2025 Backyard Bird ID Workshop - Get Ready for Birdathon at Home!
Join us for an exciting backyard bird identification workshop, where we’ll dive into the fascinating world of local birds and seasonal visitors!
Photo: Eastern Towhee, Calli Cook/Audubon Photography Awards
Original program date: March 20, 2025
Join us for an exciting backyard bird identification workshop, where we’ll dive into the fascinating world of local birds and seasonal visitors! Whether you’re watching from your window, patio, or garden, you’ll gain the confidence to identify and appreciate the birds around you.
During this workshop, we’ll cover:
Common backyard bird species you’re likely to see year-round
Migratory warblers that might pass through your yard this Spring
Essential birding tools—from field guides to apps and binoculars
How to use Merlin to identify unfamiliar birds
How to use eBird to report birds you observe
Tips for creating a team and participating in Birdathon
This event is perfect for those looking to compete in the Backyard Birdathon category of Birdathon, our Spring Fundraiser, where you create a team to count as many unique species as you can in one day!
This is also a great opportunity for Wildlife Sanctuary Program participants to brush up on how to identify the Sanctuary Species that visit their yards. You need to document 10 sanctuary species to get your certification! Board Member Betsy Martin will join us to speak about that program and how we can all make our yards friendlier to birds.
Competitive Birding and Birdathon
Join us for a webinar with ornithologist Greg Butcher to learn some strategies of competitive birding right here in Northern Virginia.
Photo: Birding, Laura McDonald
Original program date: March 30, 2023
Competitive birding is using one’s birding skills to try to identify the most bird species possible in a set period, such as over a year. For example, Tiffany Kersten saw 726 different species of birds in 2022, beating a previous record. The 2011 movie Big Year, featuring Jack Black, is a great depiction of three competitive birdwatchers on a year-long birding adventure.
Join us for a webinar with ornithologist Greg Butcher to learn some strategies of competitive birding right here in Northern Virginia. You will learn the best places to go to see the most species, how to time your big day to hit peak migration numbers, what to consider when forming your team, and more!
Also, we are excited to have youth birder Maxwell Julius join us to tell us about his experience doing Birdathon last year and his tips to maximize your list.