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Welcome to the Birds of Vermont Museum!

Discover birds in the wild, from the windows, and in wood — our life-like carvings won’t fly away.

Explore forest trails and a walk-in treehouse or picnic near our pollinator gardens or the pond.

Immerse yourself in special exhibits from science to art.

Ask us to bring a display or program to your school, library, or community group.

Volunteer with us, make a donation, or become a member.

Discounted admission for members, seniors, children, and groups.

Visit

There’s so much to do here

Explore the permanent exhibits, showing lifelike birds in dioramas of their habitats. You could watch live, wild birds at our feeders, from the walk-in tree house, or from our bird blind. You might browse our gift shop, or discover Vermont artists in our annually changing art shows. You could explore our trails, attend a special program, or relax in our pollinator garden spaces. Children love the hands-on spaces, the chance to try crafts, and exploring story and discovery trails.

Indoors, most visitors find 1½ to 2 hours is a good amount of time to fully enjoy the bird carvings, art exhibit, and other displays within the Museum building. We suggest first-time visitors watch an 5-minute introductory video. Admission is free for members! [ More: Exhibits ]

Outside, our trails are open to walkers of all ages from sunrise to sundown (no pre-registration or admission needed). Please leave dogs, horses, and other animal companions at home. [ More: Trails and Trees ]

When is a good time? All year round!
We are open May to October, Wednesday – Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a few exceptions for special events, and by appointment Monday and Tuesday.
From November to April we welcome visitors by appointment, by pre-registration for classes, and at programs on- and off-site. 
[ More: Directions & Hours ]

If you visit and write in your blog or post photos of your time here, please let us know. Tag us @BirdsofVermont on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and more. We love to see how people enjoy the museum and grounds.

If you, like you may download our tourist brochure. You might see printed editions of this at tourist info stops around Vermont.

Birds

This is Wood?!?

Woodcarvings Yes. Inside the Museum, the permanent exhibits contain more than 500 life-like woodcarvings of birds. Almost all of the nearly 300 species shown in the Museum are Vermont birds. Most were carved by Bob Spear.

And wildlife But don’t stop there. We offer events throughout the year, from monthly bird walks year-round, weekly bird walks in late spring, and workshops, lectures, and programs about birds throughout the year. We have a webcam pointed  at our feeders and keep track of sightings on the Museum property.

We are where natural history meets art.

Art

Nature Inspires

In the tradition of scientific illustration, the Museum was founded to teach about birds through the unique approach of wood carvings: three-dimensional, realistic sculptures. These provide not only an alternative to taxidermy, but connect us to traditional arts.

Woodcarvers include our Founder, Bob Spear, and current carvers share their work with us. They continue to enrich the collection, teach the craft, and use our site as a meeting point.

Sharing Art: We go beyond wood carving as well: we host an annual art show, with different themes each year. We offer programs for artists of varying ages and skills, from learning to see , to carving workshops with wood, soap, to art programs on paper, canvas, fiber, and more.

We work with new and established Vermont artists, sometimes run art contests for children, and have a great time connecting art and science.

About

With thanks to Kari Jo Spear for making this video about us.