This year's theme for the World Migratory Bird Day highlights the important role of citizen science reports in bird conservation by endorsing the "Every Bird Counts – Your Observations Matter" theme. Highlighting the important role of community science for the conservation of migratory birds, World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is a United Nations-sponsored initiative that recognizes the importance of birds as key indicators of our environment's health.
The World Migratory Bird Day 2026 campaign shines a spotlight on people-driven efforts that are essential for advancing bird science and conservation, and celebrating how individuals, communities, and organizations around the world are helping to build our knowledge base to better understand and conserve migratory birds across borders and continent to continent. To learn more, refer to World Migratory Bird Day.
Not by coincidence, the Global Big Day is celebrated the same day as WMBD (Saturday May 9th), which is an annual event when birders join together worldwide to identify and count all the birds they see – and record their sightings on eBird in cooperation with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All birders are invited to participate, and anyone interested can join in birding events being conducted across the United States and Canada – and worldwide! To participate in WMBD in the best ways, enjoy a period of birding on Saturday May 9th – on your own, in a group, on a team, as a family – and report your observations on eBird at Global Big Day—9 May 2026 - eBird.
By focusing on the contributions of birders, participatory science, and public bird monitoring efforts, this year's World Migratory Bird Day campaign will celebrate the millions of birders around the world who are contributing to the data and knowledge that inform policy decisions and are essential for bird conservation – each recorded observation counts. From backyard observations to coordinated global surveys like the Global Big Day, millions of birders around the world contribute vital information about migratory birds and their habitats each year.
Through their recorded eBird observations, birders are engaging in citizen science that helps track migration patterns, population trends, and changes in habitats across flyways. The campaign will showcase how every observation contributes essential data and supports evidence-based conservation on local, national, and international scales.
In the United States and throughout the Western Hemisphere, Environment for the Americas is one of the founding partners of World Migratory Bird Day. Centered in Boulder, Colorado, Environment for the Americas connects people to birds and nature while inspiring the next generation of conservationists with projects and outreach programs across the Western Hemisphere. You can learn more at Home - Environment for the Americas.
World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their essential habitats. It has a global outreach and is an effective effort to help raise global awareness of the threats faced by migratory birds, emphasize the ecological importance of birds, and promote the need for international cooperation to benefit birds. Every year people around the world take action and organize public events such as birding festivals, education programs, exhibitions, and birding field trips to celebrate WMBD. Learn more at Events - World Migratory Bird Day