaped by change—and strengthened by it.

Virginia rose

Be Accessibility Champions! What it is, who benefits, and why it matters!​

​Virginia Rose, founder of Birdability, wants to make you an Accessibility Champion!
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Her mission: To share the joys of birding with people who have disabilities and other health concerns; to ensure that birding locations are physically accessible, and birding communities are welcoming and inclusive.

Hear her story and learn about ACCESS to Nature: what it is, why it matters, the people who benefit and where to find them! Learn about what makes a trail accessible and how to use the amazing Birdability Map! Finally, learn about welcoming and inclusive language and practices.

Rosemary Mosco

Bird Words: An Adventure Through Birding Terminology

​Join cartoonist and author Rosemary Mosco for a humorous walk through birding slang and terminology based on her book The Birding Dictionary. Relax, laugh, and have fun while learning a few new things about birding.

Julie zickefoose

Books, Birds and Following Passion’s Path

​This talk is an origin story; a close look at the making of a natural history writer and illustrator. It follows the threads of inspiration from formative books and influential artists in Julie’s early years, to the creation of her own books. Zickefoose tracks in intimate detail the exceptionally close interactions she has with birds under her study and care. These experiences have given her deep insight into the way birds think and see the world. “There’s no better way to come to know a bird than to be its mama. Then, to let it go and watch it learn to navigate its world and become what it was meant to be—this is how I come to understand birds: from their beginnings on outward.”

​Illustrated with the author’s own photographs, drawings and paintings, this lecture brings viewers into Julie’s world, and that of the birds she has come to know. A brood of Carolina Wrens: ferociously intelligent, surprisingly affectionate, inventive and comical, consumed Julie’s summer in 2023. You’ll leave with a far greater appreciation of these small brown birds, and all birds, who have been Julie’s best instructors in the ways of the wild.

Kenn kaufman

The Hidden History of American Warblers

​The warblers—small, colorful, active, and delightfully diverse—are popular with birders, providing some of the peak excitement of spring migration. But they were not always so popular. Two centuries ago, the American warbler family had not been defined yet, and naturalists argued over whether to classify some of them as flycatchers, creepers, titmice, or thrushes. The females, males, immatures, and fall plumages of warblers can look so different from each other that some were originally named as separate species. Even after these were figured out, some warblers wound up with misleading names because of old mistakes, some hybrids caused confusion for years, and at least one mysterious warbler vanished for no obvious reason.  Kenn Kaufman will share some surprising highlights of warbler history, based on research for his most recent book.