Turning the Dial from Cassette Tapes to Community
I still remember jamming those Birding by Ear cassette tapes into the Subaru’s dashboard and cranking the volume up until meadowlark whistles bounced off the windows. Shortly thereafter their song would be joined by the inevitable chorus of teenage groans from my kids in the back seat. Those rolling road-trip concerts were more than family folklore; they were my early tutorials in “seeing with the ears,” long before apps or sound libraries sat in our pockets. From the robins that rang through my Pacific Northwest childhood to the cardinals and orioles that greeted me on East-Coast mornings, birdsong has always been my way into the wild.
That’s why the inaugural Blind Birder Bird-a-Thon, hosted by Birdability on May 18, 2025, matters so much. It demonstrates a simple truth: birding success isn’t measured by sight; it’s measured by community, by how we share knowledge, design accessible spaces, and elevate every voice in the chorus. Birdability’s crowd-sourced map, volunteer captains, and “everybody and every body” ethos turn curiosity into belonging.
Over the next few paragraphs I’ll introduce Birdability’s mission and tools, unpack the what, why, and how of this 24-hour event, and offer practical on-ramps, so that any blind birder, seasoned or brand-new, can listen, identify, and belong. Let’s press play together and turn that old cassette soundtrack into a nationwide symphony of inclusion.
The Soundtrack of Belonging: Why Birding by Ear Matters
My childhood mornings in small-town Oregon began with a meadowlark’s liquid whistle, the metallic trill of a red-winged blackbird, and, if I was lucky, the ghostly screech of a barn owl drifting across alfalfa fields. Those calls painted color where eyesight could not, teaching me that nature delivers its richest detail through the ear. Long before I had a white cane, I had a sound map of my neighborhood.
Years later, leading the American Foundation for the Blind on the East Coast, I discovered an entirely new score: scarlet cardinals rehearsing at dawn, orioles fluting from tulip trees. Each fresh note widened my range and reminded me that birds, like people, migrate, carrying songs that invite us into shared experience wherever we land. For blind birders, that invitation is liberating agency. Training the ear refines memory, hones spatial awareness, and builds the quiet confidence that says, I know exactly where that robin is perched.
I won’t pretend warbler season is effortless; on a May morning those high-chip syllables can crash together like marbles on a tile floor. But stick with it. Five minutes of focused listening a day, a handheld recorder, maybe a mentor on the other end of a Zoom call, and suddenly the chaos sorts itself into individual voices. That is the moment belonging begins, and it’s the spirit the Blind Birder Bird-a-Thon will celebrate: every song counts, every listener belongs.
Birdability: Building the Infrastructure for Inclusion
Birdability began on a sun-lit boardwalk outside Austin, Texas, when lifelong birder Virginia Rose rolled her wheelchair beside a handful of curious newcomers and proved that a gravel path wasn’t required for wonder. That simple outing grew into a national 501(c)(3) with a mantra that resonates in my bones: “everybody and every body.” The organization exists to turn that promise into practice, so blind birders, wheelchair users, autistic naturalists, and anyone else who loves a good dawn chorus can claim their place in the field.
Its engine is data and teamwork. The Birdability Map, built with Audubon technologists and fueled by crowd-sourced site reviews, tells you in seconds whether a trail is flat or rugged, where benches break the distance, whether restrooms are accessible, even how safe the space feels to marginalized birders. Layered on top are Birdability Captains, volunteers who ground-truth the map and lead inclusive walks, and BC³, a professional corps guiding parks and land trusts through permanent upgrades. Together they convert a digital directory into real-world change.
But infrastructure alone won’t shift culture; community must. Each October, Birdability Week floods social media with stories of accessible adventures, while downloadable etiquette guides coach leaders on language and logistics. Adaptive outings, from tactile birding for DeafBlind participants to sensory-friendly dawn patrols, model the “both/and” reality of universal design: welcoming spaces require physical access and intentional hospitality. In short, the movement is already humming; the Blind Birder Bird-a-Thon simply invites us to add our own voice to the choir.
Spotlight on May 18, 2025: The Blind Birder Bird-a-Thon
Picture a single calendar date that stretches from midnight to midnight, inviting every legally blind birder in the United States to step outside, onto a backyard porch or national wildlife refuge, and tune in. That’s the Blind Birder Bird-a-Thon: a free, 24-hour “Big Day” designed by and for our community. The rules are refreshingly simple: give the birds at least two hours of your time, count only what you personally hear or see, and let curiosity set the pace. Whether you ID ten house sparrows from your city balcony or chase dawn warblers in the woods, every observation folds into a collective celebration of skill and sound.
