As spring arrives in northern Virginia, we’re looking forward to Birdathon 2026, our annual event where teams collect pledges from friends and family and then record how many species they can identify during any 24-hour period between April 18 and May 19. In addition to being just plain fun, Birdathon helps NVBA to support outdoor education, citizen science, habitat conservation, and programs to encourage people to plant native plants and protect native wildlife. Birdathon also helps ornithologists better understand spring migration by reporting sightings through eBird, an online database of bird observations run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
More information is available on our Birdathon 2026 webpage. You can plan a big day route around northern Virginia, or you can even participate from your own backyard. So, gather your birding buddies and register your team today.
Team captains, and anyone curious about joining a birdathon team, are welcome to join us on April 13th for our captain kick off event, and we we will have NVBA sponsored birdathon days as well - information coming soon.