Discord is a collaborative platform for facilitating social interaction, for sharing birding adventures, helping each other with bird identification questions, and talking with instructors and volunteers in birding classes.

Discord runs in a web browser, but is also available as a separate app for macOS, Windows, iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android, so it’s available wherever you might be.

There is an active Discord server called South Bay Birds where you can interact with the local birding community and discuss a wide range of bird-related topics from rarities to photography, get help identifying birds, or just chat with fellow birders. The invite code is https://discord.gg/NteQSY3Tn8.

SCVAS also hosts a Discord server called “SCVAS Learn” to which you will be invited when you participate in one of SCVAS’s online classes. We have channels on the SCVAS Learn server for each of the classes we offer. For example, the #gulls channel is where all participants in the Gull Identification Workshop can upload pictures, ask each other questions and help out in gull identification.

Why Discord?

Discord has a free tier that is robust, has no advertising and meets most user’s needs without requiring an upgrade to a paid account. It is not open to the world; you have to join the server to see and to post. Some servers restrict their audience, some allow anyone with an invite code to join. Most are moderated by a small group of volunteer administrators. Although it was originally designed as a social platform for online gaming, Discord has matured into a more general tool for group interactions. In addition to supporting text and images, it has the capability of audio and video group chats.

Getting Started

When you receive an invite to a Discord server, you’ll be asked to create a username and login if you don’t already have one. If the invite expires before you get a chance to use it, you can send an email to admin@scvas.org for a new invite code. The South Bay Birds Discord server is open to all; the SCVAS Learn Discord server is only for those confirmed as registered for a class.

For the best experience, we recommend you download the Discord App appropriate for whatever platform you are using.