The Great Canadian Birdathon, formerly known as the Baillie Birdathon, is MBO’s most important fundraising event,, and has been undertaken annually since 2004. But in addition to being critical to our operating budget, the Birdathon is always a fun event that provides lots of memorable experiences – not all of them involving birds either ! Help support MBO programs and bird conservation initiatives across Canada by making a pledge for this May’s Birdathon! E-mail us now with your pledge (details below) at mbo@migrationresearch.org
Please help us meet this year’s budget in one of the following ways:
1) Join us for our official MBO Birdathon Day.
Since 2008, our Birdathon is an entirely “green” endeavour, in that all the birding will be done on foot and in part by bike. The record is still held by the 2008 team who managed to observe an impressive 98 species! This year, the goal is again to reach 100 species. Experts and beginners are equally welcome – late May is a great opportunity to learn birds for the first time, or to brush up on the songs and plumage of species that are just arriving back after 8 or 9 months away! If you are interested in participating, please sign up at mbo@migrationresearch.org so that we can keep you updated on the itinerary as it develops. Please also register with Bird Studies Canada.
2) Do your own Birdathon any time in May.
If you can’t join us for our designated Birdathon Day, or would simply prefer to do the Birdathon independently, you can do it anywhere in the world, during any 24-hour period in May. Just as importantly, there are no obligations in terms of effort – if you want to go all-out and maximize the number of species you can find, that’s great … but if you would rather just relax in your backyard and count the birds you see from there, that’s just as good. All you need to do is tell your sponsors about your plan, and fundraise accordingly (e.g. a pledge of 25 cents per species is quite generous if you’re traveling around to accumulate a big list, but less so if you’re only expecting to see a dozen species from home). If you would like more information, contact us at mbo@migrationresearch.org
3) Sponsor the MBO Birdathon.
You don’t have to go out in search of birds to help with the MBO Birdathon effort – your support of it as a sponsor would also be greatly appreciated! Some past sponsors have been incredibly generous, but any amount at all is most welcome, since we know from experience that many smaller donations quickly add up to a substantial sum. Note that income tax receipts will be sent automatically for all donations of $10 or greater, and that sponsors contributing at least $35 will for the next year receive quarterly issues of Bird Studies Canada’s excellent publication, BirdWatch Canada.
If you would like to pledge a flat rate amount, you can do so online at this link by credit card, or by mailing a cheque (payable to Bird Studies Canada) to the Migration Research Foundation at this address:
McGill Bird Observatory
PO Box 10005 BP Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue
Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC
H9X 0A6
Alternatively, if you’d like to give us a bit more of a challenge by pledging on a per-species basis, you can e-mail us with the amount at mbo@migrationresearch.org and we’ll get back to you with the total after the MBO Birdathon. Either way, we will provide all sponsors with a report on our Birdathon experiences.