Birdathon
Every spring, our Birdathon teams venture out, trying to spot as many bird species as we can. But our love of birds and birding isn’t the only reason we are out there. We are raising funds for bird conservation!
Please get in touch if you are interested in participating in Birdathon 2026!
See the 2026 Birdathon event page for more information about the rules and participating.
Be sure to select Birdathon from the drop-down menu. You can specify a team on the payment page. Thanks for your support!
We are happy to announce that our 2026 Birdathon partner is once again SELVA Colombia. We will continue our partnership to support environmental education and forest watershed protection for the Chivor Reservoir area in Santa Maria, Boyacá, strengthening community engagement in bird tourism, restoration and protected area management.
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SELVA has been working in the municipality of Santa Maria, Colombia, since 2014, where high densities of Cerulean Warblers , Canada Warbler, Acadian Flycatcher and other migrants that summer in the Blue Ridge Mountains, spend their winters. The presence of a hydroelectric dam in the municipality that actively protects mid-elevation forests and provides security, has increasingly led to the consolidation of Santa Maria as a destination for scientific tourism and for bird watching. Nonetheless, local community members have been slow to realize the benefits of such protection, and a bird-centric value chain has not been fully developed.
Bucking this trend is Diana Caterine Acosta, who has established an ecotourism outfit and has been actively linking local community members to her activities. There is still an immediate need to build capacity for guiding and supporting scientific researchers, as well as for active participation within the management of existing protected areas and carrying out ecological restoration. Last year’s Birdathon funding enabled Diana to perform numerous educational activities for school-age children, ecological familiarization and training for teenagers and young adults, and the establishment of several tree nurseries for local native tree species that will be used to reforest tracts of land along the Bata River corridor that had been previously cleared for grazing.
This year we hope to continue our support for these activities. We are particularly excited about the tree nurseries, as these seedlings will be used not only to revegetate habitat blocks needed by our wintering migratory birds but also will be used on local gardens and farms in the area as a way of harmonizing local land use patterns and conservation needs within the community. Along with the continuing expansion of community education that Diana is conducting, we believe this will lead to a sustainable conservation plan that the area’s residents truly believe in and benefit from.
Blue Ridge Audubon Chapter is proud to support SELVA’s efforts in Colombia. Last year’s partnership was heralded nationwide as a prime example of Hemispheric Conservation, and our members demonstrated the importance of this cause, with donations more than doubling over the previous year, helped by a 78% increase in the number of donors. This year we hope to continue this important work to protect the wintering habitat of our treasured summer songbirds. Please consider a generous donation to do your part for the birds!
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Read more here with a blog post by BRAC board member Paula Caycedo.
La Almenara - a popular birding trail.
Santa Maria Bird Festival
What is a Birdathon?
Each spring, local birding teams compete to find the highest number of bird species in one day. The goal is to raise funds for bird conservation. Blue Ridge Audubon's Birdathon contributions support efforts to protect critical habitat for our local neotropical migrant birds.
How does it work?
A Birdathon involves an individual or team of birders trying to see (and hear) as many species of birds as possible within a set time period. This can mean either spending the day watching feeders, walking around the local bird sanctuary, or organizing teams to scour our region for birds. Donors can sponsor a team by donating a certain dollar amount per bird or simply by donating a fixed amount. Each team generally counts between 110 and 130 species in a given day. There are different categories of participation as well, new as of 2025 Birdathon. The list of birds observed by each team is posted on our website after the teams have completed their Birdathon.
When is the Birdathon held?
As teams are trying to see as many species as possible, it's best to run the Birdathon during spring migration season, so it is usually held in early May. See the Calendar for more details.
Who benefits from the fundraiser?
In past years, Blue Ridge Audubon's Birdathon fundraiser has supported the American Bird Conservancy's BirdScape program in the Central Andes of Colombia and to help reforest and preserve habitat in Nicaragua. The BirdScape initiative works to define large, priority landscapes throughout the Americas that support populations of migratory birds of highest conservation concern.
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Blue Ridge Audubon is proud to support these projects.
The Cerulean Warbler Reserve, located in Colombia, was supported by Birdathon proceeds in 2015. The reserve provides crucial overwintering habitat for many neotropical migrant bird species that breed in the mountains of western North Carolina.
Golden-winged Warblers, having experienced steep population declines over the past 60 years, require intact forest on their wintering grounds in Central America. This species benefits from reforestation and preservation projects supported by our Birdathon fundraiser. Photo © Alan Lenk
The Wood Thrush benefits from having intact forest on its wintering grounds. Support of conservation projects in Central and South America is crucial to ensure preservation of this species. Photo © Will Stuart
The Cerulean Warbler Reserve, located in Colombia, was supported by Birdathon proceeds in 2015. The reserve provides crucial overwintering habitat for many neotropical migrant bird species that breed in the mountains of western North Carolina.