Birding festivals and the birders who revel at the opportunity to attend these social birding events have taken a big hit since February, when the Covid pandemic forced festivals with decades of history to be canceled. Now, some popular birding festivals are reacting in the best possible ways by making their festivals virtual events. In coming weeks, you are invited to attend birding festivals from Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Texas, Hawaii, and Alaska – virtually – from home!

Enjoy sharing the offerings of some of the most interesting birding festivals, events you may not otherwise think you could attend, and enjoy a variety of presentations, workshops, social gatherings, and virtual tours. Are you ready to participate in upcoming months of birding festivals? You won’t miss any of the following virtual opportunities:

The Tucson Audubon Society’s Virtual Southeast Arizona Birding Festival will be the next event to take place, coming up August 5 to 7 using the Zoom video conferencing platform. One of the most popular summer birding festivals, the Virtual SABF will include at least two virtual birding tours, a workshop, forum, and social interactions. For a full schedule of events, see http://tucsonaudubon.org/news-events/southeast-arizona-birding-festival/

The Virtual Yampa Valley Crane Festival will take place September 3 to 6 from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and festival organizers will be posting relevant information for accessing videos and virtual events that highlight Sandhill Cranes and the efforts of the Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition. For more information and updates, see https://coloradocranes.org/2020-festival/

The Virtual Puget Sound Bird Fest in Edmonds, Washington, will take place September 12 and 13. For information about the keynote webinar presentation and other events and updates about this exciting location for birders, refer to http://www.pugetsoundbirdfest.org/

The Virtual Xtreme Himmingbird Xtravaganza will convene via Facebook Live from the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory outside Lake Jackson, Texas, during the peak of Ruby-throated Hummingbird fall migration on two Saturdays, September 19 and 26. It features live hummingbird banding along with informative and entertaining speakers both days. See https://www.gcbo.org/connect/xtreme-hummingbird-xtravaganza/

The Virtual Hawaii Island Festival of Birds will take place October 15 to 19 from Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. This year Hawaii’s birds are coming to you – virtually – along with a range of presentations about exciting native birds, seabirds, and migrants. For more information, visit https://birdfesthawaii.org/

The Arctic Refuge Virtual Bird Fest will be held November 8 to 14 on social media platforms.

Join Audubon Alaska and the US Fish and Wildlife Service for interactive, fun, and informative activities highlighting the amazing migratory birds of the Arctic. The website is being updated regularly with this year’s events at https://www.arcticbirdfest.com/ and you can review the content from last year’s Arctic Refuge Bird Fest too.

Certainly, these exciting virtual birding festivals have all kinds of potential – for viewing on your own, with friends, family, school classes, and birding club meetings. You are bound to enjoy the experiences provided, and learn about birds across our big continent.

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