About Josiah Lavender

Hello! My name is Josiah Lavender and I’m a lifelong birder currently living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. My love for nature began as a young kid when I would tramp through the woods of my grandparents’ farm in Watkinsville, Georgia with a quick ID key to trees of the Southeastern U.S. Many parts of the natural world fascinated me, but I was partial to flying creatures and it was not long before I became obsessed with birds. At age 11, I got excited about seeing new species and keeping regional lists of species and recording my observations. Throughout middle and high school, my interest deepened and became more scientific as I learned more about bird ecology and conservation. As a 17 year-old, I began leading bird walks and discovered I loved guiding and teaching. I decided to pursue a career in the field of ornithology, and in May 2023, I graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in ecology. During my time at UGA, I worked with endangered Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and for the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center on a project involving Painted Buntings on Little St. Simons Island, GA. I also worked for Wild Birds Unlimited for 4.5 years. I helped customers create bird-friendly yards, led bird walks and taught classes on a variety of topics in birding and ornithology. Since graduating from UGA, I have worked for the University of Montana conducting riparian bird surveys in the cottonwood bottomlands of western and central MT, and more recently, I began guiding independently and started Lavender Birding Tours. As of August 2024, I am a 1st-year Ph.D. student in the Witt Lab at the University of New Mexico studying avian ecology and evolution. Since those pivotal early years of birding, I have had the opportunity to bird in many areas of the U.S., as well as in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Birds have been a constant source of enjoyment and an endlessly fascinating subject for me, and I see guiding as a way to facilitate and cultivate other people’s enjoyment of birds and birding.