Birding for Conservation
The Colorado Birding Challenge is a fun, county-based birding and conservation event held during the most exciting birding times of the birding year.
The Challenge's four goals are:
- To engage hundreds of birders in a fun day of finding and learning about Colorado's birds.
- To raise funds for a critical conservation project each year. In 2024, this is habitat restoration along the Conejos River that will benefit the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher and the Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo among other species.
- To generate eBird data for all 64 counties in Colorado on the same day.
- To provide support for the expanding programs of Colorado Field Ornithologists.
2024: Conejos River Restoration Project
The Conejos River is the largest tributary to the Rio Grande in Colorado, both originate in the San Luis Valley. The Conejos system supports wildlife habitat, agricultural production, and outdoor recreation. The Conejos River Restoration Project, an effort in partnership between the Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project and Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, addresses the need for multi-benefit restoration along 4 miles of the Conejos River.
- PHASE I - Surveying and Planning - Completed Spring 2023
- PHASE II - Priority Project Implementation - Current Phase
- PHASE III - Secondary Project Implementation - Future Work
Donate / Pledge
The 2024 Challenge funds will support habitat restoration along the Conejos River in southern Colorado. Pledge to support a challenge team or make a direct donation today!
It's a Team Effort!
Participate - Your team (2-4 people; restrictions do not apply to the non-competing category) chooses a single Colorado county and birds for up to 24 hours! At the end of the day, compare your species total, handicapped by the par value for your county, to the other teams in Colorado. All teams, other than those in the non-competing category, must abide by the ABA Big Day Rules.
Donate - Support bird conservation in Colorado by soliciting donations from your friends and family before the Challenge to help support this year's amazing conservation project. Share your team page on social media or with co-workers.
Want to donate but don't know anyone participating? You can choose a team name you like or donate directly to the cause.
Choose a Category
The classic Big Day. The team can use any mode of transportation they want to bird anywhere in their county of choice.
Level Birding With Par
Not all Colorado counties were created equal. Some are large, some are small, some are urban, some are rural, some have diverse habitats, some not so much. This means we can expect to see different numbers of bird species in each county. During the Challenge, we want teams to bird all the counties -- not just the "birdie" ones.
To make each county equitable, CFO uses a decade of eBird data to establish the species "par" for each county. This par is essentially the total number of bird species that one would expect to find in that county at the time of year the Challenge is taking place. At the end of the day, teams will be ranked by the percentage of total bird species par they observe.
This is a novel approach and does have some challenges. Some counties in Colorado are heavily birded, like Boulder, Denver, or Larimer and likely have a lot of rarities recorded increasing their par score. Less birded counties, like Huerfano, Moffat or Sedgwick, may only have the more common species reported resulting in a lower par score. We hope this will motivate teams to choose these under-birded counties and improve our understanding of birds across Colorado.
Colorado Birding Challenge Conservation Grants
Colorado Field Ornithologists invites applicants to submit proposals to be the beneficiary of each year's Colorado Birding Challenge. Proposed projects should have a lasting benefit to Colorado birds or the habitats on which they rely.
More than $75,000 has been raised and donated for conservation efforts through the Challenge since 2021. The application period opens annually in early fall and closes in mid-November.