15 May 2023 Update - Birders from The Bahamas all the way down to Trinidad and Tobago, the US, and around the globe really went above and beyond to put Caribbean birds on the #GBD map. THANKS A TON to everyone that birded and a special thanks to everyone that joined one of our 16 fab teams! You all birded from your backyards, gardens, wetlands, beaches, and forests AND helped us fundraise for our Caribbean Bird Banding Network!!!

VERY IMPORTANT - Don’t forget! Be sure to submit your eBird checklists from #GlobalBigDay on Saturday, May 13th and make sure that they are shared with your #GlobalBigDayBirdsCarib team! There are two ways to do this - detailed instructions are here: bit.ly/checklist-sharing

The DEADLINE to submit your checklists and have them included in our final teams stats is FRIDAY 19TH MAY 2023 at midnight.

13 May 2023 Update - Happy BIG DAY of BIRDING!!! Important links and info for people joining us for Global Big Day: Please review information at this link for tips, notes, and guidelines on participating. This doc also explains how to share your eBird checklists with your team. And here's a link to a fun article with your Big Day Essential checklist for Big Day. Keep joining and sharing our campaign - thank you!

It’s spring and that can only mean one thing—birding at the time of year when birds are singing and dressed in their finest feathers, the weather is warm and inviting, and we are energized with the promise of renewal and fresh starts.

Global Big Day (GBD) 2023 is set for Saturday, May 13th. BirdsCaribbean is once again joining this great annual event and raising funds for conservation!

This year proceeds will benefit our Caribbean Bird Banding (CBB) Network. The goal of this new initiative is to build capacity for bird banding in the Caribbean. We need your support to host training workshops, sponsor internships, provide banding supplies, and grow our community of scientists that are advancing research and conservation of Caribbean birds. More information on the CBB Network can be found below.

We are bringing back our popular TEAMS COMPETITION this year, celebrating the bird diversity, excitement, and camaraderie associated with Global Big Day. Last year 15 teams with members from 29 countries reported a total of 1,078 species and raised close to $14,000! The competition was fierce and great fun. Let’s make this year even better!

WHAT IS GLOBAL BIG DAY?

Twice a year, during peak migration times (once in spring and once in fall) birders around the world go out (often in small groups) and travel around an area trying to observe as many bird species as they can in a 24-hr period of time. The checklists that the global community collects and submit to eBird are hugely valuable for science and conservation!

BirdsCaribbean virtual teams will bird “together” and engage in friendly competition to see which team can: 1) collectively see the most species of birds on GBD, and 2) raise the most funds. You can join/re-join one of the teams from last year or create a new team!

GET INVOLVED BY:

1. Creating or joining a birding and fundraising team by clicking the JOIN A TEAM button below the Global Big Day graphic on this page. Anyone can join our fundraiser, no matter where you are in the world. Step-by-step instructions for joining a team here; for creating a team here.

Once on a team, help fundraise by inviting family, friends, colleagues, or members of your birding community to join your team and/or donate to your team.

and/or . . .

2. Donating to one or more of the birding and fundraising teams. Simply click the yellow donate button at the top of the page and you can specify if you want your donation to go to the general campaign or to a particular team (all funds go to the same cause but teams are competing to raise the most funds).

and/or . . .

3. Committing to spending some time (or the entire day!) birding on Global Big Day (May 13), being sure to keep track of what you see at each site and then entering that information into eBird or eBird Caribbean (if you’re birding in the islands).

No matter where you are, you can submit important data, via eBird checklists, about the birds around you. You don’t need to be an expert birder or spend the entire day looking for birds. Just 10 minutes of birding in your backyard or from your balcony will count too. By being on a team, your observations will contribute to that team’s total list for the day. Who will win top prizes this year for most species seen, most checklists submitted, and most endemics seen?! Will the Bee Hummers Dream Team clean up again this year?

Prizes/ bragging rights will be awarded to:

the team that raises the most funds
the person and team that sees the most bird species on Global Big Day
the team that sees the most endemic bird species on Global Big Day
the “country/island team” that sees the highest proportion of their birds on Global Big Day (to control for differences in the number of species on each island!)
the team with the best “find” of the day (unusual, rare, plumage aberration, etc.)
the team with the best bird photo of the day (must be posted on eBird along with your list)

And others, TBD!

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

The insular Caribbean is a critical region for birds. There are 176 species that occur here and nowhere else in the world! In addition, the islands provide a winter home for numerous migrants—many stay 6 months or longer while others rely on the islands as stopover sites to rest and refuel during their long journeys north and south.

Unfortunately, Caribbean birds face many threats, such as climate change, destruction and degradation of their habitats, invasive species, and hunting. Recent studies have shown alarming declines in populations of many bird species. We have much to learn about what is causing these declines and what we can do to reverse them.

With a bird in the hand we can:

Look at body condition, assessing fat scores and body weight, which in turn sheds light on the quality of the habitats these birds are using.
Assess differences between younger vs older birds or male vs female birds in aspects such as habitat, migratory routes, etc
Better understand the timing of breeding and life history for many of our understudied Caribbean endemics.
Find out which migratory routes our shared birds are taking and gain a better understanding of factors influencing survival and longevity of many species.

We can learn so much from just one bird in the hand, but right now there are very few people with the knowledge, resources, and skills needed to band birds within the Caribbean.

BirdsCaribbean and our collaborators have banded together to change this!

Thus far our Caribbean Bird Banding program has been a huge success! We have formed a network of incredibly dedicated and enthusiastic people, and we have accomplished a LOT in a very short period of time! In the last 2 years, we have:

Held 2 international training workshops, training nearly 30 Caribbean nationals,
Developed a database for easy entry and storage of bird banding data
Created and distributed nearly 10,000 bands with our own BirdsCaribbean stamp,
Sent 6 Caribbean banders to internship programs to gain more experience, and
Certified 5 banders and 1 trainer under the North American Banding Council (NABC) certification. This rigorous test helps ensure our banders have mastered the techniques to handle birds safely and ethically.

Learn more about the CBB Network on our website.

YOUR GIFT WILL BE PUT TO USE IMMEDIATELY

Your donation will directly help our Caribbean Bird Banding Network by allowing us to:

Continue to provide bands and other resources to Caribbean banders
Host more international training workshops and additional trainings to manage and analyze banding data
Support Caribbean banders to attend internships or other training opportunities
Grow and expand this network to more Caribbean islands

As with everything in the Caribbean, we will be successful when our whole community pitches in, so let’s do this together!

Join us on Global Big Day to watch birds, create wonderful memories, maybe win a prize, and fundraise to help save our birds!!!

ABOUT US

BirdsCaribbean is a vibrant international network of members and partners committed to conserving Caribbean birds and their habitats. We raise awareness, promote sound science, and empower local partners to build a region where people appreciate, conserve and benefit from thriving bird populations and ecosystems. We are a non-profit (501 (c) 3) membership organization. More than 100,000 people participate in our programmes each year, making BirdsCaribbean the most broad-based conservation organization in the region. You can learn more about us, our work, and how to join at: http://www.birdscaribbean.org. And be sure to follow us on social media (@BirdsCaribbean)

P.S. If you prefer to donate by check, that's perfectly fine. Please address checks to BirdsCaribbean and mail to this address:

BirdsCaribbean, 841 Worcester St. #130, Natick, MA 01760

Let us know your check is coming via email (Lisa.sorenson@BirdsCaribbean.org) and then we will be able to add you now to this page for an accurate fundraising total!

Banding Together for Caribbean Birds

Join the birding fun this Global Big Day and help us raise funds for bird banding in the Caribbean!

Team Leaderboard

Team Members