Katie Chung was driven to Fledglink due to a lack of resources for birders her age. Feeling discouraged by the limited opportunities to engage in birding and surrounded by older enthusiasts, she sought to change the landscape. Inspired by the book "My Side of the Mountain," which kindled her passion for birding, Katie holds a special affinity for the peregrine falcon. Currently an active member of New Jersey's Young Birders Club, she also dedicates her time as a wildlife camp counselor at Lorrimer Sanctuary and contributes to wildlife research there. Katie's ultimate goal for Fledglink is to provide inclusive resources for birders of all ages and backgrounds, with a particular emphasis on inspiring young birders and fostering avian conservation efforts!

Joyce Nadler is a sophomore at Churchill Junior High School. Here at Fledglink, she designs graphics for our social media page and website. She’s also currently working on illustrating a children's book about birds! Although she’s always loved nature, a particularly charismatic flock of Cedar Waxwings she found in her local park first inspired her to observe and draw birds. Besides making art, she loves learning about ecology, tree identification, and the environment. Her ultimate goal is to conserve the diversity and beauty of avian wildlife surrounding her!

Arjun Rajan, a passionate young birder, developed a deep interest in birds through encounters with sparrows and crows. He excels at identifying bird species based on their sounds and colors, often coming close to accurate guesses for unfamiliar ones. Memorable moments include birdwatching at Sandy Hook, where he marveled at diverse birds and their amusing perching attempts. Arjun's dream is to contribute to Fledglink's mission of inspiring young birders with comprehensive resources. Starting at a young age, he explored various locations like the Jersey Shore, joining the young birders club and venturing to places like Petty's Island and Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. His passion for birdwatching continues to grow, with the Jersey Shore remaining a significant highlight.

Diego Segura is a first-year at Princeton University, who plans to pursue his interests in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology alongside building knowledge in the humanities.  Diego began birding after identifying an Eastern Phoebe with his high school’s Ornithological Society; the discovery of such a quaint bird in a familiar local park sparked him to seek out the overlooked nature he was surrounded by. Developing an interest in birds augmented a desire to learn about the environments they called home, and through this, he learned more about local ecology and wildlife management/conservation. At Fledglink, he contributes his personal methods of building experience both in the field and at home. Through hearing the experience of others and sharing his own, he hopes to spread awareness and aid in developing accessible resources for young birders.”

Paige Flynn is a senior at Delran High School. She got into birding after her friend described it as Pokemon in real life, and ever since then she has been fascinated with the incredible diversity of avian life and plans to spend her life studying ornithology. Her dream birding locations are Costa Rica and Papua New Guinea and her favorite bird is the Brown creeper. She loves drawing birds and listening to music in her free time. At Fledglink, she is involved in social media and hopes to connect with young people across the world to build a strong community of bird lovers!”

Henry Jones is a Young Birder based in the South-West of England, on the edge of Dartmoor National Park. He was named the Zeiss Young Birder of the Year in the under 11 Category at the 2023 Global Birdfair. He discovered his love of birding at the age of 4, when he received an I-spy book on Birds, and quickly immersed himself in the avian world. Since 2020, he has written a blog under the name of the Bovey Birder (named after his local river, where many of his birding outings take place), documenting his adventures and passion for nature. His favourite bird is the Common Cuckoo, a sure sign of spring in Devon, but also one of the first affected by Climate Change due to its mammoth migration route across the Sahara Desert. Through his work with Fledglink, he hopes to inspire a love of nature and being outdoors for a new generation of young birders. 

Jae Walsh is a young birder from Gloucester county New Jersey who is endlessly fascinated by the natural world. From a young age, birds have been his everything. After spying a northern mockingbird in his neighborhood, he started trying to identify more and more birds and learning about them. Now as a teenager, his passion has expanded into many different areas like evolution, sustainable agriculture, avian behavior, and more. Jae has always had a passion for art and creating and now gets to incorporate his passion for birds with his design and illustration skills. Jae hopes to continue working with birds in the future and hopes to reach a greater audience using design to convey scientific research and concepts to the general public. 

Charles is a high school junior from central Florida. He has been interested in birds for over nine years, ever since watching birds in his backyard in Pennsylvania. His favorite birding activity is recording nocturnal flight calls— he's built and maintained his own station, and has recorded dozens of species. He is also an avid contributor to eBird and advisory board member of the Florida Young Birders Club. He looks forward to helping write entertaining and informative content for Fledglink and building a strong community of young birders!

