And by the way, you might be asking how did Global Big Day in October go?
The goal was 5,000 species—and more than 6,000 were recorded on more than 37,000 eBird checklists in just one day! The Cornell Lab of Ornithology would like to thank every participant all over the world. This was the first October Global Big Day ever, and thanks to participation from around the world, more than 6,000 of the world’s 10,000 birds were watched that big, big day—congratulations to us all!
Global Big Day—the massively international collaborative birding event—is October 6! The Global Big Day held in May the last four years has been such a success, another worldwide eBird Big Day in October makes perfect sense! Why October? Because spring is rejuvenating the southern hemisphere and the northern reaches of the world are in the midst of migration. No matter where you are, we’re confident you can find some great birds on October 6. Let’s see what we can find together on the first October Big Day!
Join eBird watchers all over the world for this single day of birding together. Information about participating in this eBird event and tips for finding more species are at the eBird Northwest website.
It’s May in the Year of the Bird and our call to action is Global Big Day! Saturday May 5th is the day people all over the world will be watching birds and putting them on the world map via eBird.
What to do: Look for birds and report what you find at eBird.org in this exciting 24-hour quest to collectively record as many bird species as possible across the world.
How to do it: Watch birds on May 5th –any time from midnight to midnight in your local time zone. It’s that simple. You don’t need to be a bird expert, or go out all day long.
• Get an eBird account if you don’t already have one: eBird is a worldwide bird checklist program used by hundreds of thousands of birders. It’s what allows us to compile everyone’s sightings into a single massive Global Big Day list—while at the same time collecting the data for scientists to use to better understand birds. It’s free. Log your sightings on the eBird website or download the eBird app, for maximum ease-of-use.
• Watch the sightings roll in: During the day, keep an eye on how the lists are growing in different parts of the world. Follow along with sightings from more than 150 countries, including the Cornell Lab’s Team Sapsucker in Colombia, Honduras, and California. Stats will be updated in real-time on our Global Big Day page.
Pro Birder Tips for Big Day Success:
• Explore eBird Hotspots near you.
• Put your birding plans on the worldwide Global Big Day map.
• Get together with friends and set a goal for your birding—most unusual species? Biggest flock? All the species in your favorite family? The possibilities are endless.
• Take photos and add them to your checklist—they might end up on the Global Big Day page!
Why do it?
• Put your birds on the map! Your sightings become part of a global snapshot that helps track the numbers, health, and movements of birds for scientists and conservationists.
• It helps other birders: your data feeds migration forecasts, species checklists, and hotspot maps that are free for all.
• 20,000 bird watchers around the world will be on a 24-hour birding binge; count yourself in their ranks.
• In 2017, bird watchers recorded an incredible 65% of all the bird species on the planet. Can we set a new record?
And don’t miss World Migratory Bird Day! There are 1,200 events happening around the world in 200 cities on Saturday May 12, including two KBO is part of—Rogue Valley Bird Day and the Global Migratory Bird Day Birdwatching Field Trip in Shasta Valley Wildlife Area.
Of course the invaluable citizen science wonder that is eBird is bigger than Global Big Day—watch the birds any day and let your observations add to our body of knowledge, empowering bird conservation science through eBird. Every bird counts so count all your birds!
The goal was 5,000 species—and more than 6,000 were recorded on more than 37,000 eBird checklists in just one day! The Cornell Lab of Ornithology would like to thank every participant all over the world. This was the first October Global Big Day ever, and thanks to participation from around the world, more than 6,000 of the world’s 10,000 birds were watched that big, big day—congratulations to us all!
It’s May in the