Birding by the Day

ST. LOUIS BIRDATHON 2021: BIRDING BY THE DAY

ST. LOUIS BIRDATHON 2024: BIRDING BY THE DAY

SPACE

This category includes any kind of birding within a specified day, or a few hours thereof. It’s up to you to decide the length and location. Please note that while all of the examples below refer to family or other team members, any of them can be done by you alone (“solo birding”) if that works best for you.

If you are the team leader, please review the rules and register your team. If you are birding by yourself, use the same registration page and consider yourself to be a team of one. If you are a member of a team, the leader will register you.

IMPORTANT: Please invite your friends, neighbors, relatives, and colleagues to pledge whatever they can, in one of two ways:

1. They can pledge per species you record for this effort. You should give them some idea of the number you expect, and you need to inform them afterwards.
2. They can pledge a set amount for your efforts.

Just provide your supporters with this pledge link.  Either option can be paid any time.

Here are four examples, with the last one (the full Big Day) being the most complicated and requiring the most exertion.

A. Birding with your spouse and/or your kids (or solo)

This could be just a walk around your own property or a local park, noting all the birds you see and hear. Give yourself a team name, of course, and let your supporters know roughly how many species you might find (who knows, the grandparents might spring for $5 per species!). See the end of D, below, for how to send results.

B. Birding for a Short Day

If you can’t envision doing a very long day (like option D), then plan a shorter one—say, a 4-hour or 5-hour morning, covering a limited list of sites, even just a single park or conservation area. Again, give your supporters and pledgers some idea how many species you expect to see. Maybe you will come up with the highest number seen all month within that park! (Note: Some of the guidelines as to what is countable and what isn’t will be the same as outlined under D, below. Also, see the end of D for how to send in results.)

C. Birding with an Organized Field Trip

If you’d like to go on a field trip that someone else has planned and have that count as Birdathon participation, there are three kinds to consider:

1. A St. Louis Audubon Beginner Walk. There are two of these on the May calendar, coordinated with two of our partner organizations: Great Rivers Greenway and Forest Park Forever. Please visit our calendar here. A click on the trip you want will allow you to register there. Then please also register separately for the Birdathon.
2. A St. Louis Audubon Field Trip. Several of these are planned for May, and again, you can register for them through the calendar, but please register separately for the Birdathon.

 D. Birding for a full Big Day

This one requires more explanation. It typically means dawn to dusk, or longer; the Birdathon expectation would be at least 12 hours. It would be done by a team that might bear a clever name (e.g., the Wrong Terns) or at least an informative one (Fred By Himself).

Here are the Big Day Rules and Procedures:

1. Each species must be identified by at least two members of your team. The team is expected to stay within earshot. If a team member needs to leave before the count is finished, that’s OK.
2. Birds can be identified either by sight or by sound, as long as you are certain of what you are seeing or hearing.
3. Counts must occur during one 24-hour calendar day. This can be any day in May.
4. Counts must stay within the St. Louis area as defined above.
5. Birds counted must be wild. Birds coming to feeders do count, but tame, ornamental, or caged birds do not.
6. Birds identified as one of an easily-confused pair or group (e.g., Cooper’s/Sharp-shinned Hawk, Empidonax flycatcher) can count as a species if no other species in that group is recorded.
7. Participants are expected to follow proper ethics and common sense: e.g., do not chase or harass birds, stay off private property unless invited to enter, etc.
8. In general, it’s the honor system, and we will assume that everyone is being honest about the birds they report. We do, however, reserve the right to ask for details about any rare or unusual birds reported, and to make judgments about allowing their inclusion.

If you are a team leader or you are doing the Big Day by yourself, use the process below to report your results. The most important point is that we need to see your total species list for the day, not a series of separate site lists.