Have you ever wondered what birds are nesting on your property? Maybe you want to monitor how their populations are doing on your working lands? Perhaps you are an experienced birder looking for new places to explore and put your skills to use for others? Welcome to Birder Broker, a new way to connect birders with landowners for better bird conservation. Birder Broker connects landowners interested in learning more about birds breeding on their property with experienced birders looking for new places to go birding while at the same time contributing their expertise. Over 80% of forested land in Vermont is privately owned making these incredibly important places for nesting birds. Landowners and birders together can help us understand more about breeding bird populations, and how together we might keep them healthy.
How does it work?
Landowners who are interested in finding out what types of birds are using their property and monitoring their populations each year, sign up through our online form. At Birder Broker, we match each landowner to an experienced birder and then send the landowner their name and email for them to contact. Together, the landowner and the birder set up a walking route to survey birds on the property. In June and early July, the birder, often with the landowner, will walk the route on three different mornings recording all the birds heard and seen. The data is captured in Vermont eBird and shared with the landowner.
Experienced birders interested in being paired with a landowner must be familiar with or willing to learn how to use Vermont eBird. You will need to fill out our online form with some details about your experience birding, the regions in Vermont that you’d be willing to survey, and your contact information. You will then be paired with a landowner who will reach out to you to schedule your first visit.
