Photo: Brown Thrasher, Randy Lewis/Audubon Photography Awards
Betsy Martin
Have you taken steps to create bird habitat in your yard? Perhaps you planted a native fruiting shrub to feed migrating birds, or a native oak to support the caterpillars that birds need to feed their young, or removed invasive vines that threaten trees and outcompete the native plants that wildlife depend on.
Now is your chance to see the fruits (or rather, birds) of your labor by observing how many species visit your yard in a single day.
Every year NVBA sponsors a Birdathon. Participants form teams of up to five to identify as many different species as they can on a single day between April 19 and May 18, the peak period of spring migration. The Backyard Birdathon is a special prize category for teams competing from a single private residential property.
Gather up to four family members or friends to spend time throughout the day in your yard observing birds. If you’ve got a birder friend you can invite to join your team, that can help improve your bird ID skills and your chances of observing more species.
It’s fun! Last year, my husband and I participated, along with our neighbor Claire, who’s an experienced birder. We watched for birds in our yard (very) early in the morning, then gathered again for periods throughout the day. We used the free app Merlin to help identify the birds by their songs, and reported our observations on eBird. We saw 51 species in our yard on May 3rd, including some I’d never seen before. We won the competition, but it wasn’t much of an achievement—we were the only team competing in the backyard category. I hope more people in more yards will participate this year.
Backyard Birdathon is a great opportunity to get outside and forget, for a little while, the disturbing news that confronts us daily. Just focus on the birds and the beauty of spring. It’s a chance to record enough sanctuary species to get your yard certified as a Wildlife Sanctuary, and obtain an attractive yard sign. You can read more about how to create habitat in your yard and get it certified as a Wildlife Sanctuary here.
Birdathon is a fund-raiser for NVBA, and team leaders and members are asked to seek pledges, as in a walk-a-thon. Birdathon helps NVBA to support the Wildlife Sanctuary Program, outdoor education, citizen science, and habitat conservation.
Learn more about Birdathon and register your team here.
Catch up on past Wildlife Sanctuary Almanac articles here.