Teams / Trips

Registration begins March 15, 2024 at 9 am. Click on each team name for a full description including start time, duration, accessibility information and transportation logistics. Half-day trips go 3-6 hours, full-day trips go until around dinner, and gonzo trips are overnight adventures. Note that each team has a suggested fundraising minimum, listed in the full description. 

Teams are listed here in chronological order.

Questions? Contact Sarah Swanson, Events Manager, at birdathon@birdallianceoregon.org.

Seymore Butterbutts (half-day)

May 4 (Sat)

Local author of Backyard Birds West, Seymore Gulls, will be your guide on a tour of Washington County’s best public library/duck pond: Dawson Creek. We will meet for a relaxed morning of low-pressure birding. Seymore will point out common bird calls and give tips to help ID all of our common birds. Ducks, geese, “butterbutts” aka Yellow-rumped Warblers and other songbirds are expected, but the highlight is the breeding colony of Acorn Woodpeckers.

Itty Bitty Bushtit Committee (half-day)

May 4 (Sat)

Join the Itty Bitty Bushtit Committee (IBBC), co-led by Kilee Mendiola and Ashley Gora Owens, perfect for all new birders keen on learning about itty bitty birds like the Bushtit. We’ll explore three Southeast Portland bird habitats: Powell Butte Nature Park, Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, and Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge looking for Bushtits, Chickadees, Wrens, and more, with a special focus on female birds who are often overlooked. 

Tequila Mockingbirds (half-day)

***FULL***

May 5 (Sun)

Get ready for Portland to show off her buttes in style! Join the Tequila Mockingbirds on a Nature Store Birdathon adventure with store staff and volunteers as we tour the buttes of Multnomah county. We will start our morning at Mt. Tabor, hit a few other birdy buttes in the area, and end at Powell Butte Nature Park. Birds we expect to see include songbirds and sparrows, flycatchers and finches, woodpeckers and warblers, and so much more!

Mültley Crüe (full-day)

***FULL***

May 5 (Sun)

Join Ross Barnes-Rickett and Elora Arding for a Multnomah County BIG DAY! We will meet up at the Delta Park/Vanport MAX Station overflow parking lot. From there, we will caravan to various local birding hotspots in search of a variety of waterfowl, songbirds, and shorebirds, which should be moving through during this peak spring migration window. 

Warbling Yogis (full-day)

May 10 (Fri)

Join the Warbling Yogis— the Birdathon team with a twist (or maybe two)! Team leaders Christie Galen, Martha Gannett and Tonya Garreaud will combine birding with yoga as we bird our way around a few of Portland’s parks and natural areas. As we seek out birds high and low, Tonya will lead us in simple yoga poses and stretches to ease the movement of neck and shoulders. No mats or yoga experience necessary—all poses will be done in our full birding gear. 

The Wild Turkeys (gonzo team)

***FULL***(waitlist available)

May 10-12 (Fri-Sun)

Join Ron Carley, Jennifer Devlin, David Ward, Jay Withgott, and other notorious birders for the ultimate gonzo Birdathon in some of the most beautiful places in Oregon. All birding skill levels are welcome! There are many talented birders on this trip that love to share their knowledge with beginning birders.

Owl Be Darned (gonzo team)

***FULL***

May 10-12 (Fri-Sun)

Join Hailey Walls, Christine Jervis, and Kayla McCurry on a 3-day gonzo Birdathon experience geared toward women birders. We go hard, looking for as many species as we can! Sunriver lodging will be our basecamp each night as we explore the birds from Sisters to Summer Lake to Fort Rock and back to Portland.

Big Sittidae (half-day)

May 11 (Sat)

Join Bird Alliance of Oregon educator Brodie Cass Talbott for a Big Sit! For the uninitiated, a Big Sit is an effort to count as many birds as possible from one stationary location. Our team is named after the nuthatch family, Sittidae, and we hope to hear some! Racoon Point on Sauvie Island is a perfect spot for a Big Sit, as it sits on a dike providing good views of several different habitats, and it is one of the best wheelchair-accessible birding spots in the region. 

Duck the Patriarchy (full-day)

***FULL***

May 11 (Sat)

Join members of Portland's Feminist Bird Club on this all-day ramble to the Oregon Coast. FBC leaders Jasmine Vazquez, Rabbit aL Friedrich, Ollie Zanzonico, and Rae Snyder will be your guides, seeking early summer songbirds, raptors and waterbirds galore. A highlight will be our search for nesting Tufted Puffins and other seabirds at the iconic Haystack Rock.

Handle-Barred Owls (half-day)

***FULL***

May 11 (Sat)

Join Tara Lemezis and Kelsey Kuhnhausen for a leisurely bikes, birds, and beer adventure in North Portland. We'll start at Kenton Park then venture north to Force Lake and Heron Lakes Golf Course to look for waterfowl and other friends! We’ll then mosey to Smith and Bybee Wetlands to look and listen for our favorite springtime migratory birds and year-round buddies, and enjoy a picnic before we make our way along the Columbia Slough Trail. Along the trail, we’ll look for kingfishers, heron, and Bald Eagles, as well as enjoying everything in bloom!

