First-ever Missouri Birding Challenge offers competitive birdwatching for residents
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Area residents will get the chance to enjoy the great outdoors, win prizes and offer a boost to conservation efforts by joining Missouri’s first-ever competitive birdwatching challenge this spring.
From May 1 to May 15, birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts from young kids to adults can participate in the inaugural Missouri Birding Challenge, a new twist on birdwatching offered by the Missouri Department of Conservation and federal conservation partners.
MDC Natural History Biologist Lisa San Diego said as part of the event, individuals and groups will register online and use the eBird app to record lists of birds identified at conservation areas, state parks and federal lands around the state, or even in their own backyards.
“It’s just a great opportunity to kind of bird in a slightly different way, trying to meet a challenge,” San Diego said. “The great thing about eBird is it’s this massive database and citizen science contributes birding information to it ... That information is used to kind of drive conservation efforts.”
Once participants complete one of five categories based on age and experience, they will be entered into a drawing for bird-related prizes such as binoculars, spotting scopes, tripods and gift cards. The team that records the most species in the challenge period will receive a certificate and recognition by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Registration takes place from April 1 to April 30 at mochf.org/missouri-birding-challenge/.
Categories can range from spotting 10 bird species for novice birders to more than 150 for advanced categories, everything from Canadian geese and cardinals to hawks and owls. Missouri has approximately 390 different bird species according to the department.
“If you’re in those more competitive categories or just more interested in birding in general, try to bird in different habitat types, hit up grasslands, hit up wetlands, head up woodlands,” San Diego said. “The birding challenge is in the beginning of May, which is a prime migration time in Missouri, where birds that we don’t normally see here are passing through.”
Federal agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Missouri River Bird Observatory are set to partner with the conservation department to enhance the first-time program for Missouri residents.
Along with enjoying the great outdoors and learning more about Missouri’s bird species, registration fees — which range from $10 to $25 — will have a direct impact on statewide conservation efforts.
“Those funds go to our modus tracking system in Missouri, which is a series of radio telemetry towers that actually track birds migrating through Missouri,” San Diego said. “It just shows the importance that birding and bird conservation is. All of these organizations coming together, working towards a common goal.”
In order to participate, residents must attend or watch one of several free webinars on the Missouri Birding Challenge. The webinars are designed to introduce participants to birding and educate them on issues around birds and conservation.
Research shows a loss of nearly a third of North American birds over that past 50 years. The upcoming May 1 webinar will show people how to help bird populations at home and how to make a big impact with just seven simple actions.
“Certain categories of birds are hit a little harder than others. Our temperate, grassland species are particularly not doing well compared to some other groups,” San Diego said. “This birding challenge, if we have a spurt of extra birding efforts, extra bird sightings added in, it really contributes to that information.”
As part of the challenge, all team members must bird together and remain within direct voice contact at all times while competing for birds to be counted for the team. Teams can also bird with other teams.
San Diego recommends using the BirdCast website to help track bird migrations and using the Merlin app to identify specific bird sounds.
A full list of bird challenges rules and categories can be found at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/activities/birdwatching/missouri-birding-challenge-rules.
Upcoming Birding Challenge webinars:
