Remembering Marcia Obara

Image description: photo shows Marcia Obara standing outdoors on a sunny day at what appears to be a park or birding location in Tucson. She is smiling warmly at the camera. Marcia is wearing a faded rose colored long sleeved shirt, gray cargo pants, and a green baseball cap decorated with birding pins. A pair of binoculars hangs from a harness across her chest, and she is carrying a small backpack. Behind her is a large leafy tree casting dappled shade across a wide gravel path. Mountains and desert vegetation can be seen softly in the background, along with a bench and a building partially visible through the trees. The image is joyful, capturing Marcia exactly as many people knew her: outdoors, birding, and deeply at home in community and nature.

There are some people whose presence changes the shape of a community simply because of how they move through it. Marcia Obara was one of those people.

Marcia was a longtime champion for accessible birding, a retired nurse, a past Birdability Captain, a Certified Access Leader, and someone who quietly and steadily helped countless people feel that they belonged outdoors. She led accessible birding outings in Tucson with care and attention to what people actually needed: smooth trails, shade, benches, accessible restrooms, a pace that welcomed everybody, and space for joy in birds.

She lived with emphysema and COPD, often carrying an oxygen pack while leading outings herself. Even so, she continued showing up for community again and again, making birding more welcoming for people with disabilities and health concerns. In interviews, she spoke about how traditional birding spaces can unintentionally leave people behind when speed, competition, or endurance become the focus. Her outings centered connection, curiosity, and being together in nature.

On The Spark Bird Podcast, Marcia shared her story of birding in all 50 states and reflected on a spark bird moment that began in 1984 and grew into a lifelong love of birds and community. She talked about how birding evolved over the decades, and why accessibility matters so deeply in this moment. Even while navigating severe lung disease, she continued leading accessible outings and helping others find their place in birding.

Image description: photo shows a group of birders gathered around an accessible picnic table under tall palm trees at the park. Marcia sits near the center of the group smiling warmly toward the camera, surrounded by fellow birders and Birdability community members. Several people have binoculars around their necks, water bottles and snacks rest on the table, and bright sunlight filters through the palms overhead.

Marcia embodied the idea that access is not only about infrastructure. It is also about culture. She understood that people need to feel welcomed and supported in order to participate fully. That understanding came through in the practical details she paid attention to, and in the warmth and passion she brought to every outing. 

I keep thinking about the morning I got to spend birding with Marcia at Agua Caliente Park in April of 2025. At the time, I was still adjusting to my own new and tender need for a mobility device. Marcia met that moment with such gentleness and matter-of-fact wisdom. She reminded me that every tool that helps us get outside with birds is a gift. That conversation definitely stayed with me as I continued to grow into celebrating my own shifting access.

It reflected so much of who Marcia was. She understood access deeply because she lived it. She knew that mobility devices, oxygen tanks, benches, paved trails, captions, slower pacing, and rest are not limitations to birding but pathways into it. Pathways into community, joy, and connection with the natural world.

Through her work, Marcia also helped teach and mentor others who wanted to create more inclusive outdoor experiences. Her lived experience shaped the way she approached access and community care. The birding community is better because Marcia was part of it.

Her legacy lives on in every accessible outing that happens and in the communities she helped build: communities grounded in curiosity, kindness, patience, and belonging.

At Birdability, we often say that birding is for every body and every mind. Marcia lived those words. Her life and advocacy will continue to ripple outward through the people she mentored, welcomed, and encouraged.

Birdability and The Spark Bird Project are partnering to hold an online celebration of Marcia Obara’s life and spirit, along with her advocacy for accessible birding. We will gather on June 20th (Marcia’s birthday) at 7:00 P.M. ET/4:00 P.M. AZ Time to tell our favorite stories about her, to connect with others who were touched by Marcia’s existence, and to reminisce and recommit to her legacy of birding for all. You can sign up HERE.

We are holding her family, friends, and the Tucson birding community close as they grieve this tremendous loss. We are also holding deep gratitude for the life she lived and the care she gave so freely to others.

May we continue her work by making the outdoors more welcoming, more accessible, and more rooted in community for everyone who comes looking for birds.