New York State Ornithological Association Conference

The 78th annual New York State Ornithological Association (NYSOA) conference will be held in Ithaca NY, hosted by the Cayuga Bird Club, a NYSOA member club. The conference brings together birders from across the state and beyond who come to develop new birding friendships, renew old ones, hear excellent speakers, and explore birding opportunities away from their home turf.

The weekend offers attendees a variety of other social, educational, and birding activities, including a paper session, NYS Young Birders Club ID Challenge, field trips, vendors, silent auction, banquet dinner, and more. Friday’s welcome reception will be followed by a presentation by Adriaan Dokter, Cornell Lab of Ornithology Center for Avian Population Studies, on “BirdCast — A Large-scale Perspective on Bird Migration.”

On Saturday, Peter Kaestner will give the keynote address, “In Search of the Orange-tufted Spiderhunter,” about his quest to find 10,000 different bird species, the first person to reach this milestone. Peter has traveled all over the world during his career as a diplomat, birding everywhere he’s been. A highlight of his birding journey was his discovery of a new species of antpitta in Colombia, subsequently named after him, the Cundinamarca Antpitta (Grallaria kaestneri). Peter has also been an active bird conservationist and was recently awarded the American Birding Association’s Roger Tory Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award.

Visit the conference website for more details. Registration opens April 1, 2025.