Paul Roberts-Estrada
Attendees looking out for birds
The first Bird Walk of the 2025-26 school year kicked off on Sept. 25 for the third year in a row.
Bird Walks happen once a month on a Thursday, guided by our campus’ own bird experts, going around campus to see different species of birds.
Dr. Laurissa Hamilton, host of the Bird Walks and professor in the Biology department, was excited to start another year. She shared that the event is more than simply going out and looking for birds.
“It’s a nice way to bring the community here. It brings people onto campus that maybe wouldn’t have been here otherwise,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton also shared that people that attend Bird Walks can unlock a new hobby for themselves.
“They didn’t realize that it was something they could do, and now they’re interested in pursuing it more. It’s a springboard for some people to learn about the hobby, and then be able to expand it later in other places,” he said.
Not only are Stan State students welcome to join in on Bird Walks, but parents, kids and even students that attend different schools can join in.
Trisha Van Laar, a microbiologist professor in the Biology department, shared the fun you can find in bird spotting, and about how having an experience like a Bird Walk lets you experience the world around you.
“I think a lot of people don’t appreciate that we’re in the middle of the city, but we can find a lot of cool wildlife that maybe you don’t always expect, and it was really fun to have the kids out because you might establish a new hobby for them,” she stated.
Cecilia Ramirez-Vidauri, a Studio Arts major at Modesto Junior College, who has attended multiple Bird Walks in the past two years, shared her knowledge from attending.
“I’ve learned how to differentiate between different birds by their colors, their feathers, and their sounds, or bird calls,” she said.
There’s a lot you can learn about the birds that roam around campus.
“We kind of have a whole range where you can get a lot of different families, and you can start to identify the different features of the different families,” Van Laar stated.
“Hopefully, the people who attend can learn to recognize species that are in our area, learn about some of the migrants and also hopefully learn more about the history. Maybe behaviors that birds have, maybe a little bit about the anatomy and physiology too, so that they can better understand how birds are adapted to different environments,” Hamilton said.
No matter if you have a lot of experience or no experience for bird spotting, you’re always welcome to attend a Bird Walk. You can go on bird walks to help give you more experience in bird spotting, or just for fun.
“I think if you have no experience, you should totally come out. It’s a great opportunity to learn from, not only faculty in the department and from the university, but also just from each other, to pick out the birds, to start to listen for the birds, and learn to identify what they look like,” said Van Laar.
“There are a number of people who’ve told me that they didn’t realize we had so much diversity here on campus and really not just birds. But hopefully it’ll allow people to appreciate what we have here, not just on campus, but in town. There is still quite a bit of diversity in town, and I hope when new people come, they can see that,” Hamilton stated.
The upcoming Bird Walks are scheduled to happen on Oct.23rd, Nov. 13, and Dec. 11th, from 8:30 am to 9:30 am. You can register for the Bird Walk(s) here.