Global Big Day (GBD) is one of my favorite days of the year!!!! It unites birders all over the world in celebrating birds, learning about them, and sharing that passion with others.
In the Caribbean, our colleagues and friends live scattered over dozens of islands and countries - GBD brings us together in a fun, friendly (and sometimes fierce) competition. Will the hard-working Cuban Team clean up again in several categories of competition? (most endemics, most checklists, most observers)? Maybe this will be the year that the Badass Bobwhites come in first for something!? 😉 It's all about strategy . . ..
This is our fourth year organizing a teams competition and fundraiser. The first one in 2020, at the peak of the pandemic, was a marvel, a wonderful respite and way for us to connect, when we were all terribly isolated at home for so many months. 2021, 2022, and 2023 were even better as more people and teams joined the fun, stoking more competition for which team would see the most birds and raise the most funds. We hope that 2024 will be our best year yet, but we need your help!
We are excited to be raising funds this year to provide travel scholarships to deserving Caribbean wildlife professionals and students to attend our 24th International Conference in Santo Domingo, DR this summer.
This 5-day conference provides an incredibly opportunity for learning, networking, mentoring, and growing knowledge and skills. Everyone always leaves our conferences feeling inspired and newly motivated to put into practice one they learned—many have described the experience as "life-changing."
We have received travel award applications from over 80 talented and passionate Caribbean conservation professionals and students working very hard to conserve our birds. We are doing our best to fundraise so that all of them can attend. We urgently need to raise $25,000 to make this happen - you can help!!!
Please join a team and invite your friends, family, and network to join too. Or, you can simply donate - no gift is too small, every little bit helps! Or do both!
See guidelines here for how to participate in our Global Big Day of birding on Saturday May 11th.
No matter what, I hope you will take time on May 11th to go outside and enjoy your local birds.
With much gratitude,
- Lisa Sorenson
Executive Director, BirdsCaribbean
