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The American Birding Expo will be held in Pennsylvania in 2017.

Bird Watcher's Digest is bringing the American Birding Expo to Pennsylvania this year and has lined up two of the top names in birding to headline the speakers list.

After two years in Columbus, Ohio, the American Birding Expo is scheduled for Friday-Sunday, Sept.29-Oct. 1, at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks.

Headlining the event will be Central Pennsylvania's own Scott Weidensaul, speaking on the Project SNOWstorm research effort headquartered at the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art at Millersburg, and Julie Zickefoose, internationally known, award-winning nature writer and artist.

Bill Thompson III, founder and director of the expo, and co-publisher and editor of the magazine, said the relocation of the expo brings it into proximity to major population centers that also are home to large numbers of birders and bird clubs. It also brings it into a building designed for such an event.

Many of the top national brands in birding are signed on for the expo. The list includes companies like Allura, Cape May Bird Observatory, Droll Yankees, Princeton University Press, Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival, Swarovski, Tamron, The Birding Wire, Wildbirds Unlimited, Wings Birding Tours Worldwide and Zeiss.

The expo will feature bird walks from 6-8 a.m. each day. The exhibitor hall will be open from noon-6 p.m. Sept. 29, followed by the Zickefoose program; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 30, followed by the Weidensaul program; and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 1, with a 2 p.m. live-bird demonstration by Carrie Barron, assistant director of the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove.

The expo is a retail-sales-oriented showcase of products for birders and nature enthusiasts. The Expo Conservation Fund is generated by sponsor contributions, raffles and voluntary contributions at the expo.

For more about the event, visit the American Birding Expo website.