Welcome to Illinois Young Birders!

Illinois Young Birders (ILYB) is a birding club for kids, teens, and young adults ages 9 to 18.

About ILYB

We are here to foster and ignite a passion for birding among young people, provide community, promote conservation, investigate careers in birding, build positive relationships with other birding groups, and most of all to have fun! If you aren’t already a member, keep in touch with fellow young birders by joining us!

ILYB Club Highlights

Keep in touch with your fellow young birders by joining this fun and exciting birding group. ILYB Members have the opportunity to take part in the following:
MONTHLY FIELD TRIPS
Join other young birders on regular field trips to places throughout Illinois.
YOUNG BIRDERS SYMPOSIUM
Take part in the annual Illinois Young Birders Symposium that features young birder presentations and art.

2020 ILYB Virtual Symposium

SATURDAY, AUG 29 – 9:00AM-10:30AM *OPTIONAL BIRD CHAT AT 8:30AM
Illinois Young Birders is excited to announce the 2020 Illinois Young Birder Virtual Symposium on Saturday, August 29th. Join us online for a morning of chatting about birding, presentations by young birders, artwork by young birders, and an exciting keynote address by Kenn Kaufman, writer, birder, naturalist, and conservationist. Registration for the event will open soon – $10/family

Become a Member and Join ILYB Today!

Support ILYB Efforts

Adults and other birding/nature clubs can also be a part of Illinois Young Birders and support ILYB efforts and Initiatives. Learn more below!
SUPPORTING MEMBERS
Become a supporting member or club partner by joining ILYB. JOIN ILYB
DONATE TO ILYB
Enrich the lives of young birders by donating today to support ILYB. DONATE

Upcoming Trips

Upcoming Illinois Young Birders field trips:

Widget Area

  1. ILYB April Field Trip

    April 7 at 7:30 am11:00 am
  2. ILYB City Nature Challenge Event

    April 27 at 8:00 am11:00 am

Trip Reports & News

News, field trip reports, and highlight photos from past trips taken by the Illinois Young Birders Club. Trip reports are written by both young birders and adults. If you would like to contribute, let us know!

Wooded Island and Park No. 566

March 23 Trip Report by Peter Tolzmann Jackson Park, on the south side of Chicago, is one of the best places for birding in the Chicago area, with over 300[…]

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Bird Names and Naming Birds: A young birder’s perspective

By Maxima Gomez-Palmer McCown’s longspur, Audubon’s warbler, Bachman’s sparrow… what do these birds have in common? They are all named after people, specifically white men. There are over 130 different[…]

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IL Young Birders featured in the Daily Herald

Thank you to Jeff Reiter and the Daily Herald for the latest Words on Birds article about the 2020 ILYB Virtual Symposium. The article features our fantastic IL young birder[…]

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