2022 Great Wisconsin Birdathon Report

BIRDATHON

$117,000+

raised to bring birds back!

Whoop, whoop! We set out to raise $100,000 for Wisconsin's birds but we raised $117K instead! This has been another record breaking season for the Great Wisconsin Birdathon and we could not be more grateful for the support of our participants, our donors, and our sponsors. Thank you everyone for joining us to bird for a cause!

We hope you enjoy this look back at our 2022 season, which marked a decade of successful fundraising for the Bird Protection Fund. Wisconsin is truly a state #ForTheBirds!

The federally endangered Whooping Crane was voted to be our Bird of the Year! This species has been supported by our Bird Protection Fund since 2011 Photo by David McGowen

Resources Foundation of Wisconsin

s annual fundraiser

"I loved combining fundraising with the fun of birding, while raising money for our birding club AND bird conservation!

win, win, win!"

Celebrating a Decade

Did you know the Great Wisconsin Birdathon has been around since 2012?! 2022 marked the 10th anniversary of our first year, so it's the perfect time to look back on how the Birdathon has grown.

What started as a handful of regional teams has grown rapidly, as each year we recruit more birders to join our statewide mission!

During the past decade, hundreds of Birdathon participants have raised over $700,000 for the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin's Bird Protection Fund.

These funds support Wisconsin's highest priority bird conservation projects Birdathon participants protect our feathered friends at every stage of their lifecycle across Wisconsin and at their wintering grounds

Some of our birders have been at this since Day One!

put 10 dedicated Birdathoners in the spotlight this season as we looked back on our decade spot them below!

teams represented 36 counties this year!

They are just a few of many, because we owe the success of this event to all of YOU!

Lake Superior eBirders

lucky to spot a banded

Warbler this year

NRF's priority species!

Top Fundraisers

Cutright's Old Coots $18,400

Lake Superior eBirders $9,464

River Raptors $6,220

Motmot Crew $5,174

Yes We Pelican! $4,481

Most Species Seen

Good Godwits 196 species

MuirLand Merlins 175 species

Lake Superior eBirders 173 species

Cutright's Old Coots 167 species

Driftless Birders 157 species

Birder Spotlights

Top, clockwise from left:

Schwartz, Cutright's Old Coots

Tom Prestby, Good Godwits

Sumner Matteson, River Raptors

Etter Hale, Finch Gang

Ryan Brady, Lake Superior eBirders

Bottom, clockwise from left:

Shurts, Reckless Wrens

Noeldner

Pewees

Pedaling Paddling

Barb Barzen, Scan Da Avians

Senner

I'm With The Birds

Clausen

Mazomanie Mavens

Starting New Traditions

This year ' s Birdathon saw 56 incredible teams: from classrooms and nonprofits, to friends and family, to Bird Cities and bird clubs and even a Girl Scout Troop out to earn their citizen science badge!

Long running teams returned, while new teams started what is sure to become an annual tradition.

We encourage our teams to make the Birdathon their own, birding however and whenever works best f h d

The Owen Park Owls birded over Memorial Day weekend, hosting group bird outings to introduce more people to Owen Conservation Park!

The West High Whip poor Wills gathered their high school ornithology club for an absolutely epic 18 hour birding adventure!

The NWLTurkeys rounded up staff and board members to explore some of their favorite land trust properties in the Northwoods.

he BIPOC Flock started nd ended their day with irds, hosting a morning nd evening bird outing or beginning birders, amilies, and kids in search f some good ol' bird joy!

Owen Park Owls Photo by Gail Smith

Photo by Molly Ticcioni

West High Whip poor wills Photo by Yishai Blum

Round Barn Birders Photo by Lisa Kowalski

The BIPOC Flock Photo by Lizzie Condon

Finding ALL THE BIRDS!

Together, our 56 teams saw 250 bird species! That included 33 species considered Special Concern, 9 species considered Threatened, and 8 species considered Endangered in Wisconsin

Some teams got lucky and spotted a Whooping Crane, which was voted to be our Bird Of The Year! We were excited to feature another special design on this year ' s merchandise, created by Brooke Weiland Studios

Teams Who Found Our #BirdOfTheYear!

Cutright's Old Coots Millennial Falcons I'm With The Birds Horicon Marsh Wrens

Rare or Notable Birds Seen

Yellow Rail seen by the Lake Superior eBirders and MuirLand Merlins Loggerhead Shrike seen by Yes We Pelican!

