Volunteer Opportunities April 2023

Habitat Cleanup: Caring for our environment

We're doing a creek cleanup! Join us on Sunday, April 16 as we work with Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful to remove trash from a riparian habitat we love to bird. Spend the day with some awesome folks doing something awesome for our ecosystem!

Learn More and Register Here


Outreach: Share the love (of birds)

Share your love of birds with Communities in Santa Clara Valley

SCVAS needs volunteers to help with "tabling events," where we host a table at community events and fairs in the area and talk to people about birds. This is a great opportunity to help SCVAS raise its visibility and share your love of birds with the public! We'll have many events throughout the spring and summer. You pick the date and event and time when you can help. We're currently in need of volunteers for events on the weekend of Earth Day!

Required: willingness to talk to strangers about birds, the importance of habitat, and SCVAS programs; enthusiasm; friendliness 

Very helpful: language skills in addition to English (Spanish, Mandarin, others) 

Not required: super expertise in bird identification 

How to sign up: see our signup or email programs@scvas.org and ask to be added to the "Tabling Volunteers" email group to find out about opportunities

Organize Drop-in Birding Events 

We need a "program manager" to organize regular outreach birding events across the Santa Clara Valley. 

What is drop in birding?  We send out a couple of SCVAS volunteers with binoculars, a scope, and brochures to a birdy location where the people are. The volunteers point out birds to the passers by, tell them about SCVAS and our programs, and share their love of birds with the people who stop to chat. 

What would the program manager do? This volunteer will select the date/time/place for the drop-in birding events. They will organize volunteers to pick up the loaner binoculars and staff the event. The program manager work can be done from your home computer, whenever you wish. 

How to sign up: email annhep@yahoo.com or programs@scvas.org


Naturalists Needed: Inspiring a Love of Nature

Whether you're a birder or really into lichen, an expert with native plants or some other taxa entirely, we're looking for naturalists to help out at an upcoming BioBlitz Saturday, April 30, 9:00AM - 11:00AM at the Mockingbird Hill Lane entrance to Almaden Quicksilver. SCVAS is working with Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful to put this event on and we're excited to invite you to join us!

Register as a docent here.


Nature Shop: Helping feed the birds

SCVAS is looking for reliable volunteers to help run the nature shop on an as-needed basis. Volunteers are responsible for answering basic birding and wildlife related questions for the public over the phone and in person, entering sales in the Nature Shop, filling and cleaning the feeders and bird baths, and helping with the occasional mailing.

Contact April Austin at scvas@scvas.org for further information.