The Dutch Birding Association (DBA) was founded in 1979 as an independent non-profit association run by volunteers, and its principles remain unchanged to this day. The goal of the DBA is to stimulate birdwatching in a serious and popular scientific manner. To this end, the DBA collects, processes and disseminates information about scarce and rare birds through several media.
Publishing the bimonthly journal Dutch Birding is the core activity of the DBA. First published in 1979 it has become one of the world's leading birding journals. It deals with a broad spectrum of subjects, is very up-to-date, maintains a high standard of editing and is widely admired for its high quality of production and photographs. Articles are in English or Dutch and major articles in either of these languages have a summary in the other. Dutch Birding accommodates the more scientific study of rare birds and bird identification, without ignoring the pleasures and emotions involved in birding as a hobby. Articles on field identification are the main focus of Dutch Birding. Dutch Birding and the DBA play an important role in the documentation of rare and scarce birds in the Netherlands, Belgium and elsewhere in the Palearctic region and beyond. Dutch Birding and the DBA also play a leading role in stimulating debate and discussion in the often-contentious subjects of systematics and taxonomy, in such a way that also the non-specialist birder is informed about developments in this dynamic field of ornithological science. Go to 'Journal' on this website to view the content of recent issues, to read summaries of published papers and to read already sold out back-issues in pdf-format. The website also gives up-to-date bird news and pictures.