The diversity of San Diego County birds from the desert to the mountains and Pacific Ocean is reflected in the images of a Cactus Wren and a dark morph Northern Fulmar (photos by Paul Konrad).

The excitement of birding will be on full display at some of the top birding festivals in the country in coming days and weeks, including the ever-popular San Diego Bird Festival, one of the nation’s best, along with the Port Aransas Whooping Crane Festival in Texas that showcases a wide variety of birds. There is also the popular Winter Wings Festival in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and to start the spring season of events, the Marsh Madness Sandhill Crane & Migratory Bird Festival will take place at Goose Pond near Linton, Indiana.

Birding Festivals provide great opportunities to explore some of the best birding locations in North America with local birders as guides during well-organized field trips, in addition to informative workshops and featured speakers, with social events and a wealth of activities to participate in, often providing an incentive to travel to a new birding destination. For more information about individual birding fests and their schedule of events, simply click on the links provided below:

Oregon: February 16 to 19 – Winter Wings Festival, Klamath Falls, Oregon; see Winter Wings Festival – Klamath Falls, OR

California: February 22 to 26 – San Diego Bird Festival, San Diego, California; see Festival Program : San Diego Bird Festival : Birding : San Diego Audubon

Texas: February 23 to 26 – Port Aransas Whooping Crane Festival, Port Aransas, Texas; see Whooping Crane Festival (portaransas.org)

Indiana: February 24 and 25 – Marsh Madness Sandhill Crane & Migratory Bird Festival, at the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area, Linton, Indiana; see Marsh Madness – Friends of Goose Pond