Tabitha Collins is a junior at Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey. She became fascinated with ecology at a young age, often observing wildlife and later illustrating what she saw. As an elementary schooler, Wild Kratts was her favorite show and largely influenced this interest. After the pandemic, she began taking pictures of birds at a local wildlife refuge after finding her parents’ camera. Photography provided a balance between biology and art and solidified her love for birds and other wildlife. Among Tabitha’s favorite birds are harriers, terns, and cedar waxwings. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in photojournalism.

Hannes Burlin is a 17-year-old birder and photographer from Stockholm, Sweden. He first got into birding with his grandparents at a very young age; they would always have binoculars with them wherever they went, and they would teach him a lot about birds. He's always been into photography, but it wasn’t until he was about thirteen that he started combining the two interests. Since then he's been a bird photographer striving to capture birds in their natural environment to the best of his ability.

Valerie Wong is a passionate young birder from San Jose, California. She discovered birding early in the pandemic, fascinated especially by the behavior of songbirds like ruby-crowned kinglets and black phoebes. She’s also an avid wildlife photographer and origami artist, and loves using her talents to support environmental causes. Valerie wants to help the younger generation discover the joy of birding as she did, and is the co-founder of the Santa Clara Valley Young Birders Club. At Fledglink, she hopes to share the stories of young birders in order to inspire people to care about birds all around the world. 

Ishaqali Saiyed is a junior at Delran High School. He never knew birding existed until his biology teacher introduced him to it. He fell in love with birding after seeing a blue jay constantly by his house flying around and eating bird food, thus becoming his favorite bird. Later on, his biology teacher forced him to memorize a lot of birds for a test, and he enjoyed the task of learning many different kinds of birds. He then knew birding was something he was passionate about doing. At Fledglink, he is involved in writing to inspire readers to hopefully get them to enjoy birding as much as he does.

Freddie Emms is a young birder, naturalist, and conservationist from Buckinghamshire in the UK, passionate about nature and wildlife, and improving our long-standing disconnect with the natural world. Through his involvement as an active member of the governing Youth Council of the UK’s largest nature charity, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), he enjoys working on a national scale to engage and unite more young people with a love of birds and nature, and is excited to translate this passion onto an international playing field, contributing towards Fledglink’s inspiring mission. Because, in his opinion, the only way to achieve change in fostering widespread love and protection of our wildlife and natural world, is to do so as a united front of passionate, like-minded individuals all working together as one.

Nikki Piedad is a fluffy pancake enjoyer and young birder at University High School. She loves spending time outside with her friends and practicing shooting local birds… with a camera. One of her favorite birding experiences was on a trip with her school’s birding club to go see a Snowy Owl when one visited SoCal. Storytelling is her passion, whether through the lens of birding or as a student journalist. Through Fledglink, she hopes to meet and help cultivate a birding community and encourage more people to get into the hobby.

Katie Warner is a High School Junior from Vancouver, Washington and plans to pursue her interests in Ornithology and research after graduating. She began birding after identifying a California Scrub-Jay in her yard, and soon got involved with her local Audubon chapters and the American Birding Association. She is currently an active member of the Vancouver Audubon Society and co-founded the Vancouver Audubon Young Birders group. In addition, she is a member of the team for The Fledgling, a magazine by and for young birders. As well as birding, Katie is also an avid photographer and her photos have appeared in a variety of publications. At Fledglink, she hopes to help create a community of young birders and inspire a further love of birding.

Nick Teague is a 16-year-old bird and wildlife photographer from Massachusetts. Nick’s passion for birding began after seeing a family of Common Loons on a lake in Maine with his friend. Since then, he has explored countless wildlife sanctuaries and conservation areas in search of new and interesting bird species. Some of Nick’s favorite birds are Green Herons, Grasshopper Sparrows and Atlantic Puffins. At Fledglink, Nick hopes to blend his skills in photography and his passion for birding to inspire youth to join in on conservation efforts.

Anagha Ramesh is an 8th grader from New Jersey. She has been loving nature and the outdoors since she was a preschooler. She decided to start journaling the birds she saw outdoors, along with making field drawings. This has become her passion and hobby and she is learning bird identification. Birding has also improved her art skills a lot as she draws the birds she sees often. Here at Fledglink, she aims to use her drawing abilities to help other birders connect with people who have the same interests.

