Birdathon Wrap-up:

Thank you for participating in Saturday's extravaganza!

Congratulations to A Solitary Beer, Yo! (Josh, Heydi, Michael, Spencer, Richard, and Tom) on seeing the most birds in all of Brooklyn, tallying 129 species. Well done and you're the team to beat for a second year in a row!

Congratulations to Northern Paralyzed (Jeremy, Radka, Valerie, Michele, Crystal, and Maggie) for being our fundraising champion, raising $3,570 for our Plovers during this year's birdathon!

Cumulatively our 11 teams saw a total of 146 species (+13 from last year) and raised over $17,000 for The NYC Plover Project.

Birdathon:

We’re happy to announce the 2023 Brooklyn Bird Club Birdathon, to be held in celebration of World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) on Saturday, May 13. #bkbigday

The annual Birdathon asks birders to form teams of up to 6 members and count bird species in Brooklyn in support of a cause that helps the birds we love. Everyone is welcome—hardcore birders, backyard feeder watchers, and beginners! Like a walkathon, participants collect pledges and donations from friends and family for finding and counting bird species on the day of the Birdathon. Instead of getting a pledge per mile walked, Birdathon participants ask for a pledge for each bird species seen by the team.

A note on pledges: You are free to make a lump sum donation at any time, but if you are pledging a $ amount per bird, please come back here to make your donation after your sponsee has told you how many birds they saw. Feel free to memorialize your pledge amount in the comment box. We thank you and the birds thank you!

Please register your team by sending team members, your day’s goal, a team name, and a team logo (optional) to Bobbi Manian birdathon@brooklynbirdclub.org by Tuesday, May 9.

If you’d like to be connected to a team, contact Bobbi Manian who will try to connect people with similar levels of commitment.

🏅 This year’s designated beneficiary is the NYC Plover Project

See below for more information.

🎁 Our good friends at Bird Collective are generously offering prizes!

✓ Team That Sees the Most Species: $50 Gift Card to each member

✓ Team That Raises the Most Money: $50 Gift Card to each member

* Prizes are eligible for registered teams of up to 6 member only. Prizes are non-transferable and not redeemable for cash. Teams counting birds must follow the official rules set forth by the Birdathon.

NYC Plover Project

The NYC Plover Project began in March 2021 with one goal—to help protect an endangered shorebird in our city that was otherwise left to fend for itself. In less than two years, they have personally connected with thousands of beachgoers in person and thousands more people on social media. What became immediately clear was that most New Yorkers didn’t know about Piping Plovers or the challenges they face, that their very existence was at risk of extinction. Most didn’t know that fewer than 8,000 remain in the world and just less than 100 come to Queens, NYC each year.

The mission of the NYC Plover Project is to bring together New Yorkers, from the Rockaway Peninsula and beyond, to protect the endangered Piping Plovers, tiny shorebirds that nest on our beaches. They are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Rockaways, Queens that works with a number of partners, including the National Park Service and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, along with a dedicated volunteer corps of nearly 200 volunteers to help protect nesting Piping Plovers. Their conservation activities include in-person engagement and education of beachgoers, and helping partners with nest monitoring, increased signage near nesting habitat, and data collection of nesting outcomes. In 2022, they were named national volunteer group of the year for the entire National Park Service.

For this exciting opportunity with the Brooklyn Bird Club, they would look to launch an educational program for primary school children in the Rockaways, in concert with Birds Caribbean and local civic and primary education partners in Andros, Bahamas where many Atlantic population Piping Plovers spend their winters. Specifically, funds raised would go towards a seasonal coordinator in the Bahamas to work with 1-3 pilot schools in the Fall 2023 (off) season. This program would be multimedia and offer educational tools for the instructors to engage with students about the wintering and summering locations of the birds, further engaging school kids from both countries about endangered Piping Plovers.

Birdathon Teams

A Solitary Beer, Yo

We’re just out doing a standard big day. No gimmicks, no frills. Yo.

Team members: Josh, Heydi, Michael, Spencer, Richard, and Tom

Altacocka-toos aka The Venerable Veerys

Kathy, Sheila and Ilene will be birding GWC. The Veery is countable the Cockatoo is not-so-much!

Team members: Kathy, Sheila, and Ilene

Everybird Everywhere All at Once

We will be looking for every bird, everywhere in Brooklyn, one at a time

Team members: Daisy, Tripper, Alie, Sara, Jer, and Mike

Intro to Birdwatching

The Intro to Birdwatching walk will be participating in Brooklyn Bird Club's Spring Birdathon and World Migratory Bird Day this Saturday, May 13th. Come join us (and donate too!) as we take our usual routes around Prospect Park: the Boathouse and back in two hours.

Team members: Tina, Jay, Mike, et al.

Lord of the Wings II

The Lord of the Wings is short a few wings this year, but its remaining ragtag band of birders has decided to stake out Mordor -- a.k.a. Lookout Hill -- from sunrise until happy hour calls. In other words, they're doing a Big Sit at the Butterfly Meadow in Prospect Park, to see how many species they can spot before the fiery eye of Sauron ends their stationary vigil.

Team members: Ryan, Katie, Tina, Angie

No Egrets

We’re going to go to the park to look at birds. We’re going to identify the birds by species. At the end of the day, we’re going to count how many species are on our list. And then we’re going to perform a song by Edith Piaf.

Team members: Forrest, Danielle, Anthony and Gabbie

Northern Paralyzed

This group plans to get stuck in one spot, awestruck with a multitude of birds, in which serendipity hits the sweet spotted.

Team members: Jeremy, Radka, Valerie, Michele, Crystal, and Maggie

Smooth Like Bittern

Like a bittern migrating through New York City, Smooth Like Bittern totally knows what they’re doing and will *not* get themselves into all sorts of silly situations. And if they do, Jen, Ryan, Jeana, Jim, Erin, and Paul will just pretend they're cattails

Team members: Jen, Ryan, Jeana, Jim, Erin, and Paul

Timberdoodlers

Join the Timberdoodlers as the BBC Migration walk becomes a bird-finding machine for the Birdathon. Our goal is to set a new record of 100 species for the day, just in the park! Meet 7:30 am at the “Pergola” entrance on Ocean and Parkside Avenues

Team members: Dennis, Bobbi, et al.

The Mourning Wahblahs

Join Rob and the Saturday Birding in Peace walk in Green-Wood cemetery for this year's 2023 birdathon

Team members: Rob, Michelle, Lindsey, Hannnah&Martin, et al.

When Mourning Doves Cry

HERE YE HERE YE, WE 4 BIRDERS OF THE BOROUGH OF BROOKLYN DEDICATE THIS BIG DAY TO PRINCE ROGERS NELSON aka The High priest of pop aka His Royal Badness aka The Prince of Funk THE PURPLE ONE and because he was formerly known and now forever more will be known as PRINCE

Team members: Chaz, Ben, Mike, and Jacob

2023 Spring Birdathon - Brooklyn Bird Club

Saturday, May 13

Team Leaderboard

Team Members