BUFFALO, N.Y. — Bird lovers are breaking out the binoculars this spring to spot songbirds and warblers migrating through the Atlantic Flyway.

What You Need To Know

  • Feminist Bird Club has chapters throughout the U.S.

  • The Buffalo Chapter visits local parks to seek and identify all types of birds

  • Anybody can join and expertise does not matter

  • The group is open to anyone who considers themselves a feminist

Lauren Makeyenko, co-chair of the Feminist Bird Club’s Buffalo Chapter, encourages people of all ages, backgrounds, and genders to give the hobby of birding a try.

“Birding in general can kind of feel like an exclusive activity, for many people,” said Makeyenko on a stroll through Rumsey Woods at Delaware Park. “They don’t feel like they know enough to get started or can join a group of people who know about birds.”

She said nobody in the group considers themselves an “expert” and most people carry a pocket field guide with them.

Not only does the group seek and identify birds, it also serves as a networking opportunity, as well as a safe space for women to come together and enjoy nature.

“Women may not feel comfortable going out and joining a group by themselves, or they may not feel comfortable to go out by themselves and go birding in general,” Makeyenko. “So our group is kind of a safe, no pressure group to kind of welcome everybody.”

Makeyenko is also the director of education at the Buffalo Audubon Society.