2025 Clallam County Birdathon/World Migratory Bird Day

by Bob Boekelheide

May 10, 2025, is World Migratory Bird Day, a day to celebrate migratory birds. On that day, which occurs every year on the second Saturday in May, we hold our Clallam County Birdathon, counting birds throughout Clallam County and raising funds for OPAS projects at the same time.

The theme of this year’s World Migratory Bird Day is the creation and support of bird-friendly communities. The idea is to bring nature into our towns and residences, encouraging birds through the creative use of park lands, native plants, and an awareness of birds around us every day. It runs the gamut from limiting pesticides that kill non-target insects as well as birds, keeping domestic cats indoors, and doing all we can to protect important migration stopover sites.  OPAS is leading the way in our area through the North Olympic Wildlife Habitat Project.

Looking ahead, OPAS members will receive a Birdathon letter in late April or early May. You can make a donation or else pledge an amount for the count. On May 10, please count birds no matter where you are in Clallam County, whether you count all day, count for an hour or two, or just hang around your house and count your feeders for fifteen minutes. Even the sparrows and hummingbirds in your backyard are important.

How can you help?  Go birding!  We have learned a huge amount about birds of the north Olympic Peninsula through this annual count. To do this, we need lots of people scouring lots of birdy spots to document where the birds are. I believe Clallam County holds the record for the most bird species tallied in one county in Washington in one day, with 203 species recorded on World Migratory Bird Day on May 12, 2012.  

You can help provide bird data either by returning the tally sheet available in early May on the OPAS website or by entering your counts on-line using eBird. If you haven’t set up an eBird account, now is the time. It is an incredible resource sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, giving birders a way to record the birds they see as well as contribute data to a world-wide community-science project. Line up sponsors for your count, to help support OPAS and River Center programs. Or, if you're so inclined, please sponsor other counters and we'll represent you as we tally the birds. Thank you very much for your help!