About Us

Centennial Park bridge
Mt Pleassant: On the Trail
Howard Community College
Howard County Conservancy
Centennial Park: Approaching the Dam
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Both the advanced lister, the beginning birder, and the backyard birder will find much of interest in our club and on our web page. Our programs include travelogues, identification seminars, other natural history programs, and conservation efforts.  Most of our programs feature birds—but we have a few others throughout the year with a different emphasis. Starting December, 2020, programs were recorded, and many are available on  the HCBC channel on YouTube. Missed one of the field trips? You can find out what was seen by looking at the Field Trips Report for that day.

Meetings, Field Trips, & Seasonal Counts

Meetings

Our meetings feature travelogues and photos from birding trips, bird identification tips, natural history features, conservation topics, and other subjects of interest to people who love natural history.

Meetings are held the second Thursday of each month from September through May at the Robinson Nature Center and virtually using Zoom. Hospitality session at 7:00 p.m. Meeting/program begins at 7:30 p.m.

Field Trips

Mostly Howard County, and mostly birds—but we include butterflies, dragonflies, fungi, and anything else that strikes our fancy—as long as we can find a leader to lead and enough people to participate!
We have Sunday morning field trips at Centennial Park in March and  in November that  are a great introduction to local birding. We also schedule trips to other county and state parks, private property, and the three Columbia lakes.
Why so many different locations and times (throughout the week, but mainly on Saturdays and Sundays)? Because all of us enjoy the outdoors, and we all bring different skills and schedules to these trips. Don’t deny yourself the pleasure of a field trip because you  lack knowledge; our members delight in showing everyone the birds—common and special—that we find on these trips!

Seasonal Bird Counts

 

In addition to a full schedule of programs and field trips, we compile migratory and resident bird records four times a year. May Count, Fall Count and Mid-winter Count are one day countywide surveys. Members can also participate in the Audubon Triadelphia Christmas Count that includes about one-third of the county. On these counts, new or inexperienced birders can be placed with those with more experience.

Newsletter

We publish a newsletter (The Goldfinch) five times a year— with many in-depth articles plus seasonal and bird count articles. Back issues are available on the web.

The Goldfinch

In Memoriam

Over the years we have lost key members of the Howard County Bird Club. Their contributions and reputations remain.

In Memoriam

Gift Membership

Give an MOS/HCBC membership to a friend, co-worker, or relative who is a birdwatcher but not yet a member.

Planned Giving

Through planned giving, individuals are able to arrange gifts to be made at a future date, helping to support the long-term goals of the Howard County Bird Club (HCBC). Making a gift to HCBC may reduce the amount of your estate subject to taxation because HCBC is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration (2022)

Several pages showing what we did to mark our Fiftieth Anniversary in 2022.

Annual budget and IRS Form 990

Annual budget (for members only): Contact HCBC Treasurer

IRS Form 990: Contact HCBC Treasurer