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$2,097

Raised of $1,000

FEC Songbird Squad

248 total number of bird species seen

Team participating in Great Wisconsin Birdathon 2026

Takes place Apr 15 - Jun 15, 2026

Captained by Nickie G

Support the FEC Songbird Squad in the Great Wisconsin Birdathon!

The Forest Exploration Center is part of the Mississippi Flyway, an important stopover area for migratory birds. Over 150 bird species have been spotted in and around the Forest year-round!

By donating to our team, you're supporting the FEC as well as the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin's Bird Protection Fund, which funds Wisconsin's highest priority bird conservation projects.

Your support would mean a lot to our team. Birds have made an incredible difference in our lives and we want to protect them. Every dollar counts when it comes to helping our birds, so no donation is too small. Thank you for considering!

Make a donation online by clicking "donate" above, or mail a check to: Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, ATTN: Great Wisconsin Birdathon, 211 S. Paterson St., Suite 100, Madison, WI 53703 (and include our team's name in the memo line!)

Bird Counts and Public Events at the Forest Exploration Center

On May 23, we're hosting a bird walk led by Chuck Hagner, author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to Birds of Wisconsin. Everyone is welcome to this celebration of migratory birds!

More bird counts and events to be announced. Sign up to the Forest Exploration Center newsletter to get notifications.

Team Members 10

Natalie Benavides

3 wk. ago

27

number of bird species seen

$1.85

Per bird species seen

$49.95

Earned

Sorry--I only got to this spot twice, so I did not update I did not request donors so only have my own donations. Maybe better next year :)

The birds I've seen have been kestrel, song sparrow, savannah sparrow, swamp sparrow, crow, red-wing, tree swallow, barn swallow, eastern pewee, great blue heron, yellow warbler, common yellowthroat, red bellied woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, downy, flicker, killdeer, crow, mourning dove, eastern bluebird, cedar waxwing, house finch, bluejay, goldfinch, catbird, cowbird.

Nickie G

3 wk. ago

Thank you so very much to the people who donated to our fundraising for the Forest Exploration Center and the Natural Resources Foundation of WI. I was the captain for our inaugural team, the Songbird Squad. Our team raised $1916.00. $900 of that is from you guys helping me!

We shot past our team goal of raising $1000. I blasted past my personal goal of raising $300. Turns out I can be really annoying and folks will pay to shut me up!

Also, we spotted birds that have never been noted before in our forest! This can help to protect the forest if we can prove rare birds/endangered birds are in our area. For example, we found a Canada warbler passing through. Tough little critter may have come from as far away as Peru and is heading to Canada to find love. Dude needs to rest somewhere. Our forest was a perfect spot to recharge.

My least favorite find of the birdathon was waking up to a tick on my... chest. Too many deer and too few birdies make this an inevitability, even for urban spaces. Do what you can to help bird populations survive and thrive. Populations are struggling- especially during migrations.

Thanks again, All. And I'll bother you again next year if The Lyme's doesn't get me!

Nickie G.

Kelly Grant Moore

4 wk. ago

7

number of bird species seen

$1.32

Per bird species seen

$9.24

Earned

Species observed in the last two weeks:

- Scarlet tanager
- Common yellowthroat
- Red-eyed vireo
- Great crested flycatcher
- Song sparrow
- Baltimore oriole
- Cedar waxwing

Donations 39

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Your Donation Makes a Difference For Birds

Donations made to the Great Wisconsin Birdathon support the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin’s Bird Protection Fund, which has given out over $1.4 million towards Wisconsin’s highest priority bird conservation projects since its inception in 2009.

Whether it's creating Piping Plover habitat, rearing Whooping Crane chicks, spreading awareness about declining songbirds, supporting community initiatives for bird-friendly neighborhoods, engaging new and underrepresented voices in the birding community, building impactful collaborations to protect Wisconsin's Important Bird Areas, or protecting our neotropical migrants on their long migratory journeys to Central America... the Bird Protection Fund is there to help.

Your donations make this work possible. Thank you for supporting on-the-ground conservation and being there #ForTheBirds!