PRESENT
Welcome to Birdability Week 2024! We're thrilled to invite you to this week-long celebration filled with engaging virtual events designed to connect birders of all abilities. This year, we're especially excited about Bird(ability) Your Way Weekend on October 25-27, when we encourage you to bird in whatever way is accessible and meaningful to you. Whether you're exploring your backyard, a local park, or a favorite birding spot, we want to hear about your experience and share in the joy of birding together. Join us as we celebrate the diverse and inclusive birding community, and don't miss out on the workshops, panels, and special events below that will be happening throughout the week! All events will feature ASL interpretation and captioning. Please let us know on the registration form if there are other access needs that you have in order to participate fully.
Check out these virtual events during Birdability Week.
Registration is now closed for Birdability Week events in order to assure any accessibility needs are able to be met. Please email cat@birdability.org to be added to the list receiving recorded events once they are available!
Birdability Week 2024 Schedule of Events
Click any event to find out more!
● October 21, 2024
○ 6:00 ET: Launch Event - Celebrating Birdability Week 2024 - with prize drawings!
○ 7:00 ET: (Accessible) Joys of Backyard Birding Workshop
● October 22, 2024
○ 7:30 ET: Nature Journaling Workshop
● October 23, 2024
● October 24, 2024
○ 3:00 ET: BirdNote Presents: An Afternoon of Birdsong (Birding by Ear Event)
● October 25, 2024
○ 7:00 ET: Birding with... Captains Panel: What Makes Birding Accessible
● October 26, 2024
○ 4:00 ET: Photography Contest Winners Announcement + Celebration
● October 27, 2024
○ All day: Bird(ability) Your Way
○ 4:00 ET: Birdability Week Wrap-up + Spark Bird Project Social
Birdability Week is a celebration of birders with disabilities and other health concerns, as well as an opportunity to share resources and ideas to help the birding community become accessible, inclusive, and welcoming to everybody! It is an annual collection of events the third week of each October, drawing inspiration from other inclusive celebrations such as #BlackBirdersWeek, Latino Conservation Week and Let’s Go Birding Together.
Thank You Birdability Week 2024 Sponsors!
We are delighted to have the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation as our Bald Eagle-level sponsor for Birdability Week 2024. Their mission, “dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by advancing innovative research and improving quality of life for individuals and families impacted by paralysis,” is at the core of their programs in the National Paralysis Resource Center (NPRC). The NPRC serves as “a free, comprehensive, national source of information and support for people living with paralysis and their caregivers, with primary goals to foster community involvement, promote health, and improve quality of life.” Our collaboration with the NPRC enhances access for people living with paralysis to the mental and physical health benefits of birding. We love their ‘Outdoors For Everyone' initiative, which “was created to ensure that the great outdoors is equally accessible and inclusive for all people—including those living with paralysis, their families, and caregivers.” Thank you to the Reeve Foundation for their commitment to adaptive sports, recreation, and resources for mental health and wellness!
Many thanks to our Golden Eagle-level sponsor, The National Audubon Society, for their continued support of Birdability and their sponsorship of Birdability Week 2024. “The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. Audubon works throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. State programs, nature centers, chapters, and partners give Audubon an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. A nonprofit conservation organization since 1905, Audubon believes in a world in which people and wildlife thrive.”
Bird Collective is a lifestyle brand that raises awareness of native birds and helps fund projects to conserve them. Find vintage-inspired apparel and accessories that celebrate our wild birds at www.birdcollective.com.
Tucson Audubon Society inspires people to enjoy and protect birds through recreation, education, advocacy, and conservation and restoration of the environment upon which we all depend. Founded in 1949, Tucson Audubon is Southeast Arizona's leading non-profit engaging people in the conservation of birds and their habitats.
The Audubon Society of Rhode Island is an independent, not-for-profit environmental organization dedicated to statewide environmental education, conservation, and advocacy. Established in 1897, it is the oldest environmental organization in the state.
BirdNote is an independent media production organization that brings joy, inspiration, and hope to millions of people around the world who value birds and the environment we share. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world — and take steps to protect it.
Established in 1898, Indiana Audubon stands as the state's oldest continuously operating conservation organization and an independent Audubon entity. With a mission to engage communities in the enjoyment of birds in their habitats through conservation, education, and research, Indiana Audubon's programs and initiatives foster awareness of the diversity of birds and their ecological significance. Learn more at indianaaudubon.org.
The Carolina Bird Club is a non-profit organization that represents and supports the birding community in the Carolinas through its website, publications, meetings, workshops, trips, and partnerships.
Happy Earth Apparel was founded by two scientists on a mission to create positive environmental change. We don't take funding from outside investors, which means we can continue to pursue environmental goals without compromise.
Founded in 1986, HawkWatch International is a leading authority on raptor education, conservation, and research. We operate the largest standardized network of raptor migration sites in the world, as well as over a dozen in-depth programs designed to study and conserve at-risk species like the Golden Eagle, American Kestrel, and Martial Eagle. This data is crucial for conserving key species, as well as the environment we share with them.
Vortex® Optics is an employee-owned, Wisconsin-based company dedicated to providing high-quality optics at an affordable price. With our no-strings-attached lifetime warranty, we’ve always got your back and will never fail to provide the best service in the industry.
Find An Accessible Outing
You can find information for local, accessible outings for Birdability Week by clicking on the location nearest you or by accessing this spreadsheet if using a screen reader.
Holding an accessible, inclusive outing to celebrate
Birdability Week 2024?
Once it’s planned, share the information with us using this Google Form to add it to the map above!
More resources that may be useful:
Read some ideas for welcoming and inclusive birders (these suggestions are particularly important for bird outing leaders);
Learn about inclusive language use if you’re not sure where to start;
Check out some actions that inclusive organizations can take.
Bird(ability) Your Way Weekend!
Birdability Week Photography Contest 2024
The inaugural Birdability Photography Contest is now CLOSED! We're thrilled at the entries celebrating the beauty, humor, and resilience of birds through your unique lens. This contest is part of our Birdability Week 2024 festivities, dedicated to making birding accessible and inclusive for everyone, especially those with disabilities and other health concerns. Winners will be announced during Birdability Week! Join us then!
Prizes and Judging
Our judging panel of Birdability members will select a top photo entry from each category in each Division and our guest judges will then select the winning photo in each Division. Meet our fantastic celebrity guest judges:
For the Professional Division: Mike Fernandez is the video producer for the National Audubon Society. He was born in Lima, Peru, and completed his studies in documentary practice and photojournalism at the International Center of Photography. Mike is committed to addressing the diversity gap—principally, a lack of people of color and young people in the environmental field and conservation movement. His work has been featured in New York Magazine, The New York Times, Aperture Gallery, Univision, De Standaard (Belgium), FronteraD (Spain), and Audubon, and he has produced video projects for David Yurman, the New York Theatre Workshop, HERE Arts Center, and others.
For the Amateur Division: Karl Mechem is a freelance writer, Internet-renowned birder, and award-hoping photographer. He goes by @The.Inept.Birder and is the unwitting godfather of the #worstbirdpic hashtag. He promises he's trying.