Plover Lovers (half-day)

May 11 (Sat)

Coastal Community Science Biologist Cara Gates and her partner-in-crime Spencer Davis will guide the Plover Lovers to two North Coast stops, beginning at Sitka Sedge State Natural Area and ending at Cape Meares State Park. The focus of this Birdathon will be to explore Bird Alliance of Oregon’s focal coastal species, the Western Snowy Plover and Black Oystercatcher, but we’ll also look out for seabirds, waterbirds, and forest birds. 

Game Birds (half-day)

May 11 (Sat) 

Join Associate Director of Development, Matthew Hushbeck, for a fun time playing Wingspan and birding in Bird Alliance of Oregon’s Heron Hall. This is a “Big Sit”-style Birdathon – no walking necessary. We’ll watch the bird feeders and scan the treetops for Pileated Woodpeckers, Western Tanagers, and Western Flycatchers. We’ll also play some rounds of Wingspan, a beautifully illustrated board game featuring 170 North American birds.

Clackamas Creepers (half-day)

***FULL***

May 17 (Fri)

Bird Clackamas County with long-time local birder Dan van den Broek and check out some of the best Willamette floodplain wetlands and woodlands in Clackamas County. We should find some nice water birds such as Wood Duck, Gadwall, Cinnamon Teal, and if we’re lucky, Blue-winged Teal. Hoped-for migrant songbirds include, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, MacGillivray’s and Nashville Warblers. 

Sage Flight (full-day)

May 18 (Sat)

Like a flight of your favorite beverages, come and sample Harney County’s finest habitats with leader Teresa ‘Bird’ Wicks. We’ll cover the county from forest to floodplain in search of local specialties. This will be a fairly fast-paced Birdathon but we'll have a pretty targeted idea of what birds are hanging out where before the trip. We aim for 100 species during this Birdathon and typically exceed that mark. All participants will get a “Sage Flight bird and beer pairing” zine handmade by Teresa.

Knithatches (half-day)

Zoom meetings, then Saturday, May 18 in person

Gather your knitting needles (or crochet hooks!) to knit and bird with us! Led by Vicky Medley and Erik Brown, we are birders who knit and knitters who bird. We will meet three times over Zoom (starting Tuesday April 29 at 5:30 PM) to knit, share the projects we are working on, build community and talk about the birds we’ve seen over the week. On Saturday, May 18 we will meet for birding, knitting, and brunch. You are welcome as a novice-to-expert knitter OR birder.

BIPOC Birders on the Butte (half-day)

CANCELLED

May 18 (Sat)

Powell Butte in late Spring is THE SPOT! Join Camelia Zollars for laid back birding in community. Together we will hike along an extinct cinder cone volcano, exploring Powell Butte’s meadows, forest, and panoramic views. We’ll get caught up in wonder at all the bright colors of the Lazuli Bunting, possible Mountain Bluebirds, American Goldfinches, and Common Yellowthroats. This event is reserved for people who are Black, Indigenous, and or People of Color. 

Boardathon (half-day)

May 18 (Sat)

Bird Alliance of Oregon board member Colleen McDaniel coordinates this Birdathon challenge that is designed for present and past board members. All current and former board members, along with their families, are invited and encouraged to participate in this team gathering that underscores camaraderie, fun, and learning. All birding levels are welcome!

The Clickadees (half-day)

May 18 (Sat)

The Clickadees are back but this year we’re in-person! For the past few years, our virtual team has spread out across the state on a mission to find and photograph Oregon’s amazing birds. This year, we’ll be meeting in person at Fernhill Wetlands in Forest Grove to find and photograph birds together. If you tend to use your camera more than your binoculars when you’re out birding, or just love the photography side of birding, this trip is for you. 

Milwaukie Mallards (half-day)

May 19 (Sun) *NEW DATE*

Join Micah Meskel on an urban birding walk to check out some amazing greenspaces and birding hotspots minutes from bustling downtown Milwaukie. Highlights will include observing the resident Peregrine Falcons hunt around Elk Rock Island, observing some diverse bird species and habitats along the Willamette River, and hearing about some future work to further reconnect the natural systems and people in the area.

The Murre the Merrier (half-day)

***FULL***

May 19 (Sun)

Join Events Manager Sarah Swanson and Max Smith to bird the varied habitats of Champoeg State Historic Area. The open fields there host Lazuli Buntings and Western Bluebirds, and the oak woodlands are a cacophony of calling Bullock’s Orioles, nuthatches, and Acorn Woodpeckers. The trails along the Willamette River will lead us under towering cottonwoods and offer views of an active Bald Eagle nest.