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Illustration by Matthew Dodder
Join us for Birdathon! Birdathon is a friendly fund-raising competition we hold every spring to fund our education programs in local schools. This fundraiser helps keep our program costs accessible to local schools, and allows us to offer free programs for low-income schools so that everyone can experience the joy of birding.
Looking for an easy way to explain Birdathon to your friends and family? Look no further!
Birdathon 2026 Teams:
Take part by joining one of the teams below, much like signing up for a field trip, and head out on a local birding adventure. Teams vary in length and birding intensity and may even include bicycling, artwork, or a shared meal.
All Birdathon participants are asked to either donate or raise at least $50 in support of education programs run by the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance for each team they join.
How to join a team
Choose a public team from the list below.
Register for the outing using the team sign-up link (similar to signing up for a field trip).
Share the team’s fundraising page with friends and family and ask them to support your Birdathon.
Join the outing and enjoy the birds. 🦉
TIP: You can join more than one team if you would like to participate in multiple outings.
Want to create your own team?
🐦 Don’t see a team that fits the bill? No need to wing it alone. If none of the listed teams work for your schedule or style of birding, you can create your own team and plan an outing that suits you. Just click the “Create a Team” button below and gather your flock.
Ready to lead your own adventure?
Register your team!
Birdathon FAQs
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Prizes are awarded to our top fundraising individuals. Winners get their choice from our prize list, in order of fundraising accomplishments.
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There are three main types of Birdathon team: Photography, Traditional (the team birds together as a single group), and Distributed (the team birds on their own during their competition window and compiles a list of species afterwards). Teams are further divided into 4-hour, 10-hour, or 24-hour durations. Teams do not have to completely fulfill these durations (most don’t), but this allows 4-hour teams to have a friendly competition without pitting them against teams who will be spending sunup to sundown birding.
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Birdathon is a fundraiser for SCVBA’s education programs. The money allows us to offer affordable programming for schools (including free programming for Title 1 schools), pay for bussing fees, and develop education materials in multiple languages. Birdathon participants are asked to contribute at least $50 towards this effort, but we also encourage you to ask for donations from friends, family, or matching donations from work! A moment of awkwardness can result in a school getting to take part in a field trip that would otherwise be out of reach.
Birdathon Campaign Progress
Goal: Beat last year's Birdathon Total: $86,000
Note: Thermometer updated approximately once per weekday
Last Year’s Teams:
Banner photo: View of the Santa Clara Valley from Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve, by Barry Langdon-Lassagne