Pennsylvania Birds
Pennsylvania Birds, the PSO’s quarterly journal dedicated to bird distribution and occurrence in Pennsylvania, is included in PSO Memberships. It includes sightings for each quarter on a county-by-county basis, rare bird reports, the CBC, site guides, PA Birdlists, Hawk Migration Summaries, book reviews, PORC reports, and articles of general interest ranging from the humorous to the technical. Library/Institutional rates are also available (these rates do not include the PSO Newsletter).
Back Issues online (Members) (Non-Members)
Subscription Information
Subscription Rates
Publishing Deadlines
Submitting Reports
Submitting Photosย
Submission of Materials for Publication
Reprints
Back Issues (hard copies)
Index
Seasonal Occurrence Tables
Staff
Compiler Instructions
History
Subscription Information
One year’s subscription includes 4 issues.
The first issue you receive depends on your Membership start date.
Subscription Rates
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One year Individual Membership in PSO $30.00
One year Family Membership in PSO $35.00
One year Sustaining Membership in PSO $45.00
One year Student Membership in PSO (digital access only) $10.00
Library/Institutional Rates
United States $33.00
Canada $48.00
Other Foreign Country $62.00
Make check payable to PSO and send to:
PSO
2469 Hammertown Road
Narvon, PA 17555-9726
Publishing Deadlines
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Materials (articles, letters, photos) to be included in the publication should be sent to the Chief Editor by the due dates listed below.
| Issue | Season | Due Date | Publication Date |
| 1 | Dec – Feb | March 31 | July |
| 2 | Mar – May | June 30 | October |
| 3 | Jun – Jul | August 31 | December |
| 4 | Aug – Nov | December 31 | April |
Submitting Reports
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Bird sightings should be sent to the County Compiler for the county in which the sightings were made. Be sure to include the following: Species, Location, Number, Observer, Date. If the species requires documentation, be sure to include it.
Submission of Photos for Publication
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Solicitation windows for photos for each issue of Pennsylvania Birds are posted to statewide e-mail lists and Facebook groups by the Photo Editor when submissions are preferred to be received.
Digital photos or scanned image files sent for consideration must be sent to Rob Dickerson in JPG format and submitted as attachments and not embedded in the e-mail.
Horizontal images (preferred) MUST be able to be cropped to 1050px x 700px with a resolution of 300 px/in and vertical images MUST be able to be cropped to 1050px x 1313px at 300 px/in.
Images will not be enlarged/upscaled. High-resolution images are requested during initial submission.
Submissions must also include pertinent information for captioning to include species, location photographed, county photographed, date of photo and any other information of significance regarding the sighting.
Submitted photos may be cropped or adjusted for color, brightness, or contrast as the editor sees fit without notice to the photographer.
Photos with copyright or signature text visible in the image will not be accepted. Photographers will be acknowledged in the photo caption.
Submission of Materials for Publication
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We welcome submission of articles, artwork or photographs. Any materials submitted must be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope if the author desires to have the material returned. Digital photos are preferred — prints will not be returned. Articles should be sent via email (Microsoft Word is preferred, but Word Perfect or any other compatible format is acceptable). PENNSYLVANIA BIRDS assumes no liability or responsibility for any unsolicited materials. Materials should be sent to Mark Bonta, Editor-in-chief.
Reprints
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All issues older than two years are available online. Content may be freely used as long as the source is properly cited.
If you need a printed copy of an article, requests for reprints will be handled by the Treasurer.
Send requests to PSO, 2469 Hammertown Rd., Narvon, Pa 17555-9730.
Back Issues (hard copies)
Most back issues are available in hard copy. They are $10 each (includes postage).
To order, send an check for the appropriate amount and a list of issues wanted to PSO, 2469 Hammertown Rd, Narvon, PA 17555-9730.
Staff
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Chief Editor – Mark Bonta
Seasonal Editors
- Dec-Feb – Nick Bolgiano
- Mar-May – Mike Fialkovich
- Jun-Jul – Dan Brauning
- Aug-Nov – Geoff Malosh
Data Input Technician – Wendy Jo Shemansky
Department Editors
- Photo Editor – Rob Dickerson
- Rare Bird Reports – PORC
- CBC Report – Nick Bolgiano
- HawkWatch Reports – David Barber
- Book Reviews – Gene Wilhelm
- Pennsylvania Birdlists – Andy Keister
- Membership/Subscription Manager – Frank Haas
- Copy Editors – Sheryl Johnson and Carol Light
Compiler Instructions
History
In 1986 Frank and Barb Haas (F&B) did a Big Year in Pennsylvania. In planning for this effort, they decided to use the method that James Vardaman had used.
In 1979, James Vardaman, a birder from Mississippi, did a North American Big Year. What was novel at the time, was that he created a network of birders to act as his eyes and ears. He sent out a monthly newsletter informing them of his progress and urging them to contact him if anything new showed up (F&B contacted him when the Black-tailed Godwit appeared in Philadelphia). He chronicled his adventure in the book Call Collect, ask for BIRDMAN.
So F&B decided to do the same thing, just on a smaller scale. They contacted all of the birders they new across the state and sent out a monthly newsletter. This was not difficult to do with the advent of personal computers and printers.
When their Big Year came to an end, seeing how easy it was to create a newsletter, Frank suggested to Barb that maybe they could start publishing a statewide birding journal.
Pennsylvania did not yet have a statewide organization, but Massachusetts had a publication (Bird Observer) that was not published by a birding club, but by a private entity. So why not us?
So they sent out another letter to all of their contacts asking if they would subscribe to a statewide journal. The overwhelming response was positive, so Pennsylvania Birds was born.
It was modeled on North American Birds (NAB), but it used counties instead of regions for reporting purposes.
Also, the reporting periods for PB were:
Issue #1 Jan-Mar
Issue #2 Apr-Jun
Issue #3 Jul-Sep
Issue #4 Oct-Dec.
I 1989, when the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology (PSO) was founded, the PSO adopted PB as its official journal.
Frank and Barb edited and published it until Volume 14 (2000).
For the first 12 years, we used artwork on the front cover.
In 1997, we began mixing in photos (albeit black-and-white on a colored background) on the cover.
Katrina Knight was the Editor for Volume 15 (2001) and the first two issues of Volume 16 (2002).
In 2002, the PSO decided to conform the seasonal reporting periods to match NAB. So they became:
Issue #1 Dec-Feb
Issue #2 Mar-May
Issue #3 Jun-Jul
Issue #4 Aug-Nov.
The third issue of PB in 2016 was a combined issue (3&4) to transition to the new reporting seasons.
Nick Pulcinella was the Editor from Volume 16 (3&4) until Volume 21 Issue 2 (2007).
In 2003 (Volume 17, Issue #2) we converted to full-color photos on the cover.
In 2005, we started printing the photos inside the back cover in color.
Geoff Galosh was the Editor from Volume 21 Issue 3 (2007) through Volume 29 (2015).
Gregory Grove was the Editor from Volume 30 (2016) through Volume 36 (2022).
In 2018 (Volume 32) we started printing the entire magazine in full color.
Mark Bonta became the Editor in Volume 37 (2023).
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