How Birdability came to be: An ongoing story you can be part of!
Birdability founder Virginia Rose, birding at Richard Moya Park in Austin, Texas.
Photo: Mike Fernandez/Audubon
Once upon a time, a woman with a spinal cord injury who uses a manual wheelchair to get around discovered birding. Along with the joy of the actual birds, she discovered the fun of being part of a like-minded community, the perfect kind of exercise (which doesn’t really feel like exercise), and the health and wellness benefits of spending time in nature. She also discovered a huge sense of empowerment and feeling of accomplishment when she could go birding on an accessible trail, by herself, without someone there to help her over roots or up a step… And that empowerment stayed with her off the trail and came with her into her everyday life.
I can do this. I can do this! I can do this.
She realized that anybody with a mobility challenge, whether because they use a wheelchair, or they have grumpy joints that slow them down, could get the same sense of empowerment out of going birding. So she set about finding those people in her hometown of Austin, Texas, and introducing birding to them.
Her name is Virginia Rose, and she called her effort “Birdability”.
That was in 2018. Fast forward two and a half years, and the stars aligned. National Audubon had heard about her efforts, birding and disability magazines interviewed her for articles, and she began a network of Birdability Captains all over the country — people who wanted to be actively engaged in this work. Birdability Week, supported by National Audubon, happened in October 2020, and as of January 14th 2021, Birdability is now a registered non-profit, with a national (and international!) scope, and a full-time staff member at the helm! (That’s me.)
I started out as a Birdability Captain, and Virginia ‘promoted’ me to Admiral because of my work coordinating Birdability Week… and following up with all the wonderful interest and engagement that came after it. As an Occupational Therapist (OT), my job is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life that are meaningful to them, despite any limitations caused by an illness, injury, disability or mental health concern. (A friend recently summarized OTs as professional problem-solvers and professional optimists!)
This work with Birdability fits in perfectly. Its not a traditional, clinical role for an OT (in a hospital, or a pediatric therapy clinic, for example), but we’re modifying the environment, adapting equipment and teaching new skills to enable participation in a meaningful activity. So it’s definitely OT! And what everyday activity could be more meaningful than birding?!
Birdability’s vision is that birding truly is for everybody and every body, regardless of disability or other health concerns. Through education, outreach and advocacy, Birdability works to ensure the birding community and the outdoors are welcoming, inclusive, safe and accessible for everybody. We focus on people with mobility challenges, blindness or low vision, chronic illness, intellectual or developmental disabilities, mental illness, and those who are neurodiverse, deaf or hard of hearing or who have other health concerns. We do this through educating the birding community about disability (because the social environment must support participation), and how to be welcoming and inclusive birders. We educate, advocate and consult on the physical environment of birding — how accessible is that trail? (Hint: there’s a lot more to it than just being paved.) Does the nature center have accessible bathrooms? What about the bird blind? Can wheelchair users get in there too? And we encourage folks to contribute to the crowd-sourced Birdability Map, to document accessible birding locations in the detail that people with disabilities and other health concerns need.
We also work to bring the joys and empowerment of birding that Virginia experienced to people who have disabilities or other health concerns. Not just the fun of seeing or hearing birds, or the social benefits of being part of a like-minded community, or even the health and wellness benefits humans receive from spending time in nature. But when someone can get out — on their own — and get totally absorbed on a trail or not have to worry about asking someone for help, there is so much empowerment to gain. Especially for folks who oftentimes need some help doing everyday things like showering or dressing — there is so much potential for independence and growing in self-confidence outside, through birding. And we want everybody to have the opportunity to experience that.
Our website is full of resources and information to educate and empower anyone who wishes to join us in this work. There’s information on:
An accessible bird outing held by Georgia Audubon. Photo: Melanie Furr.
What features make up an actually accessible trail;
Ideas for you to be a more welcoming and inclusive birder;
Tips and resources for birders who are blind or have low vision;
Links to articles and webinars to learn more about birding with a disability;
Our upcoming events (including monthly virtual accessible field trips, held in partnership with Georgia Audubon);
The Birdability Map (a crowd-sourced map of accessible birding locations, with details of the accessibility features of them);
Ways you can get involved and support our work, and much more.
We are so excited to do this work, and have received so much amazing feedback already. “Thank you for starting this conversation; I finally feel seen and cared about,” said one birder with a disability. An able-bodied birder said, “I’m so grateful for you sharing all these resources. I want to be inclusive, but I didn’t know how. Thank you for showing me.”
So sign up for our monthly newsletter, follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, donate if you’re able… And together, let’s make sure that birding and the outdoors truly is for everybody and every body!
