Birding for Dollars - BIRDATHON 2026

By Dominique Emerson

Coveted Golden Binocular Award for the most bird species counted.

Whidbey Audubon Society (WAS) encourages everyone’s help in raising funds for the scholarship fund and the general fund of WAS. This is a major fundraiser for WAS and the only fundraiser for the scholarship fund. But secretly it is just a great excuse to bird for a full 24 hours for your heart’s delight either with others or on your own.

Global Big Day of Birding falls on May 10th. this year. Our local teams will be choosing a 24-hour period sometime in the first two weeks of May, recording all species they observe on Whidbey Island and surrounding waters. The team that sights the most species will win the prestigious Golden Binocular Award (announced at June meeting), while the team that raises the most money will earn the Bronze Owl Bank (the BOB will be announced at the September meeting when all funds are received). 

We encourage new teams to sign up. A team can be a single person or as many as you can squeeze into your cars. Please go to our Birdathon team webpage to read about each team and to make either a pledge per species or a donation. All teams will need to register in the month of April.

Our goal this year is to raise as much we can to support Whidbey Audubon’s commitment to protect birds and their habitats through education, outreach, and research, with the money going into the General fund or the Scholarship Fund (supporting graduating seniors going on to a four-year college with an environmental focus, our future bird stewards!) 

Remember to let teams know if you are a Microsoft employee or Boeing employee or retiree, as these businesses will match your donation. All business sponsors will be honored in our newsletter and on our website. 

For additional information, go to our webpage or contact us at birathon@whidbeyaudubonsociety.org