Hashim Chaudhry is a senior from Delran, NJ. Since his youth, Hashim has found nature and its phenomena amazing. In his freshman year, Hashim decided to join his high school’s Ornithological Society. Birding has become one of Hashim’s favorite activities, and it has greatly improved his mindfulness and connection with the world around him. Some of Hashim’s favorite birds include the Glossy Ibis, and Eastern Bluebird. At Fledglink, Hashim hopes to help young birders learn more about the joys of ornithology.

Elizabeth Gao is a senior from California. She has been fascinated by birds since seventh grade when she received her first pet budgie, and now she has ten birds. During the pandemic, she began to write books about her personal experience with birds and how spending time with them improved her overall well-being, specifically "Oh My Bird," "Added Bonus," and "Dream with Birds" with a fourth one on the way. She’s also been published by the Korea Times multiple times, with some articles raising awareness of endangered species of birds. She's also the Editor-in-Chief of the media club that submits monthly articles to the Korea Times. At Fledglink, Elizabeth hopes to refine articles to get the desired message across from the writer to the reader.

Cole Dannull-Fyfe is a senior at Principia High School in St. Louis, Missouri. He was introduced to birding by his grandfather, but later really fell in love with it by one of his personal mentors. His favorite bird species is the Indigo Bunting. He has become more of an avid bird watcher by the minute. He loves to travel to new places in Missouri to see new species which eventually got him into the photography side by taking photos of new birds he saw. Through his passion, he was able to go to 7 different countries and counting. This enabled him to further his interest in the hobby and sparked his final conclusion to join the Missouri Youth Birding Club to help further his passion for birding. At Fledgelink, he hopes to help spark other fellow birder's interest through the work he is able to do through the organization. 

Ilsa Tucker is a high school junior from Brunswick, Maine. She has been fascinated by birds since a young age from the cardinals in her backyard. She has been an active member of the Maine Young Birders Club since its founding in 2017. During the pandemic, she started learning how to photograph birds and wildlife, adding this to her passion of birding. Her favorite birds are warblers and Northern Gannets. Ilsa hopes to connect more young birders through fledglink, writing about how other people can enjoy birds as much as she has. 

Alex Liu has loved the natural world from a young age. Initially growing up in New Jersey and then moving to Southern California, he had the experience of encountering numerous environments – along with many birds. In particular, his favorite bird is the Anna’s Hummingbird, as he often observes them in his backyard and is absolutely fascinated by their unique method of flight. In the future, he hopes to advance efforts in utilizing innovation and technology in the fascinating world of ornithology.

Sabrina Chin is a senior at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco, California. She became interested in birding after rescuing an injured Anna’s Hummingbird with her best friend in their elementary school’s garden. Ever since, she fell in love with birding and, eventually, bird photography. One of her favorite birds is the Allen’s Hummingbird because of its orange, vibrant plumage. At Fledglink, she hopes to inspire others to participate in birding through her photography, in which she enjoys capturing the various species she encounters. 

Kayo is an 18-year-old bird watcher from the Netherlands. About 3 years ago, he started photographing animals in his area. He soon started to enjoy photographing birds and has now been birding actively for the past 2 years. Although he's never taken a course or received formal training in photography, he always enjoys trying new things with his camera. When he was little, his father would often take him to parks where he became fascinated with the ducks there. This was his earliest memory of birds. He is now conducting an interesting study learning about different avian species and the ecology of nature. He believes it is important to protect nature and the species that live in it. As a future career, he aspires to help protect nature.

Anna is a 17-year-old birder from Pennsylvania. Her love for birds began at the age of 10 when she got a pair of budgies for her birthday. It wasn’t until she was 16, during a vacation in Maryland, that she discovered birding. She became immediately obsessed with it, and she loved the little adventures that birding took her on. It didn’t take long for her passion for watching birds to turn into a love of drawing them too! At Fledglink, she hopes to create inspiring illustrations to show others the beauty of birds and help connect young birders from around the globe. 

Belinda is a year 10 in New Zealand and has a passion for wildlife photography. New Zealand is filled with birds and is strongly against pests which makes it perfect for any birder to visit. Belinda became a birder at a young age spotting different species in the garden everyday. This grew into her love for photography and capturing them through her camera in 2020 during lockdown. Her collection of images grows everyday.

