Golden Gate Bird Alliance Birdathon 2023

The Bay Birding Challenge is a "Big Day" birding competition, where teams will compete on Saturday April, 1 for a full day from sunrise to sunset to see who can find the most number of bird species. The team who records the most number of bird species will be titled the Bay Birding Challenge Champion!

Before teams strike out on Saturday April 1st, team members are encouraged to share their team page with their friends and family to raise money for Golden Gate Audubon. Every donation and pledge to a team supports the protection of local birdlife and habitat, while spurring the team on to claim the title.

This year, supporting a team competing in the Bay Birding Challenge is as easy as ever. Choose one of the two teams below to support.

East Bay Scrub Jays (East Bay Team)

Stork Raven Mad (San Francisco)

1. Once on the team page, locate the Donate button on the right and decide whether you want to make a donation to the team or to a team member's campaign.

2. If you decide to donate to the team, choose the one-time amount you wish to give and proceed to payment. If you decide to donate to an individual team member, you'll have the option of donating a general amount or pledge a certain amount per species of bird seen by the team member.

3. Check back on their team page for updates on their progress on April 1.

1. All birding will occur on Saurday, April 1.

2. Teams will consist of eight people, including the team leader.

3. Birding will occur from sunrise to sunset.

4. All team members must bird as a group where members are within shouting distance of each other. No splitting into smaller teams.

5. To be listed, all birds must be seen and/or heard by at least two team members.

6. A bird seen/heard from the car may be listed, as long as it is observed by two team members.

7. No playback (playing an actual recording of a certain bird species for the purpose of drawing the bird species out) allowed.

8. Phishing (making an audible "phishing" noise to draw out birds) is allowed.

9. All birds "listable" on ebird are valid. To clarify, introduced species are fine if they are sustainable populations (Rock Pidgeon, etc.) but that flamingo that hangs around at Coyote Hills is an escapee (who is doing well but definitely not part of a breeding population). Scaly-breasted Munia now appear on eBird lists for the Bay Area. We suspect Red-whiskered Bulbuls are close behind.