Fabiola Ramos is a promising young birder and guide who has received binoculars from the Birders’ Exchange.

Is a Harpy Eagle on your must-see list of amazing birds to see? How about a Crested Eagle? If so, and you find yourself in the Darien Province of Panama, Alexander might be just the guide to take you to these rare eagles. He’s spotted them nesting on his land, thanks to a used binocular donated to the American Birding Association’s Birder’s Exchange.

The Birders’ Exchange was founded by Betty Peterson of the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences in 1990. Her aspirational goal was to send used binoculars, spotting scopes, field guides and other equipment to biologists and educators in Latin America and the Caribbean. To date, Birder’s Exchange has provided this much-needed equipment to hundreds of organizations in 30 countries and territories.

How do used optics help? In Cuba, Arturo Kirkconnell did research for A Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba using optics donated to Birders’ Exchange. In Guatemala, 9th grader Fabiola Ramos uses donated binoculars in her basic bird guide training course provided by Audubon. In Panama, groundskeeper Anibal Rodriguez keeps an eye on nesting Spectacled Owls with his donated binocular and encourages other groundskeepers to keep birds in mind as they care for the land.

Create your own story: When you upgrade to new equipment, please pass on your replaced equipment to someone new. If you don’t need to upgrade, consider a financial donation that can be used to purchase equipment for budding naturalists and educators in Latin America. If you are a bird club member, ask Birders’ Exchange help you organize an equipment drive. Birders’ Exchange especially needs the following items:

·Binoculars, especially rubber armored or waterproof models

·Field guides to Neotropical birds

·New editions to field guides to North American birds

·Digital cameras, especially SLRs and telephoto lenses

·Spotting scopes

·Tripods

·Ornithology texts

·Laptop computers (less than four years old)

·Backpacks in good condition

·iPods or mp3 players with microphones

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide for budding birders, guides and biologists! It’s amazing to see how this birding equipment makes such a big difference, sometimes on a national and international level.

Article by Peter Stangel

Learn more about Fabiola, Alexander and others at http://bex.aba.org/