(by Anita Fernandez)

Black Birders Week was founded under the group Black AF in STEM, which includes birders, herpers (herpetologists), scientists, and more. These outdoor enthusiasts were seeking a week in which to celebrate and honor Black birders. BBW 2025 will be held this year from May 25 to May 31, and this year’s theme is Grounded in Community with a focus on the sparrow family. Like sparrows, this week aims for all to find power in community, lifting our voices together to transform the outdoors into spaces of belonging and liberation.

Join NH Audubon on May 31 in Portsmouth as we partner with the Black Heritage Trail of NH on an outing that celebrates both our natural and cultural community. This event will take place over mostly easy terrain, including pavement, mown grass, and asphalt. Co-led by BHTNH’s Nur Shoop and NH Audubon’s Slater Roosa, we will stroll through the gardens at the Governor John Langdon House, where we may see sparrows (this year’s event bird family!), finches, corvids, blackbirds, and more. The group will move towards the water, finding catbirds and cliff swallows along streets, and gulls and terns over the water. Along the way, we will stop at multiple points to discuss important, historically significant locations such as the African Burying Ground on Chestnut Street, which has now been marked as the place of honor it deserves.

Please visit here to register and secure your spot; this is a limited capacity event and one not to miss to experience our full communal history. All proceeds will support the Black Heritage Trail of NH’s work.