October Big Day – a global birding event – is coming!

Mark your calendars for October Big Day—8 October 2022! Big Days are a 24-hour opportunity to celebrate birds near and far. Last October, more than 32,000 people from 195 countries submitted 78,000 checklists with eBird, demonstrating the power of birds to bring people together.

Wherever you are on 8 October, take a few minutes to join the world of birding on October Big Day. Participate from anywhere—even home! By taking part in October Big Day you’re also celebrating Global Bird Weekend and World Migratory Bird Day. Be a part of the global team and help set a new record for October birding.

How to participate

• Get an eBird account: eBird is a worldwide bird checklist program used by millions of birders. It’s what allows us to compile everyone’s sightings into a single massive Global Big Day list—while at the same time collecting the data to help scientists better understand birds. Sign up here. It’s 100% free from start to finish. And bonus – your eBird sightings are then reflected in the Birds of the World life history accounts. 
• Watch birds on 8 October: It’s that simple. October Big Day runs from midnight to midnight in your local time zone. You don’t need to be a bird expert or go out all day long, even 10 minutes of birding from home counts.
• Enter what you see and hear on eBird: You can enter your sightings via the eBird website or download the free eBird Mobile app to make submitting lists even easier. Please enter your checklists before 12 October to be included in our initial results announcement.
  
• Watch the sightings roll in: During the day, follow along with sightings from more than 190 countries in real-time on our October Big Day page.

eBird Trip Reports on October Big Day

We had a great time exploring eBird Trip Reports from Global Big Day (in May) and are excited see even more reports from October Big Day! Simply create an eBird Trip Report for 8 October 2022. As you submit lists and upload media throughout the big day, they’ll be added to your report automatically. Send the trip report link to friends and family so they can follow along. (Learn more about eBird Trip Reports).

October Big Day Pro Tips

• If you’re new to eBird or want to make your checklists more valuable for science and conservation, take the free eBird Essentials course.
• Use eBird Mobile Explore to find recently reported species or new places to go birding nearby.
• The Cornell Lab’s free Merlin Bird ID app can help you to identify the birds you see and hear on October Big Day.
• Make sound recordings and prepare and upload your recordings to your eBird checklists to help Merlin identify more birds by sound.
• Make your observations more valuable: submit complete checklists, keep counts of the birds that you see, and keep multiple checklists throughout the day.
• Share what you’re seeing on social media with #octoberbigday!

No matter where you go birding on 8 October, have fun, enjoy the birds you find, and share your observations with eBird. Your checklists will help us better understand global bird populations through products like these animated abundance maps brought to you by eBird Science.