Carol and Derek Matthews are birders living in Vancouver, BC, Canada – Derek is also a North American Banding Council (NABC) certified trainer.

We are passionate about birds and the environment and founded the Vancouver Avian Research Centre (VARC) a Registered Canadian Charity dedicated to wild bird research, conservation and education to raise awareness of environmental issues as they relate to birds.

The birds of the world are in serious trouble, and common species are now in decline all around the globe – 1,469 species (that’s 1 in 8 of the world’s birds) are threatened with extinction. Our goal is to support bird conservation efforts and activities worldwide by assisting conservation groups and bird guides and at VARC through our bird monitoring and research work and all of the public outreach and education to raise awareness, particularly with children through our kids and school classroom education programs.

At the end of the day people are not going to care about bird conservation unless they think that birds are worthwhile and the only way we can save them is to save the environments in which they live. To lose any bird species is an irreversible tragedy and one that can be avoided if we take steps to ensure there are places for them.

We hope that this website will encourage anyone with an interest in wild birds to consider the things they can individually do to help. We also hope that by doing so others can share their appreciation of birds and the miracle of their phenomenal travels throughout the year as anyone who learns these secrets cannot help but value birds and place importance on protecting them and their habitats.