Registration is open for the 2021 Great Canadian Birdathon®. Sign up now and you can join thousands of birders and supporters giving birds a boost! Last year’s Birdathon raised $212,279.61 for conservation efforts across Canada, thanks to individuals like you. Join the flock and register today.
In 2020, we broke with tradition. Most years, the Great Canadian Birdathon is limited to May only, but last year, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we embraced doing a Birdathon “Any Time, Anywhere, Any Way”. Your response was inspiring! In 2021, we continue to encourage you to do you Birdathon any month of the year – whatever works best for you. We ask that you follow the COVID-19 public health recommendations in your area as you participate.
Register today at birdscanada.org/birdathon!
Your participation helps birds in need
As The State of Canada’s Birds, 2019 report confirms, many bird populations from coast to coast are declining in response to a range of pressures. Birds relying on flying insects, grasslands, oceans, and coastal habitats are in particular need of urgent conservation action. Your Birdathon proceeds will support important bird conservation and research projects across Canada through the James L. Baillie Memorial Fund. Get started.
The 2021 Birdathon shirt – Birding is for everyone!
Birds Canada welcomes people of all racial identities, ethnicities, nations of origin, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, and ages to participate in the Great Canadian Birdathon.
Photo: Kate Dalgleish
The Thick-billed Longspur (Fr. Plectrophane de McCown) was chosen for our 2021 Great Canadian Birdathon shirts because it is a remarkable western Canadian species, and also because it symbolizes our support for the birding community becoming more welcoming and inclusive. The American Ornithological Society recently changed this species’ English common name from McCown’s Longspur in order to remove the reference to John P. McCown. McCown’s contributions as a naturalist are overshadowed by his actions during the U.S. Civil War, during which he defended slavery and fought Native tribes as a general in the Confederate Army. The breeding range of this declining grassland bird includes southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, and it winters in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. You will find more information about this remarkable western Canadian species on our website.
As a participant, you are entitled to receive a limited edition Great Canadian Birdathon t-shirt featuring the Thick-billed Longspur design by Paul Riss and Rachel Riordan. The shirt is available in both men’s and women’s sizes. Registration is now open.
You could win!
Participants have the chance to win some great prizes. The 2021 Grand Prize is an all-inclusive guided tour generously provided by Eagle-Eye Tours. Other prizes include binoculars, spotting scopes, and a year’s supply of bird food! All prizes are courtesy of our wonderful Great Canadian Birdathon sponsors: Armstrong Bird Food, Eagle-Eye Tours, Kowa, and Vortex Canada.
Whether or not you take home a prize, you can enjoy a day of birding with the knowledge that Canada’s birds will be the real winners. Let’s keep making a difference for Canada’s birds. Register for the 2021 Birdathon or pledge your support today!
Share your Birdathon
We’d love to hear from you. You can share your 2021 Great Canadian Birdathon plans and highlights with us using the hashtag #GreatCanadianBirdathon on social media. You can also email stories and photos to birdathon AT birdscanada.org.