Here’s your chance to join the world’s biggest birding team! Every May on one day during worldwide peak bird migration, volunteers around the world collect data on birds and virtually report their observations to eBird. It’s Global Big Day, a celebration of birds and bird migration. This year’s Global Big Day is May 9.
Participation is easy! Just take as little as 5 minutes to observe birds wherever you are and then report your observations using a free eBird account online or the free eBird app. Want to do more? You can take more time and submit bird observation checklists throughout the day. Observations reported by Global Big Day volunteers help Cornell Lab and other birding organizations better understand the state of world bird populations and provide data for assessing dangers to migratory corridors and bird habitats. In 2025, Global Big Day volunteers in 204 countries reported seeing 7,931 different bird species.
Global Big Day coincides with World Migratory Bird Day, a two-day event held annually on the second weekend of May to highlight the need to protect migratory birds and their habitats with a primary focus on the Americas.
This year’s Global Big Day team hopes to surpass 8,000 species observed worldwide. If you’d like to help, join this year’s team! For more information on participation, visit Cornell Lab’s Global Big Day website:
http://ebird.org/news/global-big-day-2026
Tom Reynolds
