St. Johns Regional Audubon
Celebrating and protecting birds from the river to the ocean in NE Florida
Young Birders
The SJRA has several programs to devoted to young people (ages 3-21) to that are focused on birding and conservation of bird habitat, including:
- Programs led by retired educators for homeschool groups, scout groups, and other
youth groups - Family bird walks with St. Johns County Parks and Recreation
- Bird walks and scavenger hunts for kids (with parents)
- Grant programs for individual kids AND youth groups
- A community service program for high school students
- Scholarship programs for young people ages 7-21
This page has links to information about these programs. If you have specific questions, pleasecdo not hesitate to contact the Chair of our Education Committee, Kate Teaford.
Also visit our Teacher Page for information on how we can help teachers.
Please note that we love to have kids and families attend any and all of our regular bird walks!
The SJRA Grant Program
The purpose of this program is to give young birders and future birders both direction and financial support (up to $500) for their projects that they may want to do to help birds or conserve bird habitat. Scholarship applications are accepted for projects all year around for projects located within St. Johns and eastern Putnam Counties.
Examples of the types of projects that we have funded include:
- Planting a native plant garden as a community project
- Building and installing 12 bird feeders at an assisted living facility
- Building and installing a Wood Duck Nest box on an HOA retaining pond
We will give grants to individual young people or youth groups under this program. For details and application materials, follow this link.
The SJRA Scholarship Program
For scholarships, the SJRA will provide up to $500 to young birders, ages 7 to 21, to attend birding programs, such as National Audubon’s Hogg Island program for young people, or Audubon Florida’s Annual Assembly. Young birders would be eligible for scholarships related to bird or birding programs inside or outside the SJRA Area. Scholarship applications are accepted year around. For details and application materials, follow this link.
The SJRA Independent Study Program
Our independent study program is intended to help busy high school students participate in a worthwhile community science project on their own time and at their own pace, while giving them a reason and opportunity to learn about the birds around them. It will also give them experience working with large data bases.
Other Resources for Young Birders
The National Audubon Society (NAS) has wonderful free programs and materials for young people on its Audubon Adventures page, with a Spanish version! Here are a few that we recommend:
- For ideas on how young people can help birds and the habitat they need to thrive, we suggest this Audubon Adventures Article
- The NAS Owl Prowl page has information about owls, as well as suggested activities related to owls
- The Puzzles and Games Page
- The Spanish version of Audubon Adventures
There are also other two organizations for young birders that we recommend:
- Florida Young Birders Club (our own Blair Clark was one of the organizers of this club!)
- Global Young Birders Network which connects young birders 18 and under from around the world