Accessibility isn’t an afterthought; it’s the blueprint. Merlin Sound ID, digital recorders, and good old-fashioned notebooks are all fair game, while playback recordings are off-limits to protect the birds. Come solo, join a blind-birder team, or invite a sighted friend to guide, but remember the credo: the bird must pass through your senses to make the list. Organizers Donna Posont, Jerry Berrier, and Martha Steele, each a veteran of birding by ear, have frontloaded support with pre-event Zoom workshops, plain-language rule sheets, and a hotline for questions. No entry fees, no fundraising quotas, no leaderboard pressure; the real prize is belonging.
After the last owl hoot fades on May 18, Jerry will gather everyone’s species lists, crunch the numbers, and reveal the nationwide tally at a June 5 virtual wrap-up. Expect stories, laughter, maybe a few jaw-dropping rarities, and yes, door-prize drawings donated by allies across the birding world. Think of it as our first annual family reunion, broadcast over bird song. If we do this right, May 18, 2025 won’t just be a date on the calendar; it’ll be the launchpad for a tradition that says, loud and clear, “Birding is home turf for blind people, too.”
Preparing to Listen, Identify, Belong
First, give your ears a workout. Trade those vintage cassette tapes for today’s podcasts, BirdNote, Life List, you name it, and schedule a daily “five-minute sound sit.” Close your eyes, breathe, and catalogue everything you hear: the rising pitch of a house finch, the clack of a distant crow, even the rustle of wind through cottonwoods. Do it at the same spot each morning and you’ll be amazed how quickly vague background noise resolves into individual voices that greet you by name.
Next, plan your patch. Open the Birdability Map, filter for paved surfaces, benches, and nearby restrooms, and drop a pin on the place that fits your body and your schedule. Pack light but smart: a pair of bone-conduction headphones keeps your ears open to the landscape while Merlin Sound ID hums along; a pocket recorder or voice-controlled note app captures your list hands-free; and a compact stereo mic boosts faint warbler chips. The goal isn’t fancy gear, it’s removing friction so your attention stays on the birds.
Finally, find your flock. Join a Birdability Captains Zoom call, team up with a local Audubon chapter that offers accessible walks, or simply text a fellow blind birder for a shared sunrise. Mentorship multiplies joy: seasoned ears help newcomers separate a chipping sparrow from a dark-eyed junco, and fresh enthusiasm reminds veterans why they fell in love with birdsong in the first place. Community is the secret sauce that turns skill-building into belonging, exactly what we’ll celebrate on May 18, 2025.
The Bigger Picture: From Birdsong to Systems Change
Birdability is proof that the curb-cut effect thrives far beyond city sidewalks. When you smooth a boardwalk ramp for a wheelchair user, you make the wetland accessible to parents pushing strollers, seniors with bad knees, and yes, blind birders navigating with a cane and a song. Inclusion drives innovation: the same design tweaks that let me locate a bench by tapping my cane also guide a sighted newcomer to pause, listen, and learn. In other words, what begins as accommodation becomes universal delight.
The numbers tell the story. In just four years Birdability has grown from a single wheelchair bird walk to an international grid of volunteer captains and thousands of crowd-sourced site reviews, each one a data point pushing land managers toward smarter trails, clearer signage, safer parking. That momentum is an open invitation to parks departments, outdoor retailers, optics companies, and every nonprofit that trades in wonder: adopt Birdability’s design standards, fund their map expansion, embed accessibility in product roadmaps. When we align mission and marketplace, birdsong becomes the soundtrack for systems change, and everyone gets a front-row seat.
Your Invitation to Take Flight
When blind ears meet inclusive trails, community flourishes. We’ve traced the journey from cassette-deck meadowlarks to a coast-to-coast Birdability network, and we’ve seen how a single day, May 18, 2025, can amplify every chirp into collective momentum. The Blind Birder Bird-a-Thon proves that independence and interdependence aren’t opposites; they’re partners in a duet that turns personal passion into public progress.
Now it’s your move. Register for the Bird-a-Thon today. Pick one local greenspace and add a Birdability Map review before the month is out. Invite a friend, sighted or blind, who’s never tried birding by ear to join you for ten minutes of dawn listening. Three small actions; one enormous ripple.
Let’s turn those childhood cassette grooves into a nationwide chorus of meadowlarks, cardinals, and, yes, mourning doves, singing us all into belonging.
” Inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s a strategic advantage. “
Dr. Kirk Adams, Ph.D.
Advocate, Leader and Keynote Speaker on Disability Inclusion & Leadership
Leading the Way to Accessible Innovation
Innovative Impact, LLC Consulting
Managing Director
Impactful Workforce Inclusion Starts Here
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