Adithya is in an exciting phase in life since he started Middle School and took great interest in birding with his sister, Anagha. The Eastern Pewee has always fascinated him! After participating in a full year of guided and family birding trips he is very eager to contribute to the birding community through writing about his birding experiences and how they can help and develop young adults like him. Adithya is very passionate about protecting animals in the environment and one of his community goals is advocating safe driving practices so the animals are safe.

​Joshua Winter is a first year student at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, who is pursuing a degree in veterinary science. He has always been fascinated by wildlife and started to take birding seriously when he got into high school. He enjoys photographing the birds of Africa and is passionate about atlasing to help improve the information related to the distribution of birds. His favourite bird is the Crowned Eagle and the Olive Bushshrike. At Fledglink, he hopes to create awareness about the beautiful continent of Africa and its birds.

Sierra Glassman is an 18-year-old senior at UC Berkeley studying Integrative Biology. She is currently researching bird behavior and acting as an officer of the UC Berkeley campus chapter of Audubon, Bears for Birds. She has been writing fiction, nonfiction, and poetry mainly about birds since she was little. She edits posts for the Fledglink blog and hopes to inspire other young birders to learn more about and pursue ornithology.

Alex Boyko is a sophomore at Northwestern University majoring in statistics. Alex began birdwatching in middle school, where he was taught about birds by a close friend. He is often found near windows, hiking trails, and large bodies of water and ties his passion for birds into other hobbies such as photography, writing, and data science. Alex has also volunteered with the New York Audubon’s advocacy efforts and the New Hampshire Fish and Game’s piping plover project. At Fledglink, he is looking to support young birders and raise awareness about conservation efforts and the wonderful world of birds.

Ike Ikemori is a 16-year-old birder and wildlife photographer from California. Ike’s passion for birding began after finding a Birds of California Field Guide at his Elementary School Library. Since then, he has explored many wildlife sanctuaries, ecological reserves, and birding hotspots looking for birds. Recently his interests have also started to be more inclusive starting to study the evolutionary history birds. Some of Ike’s favorite birds are Snowy Owls, Pink Eared Ducks, and Broad Billed Hummingbirds. At Fledglink, Ike hopes to share his interest in birds and their evolutionary history, his skills in photography and his passion for birding to inspire people his age to join in on conservation efforts.

Madee Omran is a highschool student from St. Louis, Missouri. While he has always loved nature, Madee did not get involved in birding until he noticed a Red-Bellied Woodpecker feeding its babies in an oak tree. With this segue into the avian world, he identified an Ovenbird in his yard during January when it should have gone south. Realizing that it did not migrate because of a wing injury, he fed it dried mealworms every day, eventually being able to sit right next to it as it ate. His close encounters with this beautiful bird led him to start a club at his high school dedicated to the conservation of wild birds, and he hopes to continue this work with Fledglink. 

Simon Tolzmann IS an 18-year-old wildlife photographer, naturalist, and budding restoration ecologist from Chicago, IL, now living in Fort Collins, CO studying conservation biology at Colorado State University. He's been a nature person for my life as long as he can remember and began turning his deep-rooted passion into a serious career more recently. He works closely with Hunt’s Photo and Video giving online wildlife photography workshops for camera and bird clubs nationwide, as well as leading in-person workshops surrounding various wildlife photography topics at birding festivals around the country. He also works with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and the Colorado Wildlife Society doing restoration work across degraded and healthy habitats. 

Owen Robertson is a junior at New Vista High School in Boulder, Colorado. He became interested in birds when he was five years old, after discovering a field guide to the birds of his area. The incredible diversity of colors, sizes, and shapes of these creatures enthralled him, and he quickly became involved with his local Audubon Society and the American Birding Association. He wishes to pursue a career in evolutionary biology, and hopes to travel the world to study birds in the wild. Through his association with Fledglink, he hopes to inspire other young people to notice the incredible birds around them, and help to further the awareness and conservation of the creatures he loves. His favorite bird is the Gunnison Sage-Grouse.

Jack is a 15-year-old bird photographer, birder, and wildlife enthusiast. He lives in New Jersey and has had this passion for as long as I can remember. He always keeps an eye out for rare birds and chases them whenever I can. Although that part of birding makes it interesting and new, he thinks it is really important to pay just as much attention to the less rare common birds. Every species is unique and different and that's why he loves doing what he does. Later in life, he aspires to continue photography as a career, research endangered species, and hopefully discover new bird species. He looks forward to taking photos for Fledglink, contributing to interviews, and much more!