Kingston Bird Club
About the club
KBC is a community club, started in March 2026, with a simple goal: make birding welcoming to everyone, and make the world a little more bird-y along the way.
Our story so far
- March 2026
KBC is born
KBC started in March 2026 to make birding welcoming to everyone. A $2,000 grant from the Canadian Red Cross Resilience Fund helped with our initial operations and purchases of binoculars to share!
- Spring 2026
Our first walks
22 people came to our very first walk at Lake Ontario Park, and everyone drew a bird on our club canvas! In three months, we ran 12 events, including walks with other organizations around Kingston, and grew to over 90 members.
- September 2026
From one person to a team
For its first two months, KBC was run by one person. Our first walk leads joined in May, and by September a full leadership team had come together. Now the club belongs to many of us!
- Fall 2026
WACK’s first monitoring season
Our window collision program began monitoring Queen’s campus six days a week.
- October 2026
First indoor event
Our first indoor event was a letter-writing get-together for our Bird Mail Exchange, a pen pal swap with bird clubs around the world!
Our projects
- WACKWindow Avian Collision Kingston: tracking bird-window collisions and rescuing the birds that survive.Visit the WACK page
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Bird Mail Exchange
A pen pal swap with bird clubs around the world!
Read more about the Bird Mail Exchange
Instead of going to the birds, what if the birds (and the birders) came to your mailbox? We write one collective letter per club at a letter-writing event, and open replies together at another. Anyone can contribute in person or through our message form, with notes, photos and drawings, plus little extras like bird stickers and paper cranes. The idea was inspired by U of T’s MAIL club (Missives: Adventures in Letter-Writing).
Run a bird club? Email us at contact@kingstonbirdclub.ca to swap letters!
- Accessible birding spots We’re mapping good birding spots around Kingston with the accessibility details such as path surfaces, slopes, benches, washrooms, parking and transit. If you know a great spot, or have feedback on one, please email us at contact@kingstonbirdclub.ca!
What we care about
Birding is for everybody
Nobody here is the bird expert, so be patient and kind with each other. Saying “I don’t know, let’s look it up” is normal and encouraged! We run all kinds of events so everyone can find one that works for them, and we always want to hear what would help you join in.
Birds first
We love birds, so we give them space! Please stay back from nests, and never chase or flush a bird for a better look or photo. We don’t play bird calls to attract birds or post the exact location of rare birds online.
A more bird-y world
Every new birder is one more person looking out for birds. The world will be a little more bird-y with more birds and more people who notice and care about them! We want to protect birds and the places they need, and we’re building toward more hands-on conservation as the club grows. More new projects and ways to get involved to come!
If anything at an event or in our online spaces ever feels off, email us at contact@kingstonbirdclub.ca or talk to any club exec. We’ll take it seriously and handle it with care.
Join the club
It’s free and open to everyone! Members will receive email event announcements, irregular newsletters, and an invite to our (very cool) Discord group chat :D
