Bird-A-Thon
5PM Friday May 16 - 5PM Saturday May 17, 2025
How Many Species Will We Record?
2024 Bird-a-Thon was in May, and we look forward to next year!
How many birds can local birders find in twenty-four hours? It’s a challenge Island birders have been giving themselves for more than twenty years. From 5PM on Friday, May 16 through 5PM on Saturday, May 17, the Maria Mitchell Association invites birders of all ages, experienced and novice, on Nantucket to participate in our annual Bird-A-Thon. At the close, birders come together to pool their lists and see how many species were here in that snapshot of time.
The goal of the Bird-A-Thon is to encourage participants to notice birds in their daily lives. To register as a birder for this event, please follow the link below to register by
Friday, May 16 at 2 PM. Following the end of event, the MMA will host a live count session, to officially count the species seen, at the MMA Research Center on
Saturday, May 17 at 5:30 PM.
Anyone birding on Nantucket during the Bird-A-Thon window is welcome to participate. MMA Members and Non-Members and Nantucket residents and non-residents can participate in the Bird-A-Thon by donating however, only birds physically observed and counted on Nantucket qualify for the official count!
All donations to the Nantucket Bird-A-Thon support the MMA’s conservation of its renowned Edith F. Andrews Ornithology Collection and activities related to the MMA’s work on bird conservation education.
Birding Resources
Participating birders should identify the species of birds they see within this 24-hour period and keep track using a list.
- For all Nantucket birders, you can use our
downloadable bird 2021 checklist. We also encourage participants to use
e-Bird to record any data.
- If you are new to birding or planning to participate with children, check out our local Nantucket “10 Birds for Everyone To Learn” guide!
- The MMA has birding guides, including The Sibley Guide to Birds, Folding Guides: BIrds of New England Coast, and The Peterson Field Guide to Birds (sixth edition), available for purchase in our gift shop. If you are interested in buying a guide from us, please email Laura Freedman to arrange payment and a time for pick-up.
Submit Your List:
First, be sure to officially register as a birder by Friday, May 16 at 2 PM by following the link in the section above.
- If using e-Bird, please share your list to the MMA's e-Bird account at "MariaMitchellAssociation."
- If not using e-bird, please email your list to Ginger Andrews.
Please submit your list to the MMA Saturday, May 17 at 5:15 PM.
Birding Guidelines
As always, this event serves as a reminder of the variety and abundance of wildlife that surrounds us and our responsibility to preserve the habitats of our beautiful and varied bird species. We ask our participants to please:
- Try to avoid disrupting the natural behavior of the birds you are observing. For example, keep plenty of distance between you and any active nests, and refrain from using sound playback to mimic bird calls.
- Stay on trail paths and do not "bushwhack."
- Only record birds you can identify within the time period.
- Check for ticks at the end of your birding expedition.
- Have fun!