Leica APO Televid 62, Brochure

best : “As anyone who has tried bird 

photography can attest, it can be a 

difficult proposition to capture the essen-

ce of bird life on film (or digital memory

cards), but these young birders pulled it

off.” The ABA/Leica Young Birder of the

Year contest has had over 500 young

people enter and fine-tune different

facets of their birding. The flexibility of

the contest allows participants to pursue

and expand on the areas of birding that

most fascinate them. As our young bir-

ders become adults and mentors for

others, they will carry forward these 

learning experiences into their college

studies and eventual careers. The ABA

is proud to have Leica Camera Inc as the

primary sponsor for our young birder 

education programs.

Lori L. Fujimoto, Education Manager and

Ted Floyd, Editor of Birding

Leica and ABA youth birding programs 

Leica Camera Inc has been the 

principle sponsor of the ABA Young Birder

of the Year program since its beginnings

in 1997. Leica is also a proud supporter

of the American Birding Association’s

Young Birder’s Conventions and Youth

Birding Camps. Leica supports these 

programs by providing high quality optics,

by offering scholarships, and by deferring

overall costs. This allows more of these

talented young naturalists to attend 

these programs, and learn about their

natural surroundings.

www.americanbirding.org/yb/yby

Supporting young birders

Young birders everywhere are 

often isolated from their peers, watching and studying birds all by 

themselves. So how do you inspire and encourage students from across

the continent to discover birding, to get out into the field and improve

their birding proficiency and enjoyment, and at the same time connect

with other young birders ? 

One of the ways that the American Birding Association (ABA) has found

to do just that was to create a contest, the ABA/Leica Young Birder 

of the Year (YBY), which would spark their imaginations as well as 

increase their desire to pursue and develop their own birding skills.

The YBY contest was begun in 1997 

with a firm commitment from the ABA

Education Program to encourage more

young people to become interested in 

birding and encourage young birders to

enhance their entire birding experience,

with an emphasis on the development 

of good field skills. Leica Camera Inc

stepped up as the principal sponsor of

this exciting new event, with superior

optics prizes and a generous scholarship

to a youth birding camp for the winners.

The YBY has evolved from that first ven-

ture, and now consists of four individual 

modules : field notebook, writing, photo-

graphy, and illustration. Participants can

customize the contest to reflect their own

ornithological interests and the aspects

of birding that they find the most 

compelling by participating in just one 

or all four of the modules. To qualify for

overall YBY, participants must complete

the field notebook module and at least

two of the others. 

The Field Notebook Module is the 

primary piece for the YBY. Taking good

field notes requires a commitment to

time spent in the field, careful observa-

tion, attention to detail, and dedication to

birds and birding. It is not a stretch to say

that most of today’s leading birders and

ornithologists kept field notebooks when

they were younger. The lessons learned –

discipline, organization, clarity, rigor – 

are vital to so many different careers in 

birding and ornithology, among them 

writing, painting, tour-leading, museum

work, and conservation science.

Distinct from the Field Notebook

Module is the Writing Module. Whereas

the Field Notebook Module emphasizes

on-the-ground, on-site descriptions of

birds observed in the field, the Writing

Module presents a venue for analysis,

interpretation, and speculation. The pri-

mary genre here is the essay, but some

of our creative young birders venture into

more imaginative media such as poetry.

Being able to communicate well is the key

to success in the modern professional

world, and the Writing Module provides

our young birders with excellent, in-depth

exposure to the craft of writing.

The Illustration Module strengthens the

participants’ competence as birders as

well as their artistry and creativity. As

they distinguish the subtle colors of field

marks, correct primary extension lengths,

and overall bird proportions, they are also

bolstering their birding and field identifi-

cation skills. And as they scrutinize the

proportion challenges when the birds

change their position, they are also lear-

ning about the way birds move when they

sing, eat, and go about their daily lives.

Capturing a bird’s particular attitude and

beauty along with the successful handling

of their chosen media is a charge that

these young birders have met with

aplomb. The act of putting pencil to

paper has become an expression of these

young birders’ love and enthusiasm for

their subjects.

The newest addition to the YBY contest

was the Photography Module, introduced

in 2003. This module gives young birders

yet another avenue to explore birding

while boosting their proficiency with their

photography. Photographic equipment

used by young birders has varied from

simple point - and-shoot cameras to 

sophisticated SLR’s. An impressive array

of photographs has been produced in

these first two years. One of the pho-

tography judges, Bill Schmoker, said it 

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