BirdLife South Africa has branches and bird clubs nationwide.
Benefits of joining a BirdLife South Africa bird club
BirdLife South Africa recommends that you join the
bird club in your area to enrich your birding experience.
Below is a list of some of the benefits of joining a
bird club:
Bird clubs/branches fall under the BirdLife South
Africa umbrella and thus enjoy the benefits of being able to get involved
with Citizen Science projects like CWAC, CAR and SABAP2.
All clubs are run according to well established
principles with a democratically-elected chairperson and committees.
Beginners are able to learn from experts birders
(club members and people invited to guide outings) during day, weekend and
longer outings to local birding sites, more distant sites, and sometimes
to bird-watching localities which are not accessible to the general public.
Some clubs provide mid-week outings for
pensioners.
Clubs have a social aspect, e.g. year-end braai, spring
day, tree planting ceremonies, etc.
Provide various birding courses for beginners all
the way through to advanced bird-watchers, including identification of
LBJs and photography courses.
The bigger clubs have at least one evening
meeting a month with guest speakers.
Keep you up to date with the latest bird sightings
and rarities in your area.
Some clubs have adopted sensitive areas to look
after and maintain e.g. Wits Bird Club at Delta Park and BirdLife President
Ridge at President Ridge Bird Sanctuary.
Many clubs have their own magazine/newsletter
keeping the members up to date with local news and details of forthcoming
events.
Some birders are members of more than one club to
get maximum benefit from the different clubs activities.
There is also interaction between clubs, e.g. birding
trips, weekend trips, evening meeting and training courses, and while on
holiday you can participate in the activities of clubs in that area.
