WHO WE ARE
Or, Why Should I Listen to Jeff and Allison?

 

We have been traveling to the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao since 1993. We fell in love with the islands on our first visit, delighted by the incredible natural beauty—the turquoise sea, colorful vegetation, and especially the birds! Dazzled by many species that were life birds to us and delighted by lots of familiar North American birds, we continue to make discoveries that are new to us with every visit, even after all these years.

Our first visit to Aruba was as members of the Ageless Jazz Band, a twenty-piece swing band that performed across Upstate New York, Allison as featured vocalist and Jeff as lead trumpet. We were fortunate to land a special gig on the island during part of January. In the evenings, we performed with the band at resorts throughout Aruba. But our days were spent birding, including island hopping to Bonaire (an easy flight from Aruba). We began making additional visits to both islands, as well as Curacao, at other times of the year, with the idea of creating a guide to the birds and birding on what were then often called the ABC islands. There was no modern bird or bird-finding guide when we began visiting the islands, so we kept meticulous bird records and also recorded information about the many great birding hotspots and directions on how to find them.

These treasured excursions and the information they yielded culminated in our ground-breaking book, Birds of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao: A Site and Field Guide, with Cornell University Press. We are particularly proud that the book is not only a great field guide to the birds and an easy-to-follow directory of the best birding locations but also has an extensive chapter on bird conservation in the islands.

We moved home to our native Maine from Ithaca, New York, in 2004 to raise our son, and although we miss performing with the Ageless Jazz Band, we continue to travel to the islands. And we couldn’t be more pleased that our son loves Aruba as much as we do. We look forward to many more visits to this special part of the world.

Allison singing with the 20-piece Ageless Jazz Band in

Oranjestad, Aruba.

 

Jeff has a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University, where he received his Master’s as well. He is Vice President, Canada Program, at the National Audubon Society. Prior to that, he was senior scientist at the Boreal Songbird Initiative, and a conservation ornithologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. He is a contributing author to the ground-breaking book, Birds of Maine, and author of the book, Birder's Conservation Handbook: 100 North American Birds at Risk. He has published hundreds of blogs, articles, reports, and scientific papers.

Allison is Senior Director for Communications at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the state’s leading environmental advocacy organization. Prior to that, she was Communications and Media Relations Director at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. She is the author of hundreds of articles and has contributed widely to various books about birds and birding.

Both Jeff and Allison are lifelong birders, and both are Maine natives. In addition to Birds of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao: A Site & Field Guide, they are coauthors of Maine’s Favorite Birds. They live in south-central Maine and have a grown son (whose first word was néné— Hawaiian Goose), an adventurous dog, and two bird-loving indoor cats.

To see a list of some of the papers Jeff and Allison have published on birds of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao click here.

            

Allison scans for seabirds in the

broiling heat. Photo Jeff Wells

 

 

Jeff scans for seabirds from the cool,

air-conditioned hotel room.

Photo Allison Wells