This LGBTQ birding group invites you to share in the community of folks experiencing ‘bird joy’

It’s easy to spot a pigeon; their plump bodies and short legs dominating city sidewalks, begging for just a crumb of a pretzel. Some people can even identify a gray catbird; their song reminding us of a cat’s meow. Of course, Philadelphians can point out our beloved eagle. But if you long to know more about all of Philly’s flying friends, Philly Queer Birders (PQB) welcomes you to join them on their next walk.

PQB is a group for the queer community and its allies to get together and learn how to identify birds. The group is open to all, whether you’re an expert birder or it’s your first time with a pair of binoculars (which, by the way, they have tons of available to borrow).

“We always welcome a lot of beginners and a lot of experts alike,“ said Elise Greenberg, one of the founders of the group. “It’s just a really welcoming space.”

The group birds throughout the city and region, at sites like Cobbs Creek, Tyler Arboretum, and, most frequently, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum. “It’s probably one of our most birded areas in Philadelphia,” Greenberg said. “All year round there’s a whole lot of different birds to see, whether it’s ducks in the winter, songbirds in the spring.”

John Heinz, the country’s first urban wildlife refuge, is home to several different environments, like woods, wetlands, and the creek, meaning visitors will see birds ranging from snowy egrets to marsh wrens, and other species including musk turtles and tricolor bats.

“I love it because it’s so close to the city and yet it does not at all feel like a city,” Greenberg said. “Having an accessible space like that just gives me a lot of peace and a lot of joy.”

Wanting to share these types of spaces with the queer community, Greenberg and a few friends organized PQB and its guided bird walks in 2021. The group has grown significantly since then, and some walks have had up to 60 attendees, though they usually tend to pull around 35 people.

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Dani Gonzalez, a member of the group, says PQB is one of the few intergenerational queer spaces they have, allowing them to find role models within their community. “It was really special for me to attend an outing with a queer family,” Gonzalez wrote in an Instagram comment.

Gonzalez told The Inquirer that they tend to get emotional in intergenerational queer spaces because media representation of the LGBTQ community tends to skew tragic or have stereotypical tropes.

“I love waking up early and being outside with my queer community,” they said. “I love seeing happy, queer families and queer couples out birding.”

And for Greenberg, that sense of community and happiness is exactly why they started the group.

“With Philly Queer Birders specifically, I really love making birding a community activity where you can share in ‘bird joy,’ which is something Jason Hall from In Color Birding has really instilled in me and I think a lot of birders in Philadelphia,” they said.

“It’s really just being able to enjoy nature together with other queer people and to feel that connection that, like, we’re all really enjoying this bird together, we’re outside, we’re with our people … being able to see that and create that and facilitate that is one of the greatest joys I could’ve hoped for starting this group.”

The next Philly Queer Birders event is on Sunday, Aug. 11, at Glen Foerd from 9-11 a.m. They will also have a stationary outing, the Little Sit, on Sunday, Sept. 22, in collaboration with In Color Birding, Feminist Bird Club Philly, and the Pennsylvania Center for Adaptive Sports (PCAS) at Morris Arboretum from 8-11 a.m., and folks can drop in whenever they want.