Calling all Birders:  It’s time for Birdathon 2026! 

How does it work? Like a walk-a-thon, Birdathon participants collect pledges from friends and family via their team page on our website. Then participants record how many species they can identify during any 24-hour period between April 18 and May 31. Registration is closed, but there’s still time to support one of our wonderful teams and help us reach our fundraising goal!

Last year we had a record-breaking 29 teams and our winning team saw 103 species! 

Check out this year's team list!

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.

How to Participate:
All birding levels are welcome. Participants can bird alone or form teams of up to five. All team members donate and/or secure pledges. Participants can solicit general donations or ask for pledges based on the number of species or the number of individual birds sighted. Sightings and donations are due no later than June 5, 2026. You can report your Birdathon sightings on eBird and email your list to us, or simply put your list in an email. Be sure to include team name, team captain name, number of species counted and the prize category (see below) you want to compete for (if applicable - you can just bird for fun too!).

Birdathon at home! Now you can participate without ever leaving home. Birding in a hammock still counts as birding. Gather a few friends or neighbors and show off the bounty of birds that visit your backyard.

We also want your stories! When you go out with your team, please snap a few pictures - we want to see your team all together and your team in action. Share your photos with us and tell us about your team’s experience - funny moments, amazing discoveries, feats of endurance or unexpected birds. You might even take a few video snippits! We will share selected stories from the teams on our website and on social media.

Ready to get started? Register your team below and check out our Birdathon rules. And here are some great birding tips and notes on peak migration here in the D.C. area from Greg Butcher to help get you started.

Want to learn more? Watch this FREE webinar about Competitive Birding and Birdathon with ornithologist Greg Butcher.

Fundraising made easy: Each team captain sets up and manages their own fundraising page through Bloomerang - more on that below! NVBA staff is available to help with setup and questions.

Help us promote! Share this webpage with your social media, or print this pamphlet to bring to your next bird walk to help us get the word out!

Prize Categories:

  • “Most Species Counted in a Single Outing” - species recorded in one birding session

  • “Most Species Counted in Multiple Outings” - species recorded over several separate birding sessions

  • “Most Money Raised”

  • “Youth Birder” (all members must be under age 25) competitions

  • “Most Species Counted by a New Team” - all members on the team must be new to the Birdathon competition to be eligible to win

  • “Widest Age Range on a Team” - whichever team has the largest age range on their team will win a prize. Get your kids and grandparents involved!

  • “Backyard Birdathon” - most species counted in one day on a single residential property

Prizes: All participants and their supporters are invited to join us at our Alliance Afternoon on June 7 for our Annual Meeting where we will celebrate the winners. Participants on the winning team of each category will get to select one of our fine prizes: 

Support a Birdathon team!

Thank you for supporting Birdathon! Registration has ended for this year, but there’s still time to donate to one of our 18 teams!

support a birdathon team!

View our full lineup of classes, events, bird walks and more on our calendar.