American Birding Association

The American Birding Association is a non-profit organization, founded in 1969, dedicated to recreational birding in Canada and USA. It has been called the standard-bearer for serious birding in North America. ABA originally concentrated on finding, listing, and recognize rare birds, the ABA now seeks to serve all birders with a wide range of services and publications. The American Birding Association is one of two nationwide organizations that serve the details and social interaction needs of American birders. The ABA publishes a checklist of the more than 950 bird species found in the ABA Area. The Checklist provides the usual names used by a recent edition of the Peterson field manual, and it is one of the dominance consulted by the compilers of many popular bird identification guides in order to establish ranges and the status of populations. The ABA presents several awards for advancing the cause of birding, advancing the state of ornithology, and making notable contributions to education and preservation. In 1980, it initiated the Ludlow Griscom Award to recognize outstanding benefaction to excellence in field birding; it is often called birding's highest honor. In 2000, the awards program was widen to include the Chandler Robbins Award for Education/Conservation, the Claudia Wilds Award for Distinguished work and the Roger Tory Peterson Award for Promoting the Cause of Birding. In 2002, the Robert Ridgway Award was added for Publications in Field Ornithology. The Griscom Award now specifically recognizes outstanding contributions to regional ornithology. In 2014, the ABA introduced the Betty Petersen Award for Conservation and Community, to honor those who have made great pace in expanding, diversifying, and strengthening the birding community, and those who have worked to build a network for conservation. The first, posthumous recipient was Betty Petersen. In 2015, the award was granted to Jack Siler. Ann Nightingale received the award in 2016.