Black bellied Whistling Duck seen by the Good Godwits

Western Kingbird seen by the Good Godwits

Northern Mockingbird seen by the Lake Superior eBirders

Cattle Egret seen by Scan Da Avians Harlequin Duck seen by GLC Chickadees

Worm eating Warbler seen by the River Raptors

Snowy Owl seen by the MuirLand Merlins

Baltimore Oriole seen by the Owen Park Owls Photo by Sudeep Samanta

Tree Swallow seen by Chirp Chasers. Photo by Jeff Brown Dunlin and Dowitchers seen by the Reckless Wrens Photo by Brand Smith

Cerulean Warbler seen by Motmot Crew Photo by Dan Jackson

Common Nighthawk seen by MuirLand Merlins Photo by Kari Stauffer

Organizational Teams

Aldo Leopold Nature Center Double Stuffed Orioles

Baraboo Range Preservation Assoc.

Baraboo Rangers

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin The BIPOC Flock

Chippewa County Land Conservancy

Chirp Chasers

Elm Grove Bird City Birders of the Grove Feminist Bird Club Madison Chapter

Yes We Pelican!

Friends of Owen Conservation Park

Owen Park Owls

Friends of Pheasant Branch

...Conservancy FOPBC Naturalist Clan Gathering Waters Gathering Warblers

Gaylord Nelson Audubon Society

Chippewa Valley Titmouseketeers

Glacial Lakes Conservancy GLC Chickadees

Holy Wisdom Monastery Wrens of Wisdom Prairie Madison Audubon Common Yellowfloats, Reckless Wrens

Madison FUN Pedaling Paddling Prius Pewees, Camp Coots

McFarland Bird City McFarland Bird Festival

Mississippi Valley Conservancy

Driftless Birders

MuirLand Bird Club MuirLand Merlins

North Lakeland Discovery Center Up North Hammerheads

Northwoods Land Trust NWLTurkeys

Richland Center-Santa Teresa Sister

...City Project Motmot Crew

Schlitz Audubon Schlitz Audubon

Screech Owls

Tropical Wings, Inc. Team Tropical Wings

Wausau Bird Club Wausau Nutcrackers

Wisconsin Chapter of the Society for ...Conservation Biology No Egrets Wisconsin Pheasants Forever Funky Pheasants

Support for Local Bird Conservation Soars!

Nonprofit organizations, Bird Cities, and bird clubs that participate in the Great Wisconsin Birdathon are able to keep 50% of the funds they raise while the rest goes to support NRF's Bird Protection Fund projects

This year, we had 27 organizational teams that are collectively putting $22,815 back into local bird conservation and outreach programs across our state.

What are they up to? They're putting birding backpacks in libraries, building and installing nest boxes, funding MOTUS towers and bird tracking projects, putting binoculars in the hands of

new birders, installing scopes and bird related signage at local parks, planting native plants and restoring habitat ... and much, much more!

We're grateful for their participation in the Birdathon and applaud the incredible work these organizations do for birds.

The Feminist Bird Club-Madison Chapter raised funds to put birding backpacks at local libraries Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt

The Baraboo Range Preservation Association uses their funds to help protect and preserve important bird habitat throughout their land trust Photo by Todd Persche

Wausau Bird Club has planted trees, built bird houses, provided binoculars for youth in their community & more! Photo by Myles Hurlburt

New this year, the Bird Protection Fund is expanding support for grassland birds, whose populations are rapidly declining due to habitat loss Bobolink photo by Eric Preston

Populations of the Connecticut Warbler are declining rapidly too A new project aims to raise awareness and get people involved in making a difference for this declining bird.

Announcing the 2022 Bird Protection Fund Projects

The Great Wisconsin Birdathon participants raise funds for the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin's Bird Protection Fund, which funds Wisconsin's highest priority bird conservation needs The following projects were selected by the advisory committee to receive this year ' s funds:

Advancing Bird Conservation within Wisconsin’s Important Bird Area (IBA) System Wisconsin Bird Conservation Partnership Building Partnerships and Tools to Address

Barriers to Bird-friendly Actions Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory Capacity Building Feminist Bird Club

Connecticut Warbler Conservation Project WDNR

Neotropical Flyways Project Cornell Lab of Ornithology / SELVA

Outreach and Program Expansion BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin Piping Plover Conservation WDNR Reintroduction of Whooping Cranes into Eastern North America International Crane Foundation Southern Kettle Moraine Habitat Restoration for Grassland Birds Kettle Moraine Land Trust

Mist nets are set up at a banding station as part of the Neotropical Flyways Project, which supports studies on migratory habitat in Central America, where Wisconsin's migratory birds winter Photo by Neotropical Flyways Project

The Great Wisconsin Birdathon is brought you to by

The BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin expanded from Madison to Milwaukee and held nearly 40 events in 2021!

They're gearing up for more outreach and education events in 2022

Thank you to our 2022 Birdathon sponsors

Connecting generations to the wonders of Wisconsin’s lands, waters, and wildlife

Photo by Ethan Gosnell

Photo by Dexter Patterson

Thank you for protecting Wisconsin's birds!