Attending a birding festival is a great way to enhance your fall birding experiences (Belted Kingfisher photo by Paul Konrad).

Birding Festivals large and small bring people interested in birds together during September to share time in some impressive birding locations as bird migration gets into full swing. Festival events may include guided birding walks, field trips, banding demonstrations, featured speakers, educational workshops, children’s events, and social gatherings. Each birding festival provides unique opportunities for experienced and novice birders to learn more about birds and other wildlife, while connecting with others interested in birds and birding.

Bird photography is a key component of some field trips and presentations, and larger festivals often include a vendor marketplace where you can shop for optics and other field gear, books, artwork, and learn about upcoming guided birding trips nationwide or worldwide. Birding festivals held across the United States and Canada also bolster community pride, add some economic stimulus to area businesses, and promote birding clubs, nature centers, and wildlife refuges. Birders who attend birding festivals definitely generate a variety of benefits to communities they visit.

There are a wealth of September Birding Festivals to introduce you to, and you can get more information about each one by using the links provided below:

September 6 – Hawaii – Welcome Home Kolea Festival, (Kolea = Pacific Golden Plover), Hawaii Audubon, Ala Moana Beach Park Oahu, Hawaii; see Welcome Home K?lea Festival (O?ahu) – Hawai?i Audubon Society (hiaudubon.org)

September 12 to 14 – Illinois – The Urban Birding Festival, Chicago, Illinois; see Festival Schedule-old — The Urban Birding Festival

September 13 – Colorado – Fall Birding Fest, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, Barr Lake State Park Nature Center, Brighton, Colorado; see Fall Birding Fest - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

September 13 – New York – Migration Celebration 2025, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York; see Migration Celebration 2025 | Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

September 13 and 20 – Texas – Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, Lake Jackson, Texas; see Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza | Gulf Coast Bird Observatory (gcbo.org)

September 15 to 21 – Quebec – Cote-Nord Migratory Bird Festival, Tadoussac Bird Observatory, Grandes-Bergeronnes, Quebec; see Anglais_Horaire programme_2025 (festivalmigrateurs.com)

September 18 to 21 – Texas – HummerBird Celebration, Rockport-Fulton, Texas; see Rockport-Fulton HummerBird Celebration

September 19 to 21 – Minnesota – Hawk Weekend Festival, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, Duluth, Minnesota; see Hawk Weekend Festival September 19-21, 2025 : Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory

September 19 to 21 – Ohio – Headlands Birding Festival, Headlands Beach State Park, Ohio; see Birding Festival-2025 Home - Friends of Headlands Beach State Park

September 20 to 27 – Texas – Houston Bird Week, Houston Audubon, Houston, Texas; see Bird Week | Programs | Houston Audubon

September 23 to 26 – South Carolina – Wings Over Beaufort Birding Festival, Carolina Bight Birding Center, South Carolina; see Festivals & Events - Carolina Bight Birding Center

September 26 and 28 – Texas – Celebration of Flight, Corpus Christi HawkWatch, Hazel Bazemore County Park, Corpus Christi, Texas; see Celebration of Flight – HawkWatch International