Africa’s Superb Starling would be an exciting addition to anyone’s October Big Day list (photo by Paul Konrad). Native to eastern Australia, the impressive Variegated Fairywren was 1 of the 7,167 species included in last year’s October Big Day tally (photo by Mat Gilfedder).

This Saturday, October 9th, will be the biggest day for birding this fall when birders from around the world join together to participate in the annual October Big Day. Last year 33,671 birders from more than 170 countries found a total of 7,167 species of birds during October Big Day 2020, adding up to an amazing record year! This year should be even better, and you can join the fun and report birds from anywhere, for as long as you wish, within the 24-hour period – even 15 minutes or more in your yard will help. Simply identify and count all the birds you see in a location of your choice, and enter your list on eBird.

In fact, you can visit a number of your favorite birding locations if you wish to throughout the day. It’s fun, and it’s an opportunity to join the worldwide birding community on this special Saturday.

Recognizing that the covid pandemic continues to impact our communities, even if your local conditions have improved, eBird organizers encourage everyone to put safety first, follow local guidelines, and enjoy birding in mindful ways.

To access all the information about how to participate in the October Big Day this Saturday October 9th, please refer to https://ebird.org/news/october-big-day-2021

And to get excited about this new annual tradition, review all of last year’s lists of birds including bird counts by country and continent, see https://ebird.org/region/world/regions?yr=BIGDAY_2020b&hsStats_sortBy=num_species&hsStats_o=desc