The variety of age-related plumages of Bald Eagles will be a point of study as our national bird is the major attraction for birders and interested residents at birding festivals in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Alabama, and New York during January (photo by Paul Konrad).

A great way to elevate your interest in birds is by attending a birding festival, largely because they are held in the midst of great birding locations during the best time of year. Birding festivals are also a wonderful way to meet other people with interests in birds. Expert tour leaders and local birders help you see more birds, and you will enjoy birding with others who share your enthusiasm. Attending a birding festival takes some planning, especially if you want to attend some of the biggest, most interesting birding events continent-wide. But even if you are looking for a local festival, it’s best to start planning ahead for 2024 festival now.

The opportunities for birders abound when festivals provide varieties of field trips, workshops, speakers, product fairs, and more. Now you can refer to a central webpage produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for you to review all the birding festivals being held year-round. A map allows you to zero in on birding festivals in your area of interest. Better yet, as you scroll past the map, you can access the entire list of 2024 birding festivals and reference them in calendar order week by week, month by month at Birding Festivals and Events | All About Birds All About Birds

Looking ahead to January, there are 13 primo birding festivals being held, ranging from the Morro Bay Bird Festival and Salton Sea Bird Festival in California, to the Everglades Birding Festival and 25th Space Coast Birding Festival in Florida. Bald Eagles are featured as focus species for birding festivals in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Alabama, and New York; plus a variety of other birding festivals will be taking place in North Carolina, Iowa, and Arizona – All during January!

Keep reviewing the festival websites linked on the Cornell webpage month to month. The numbers of festivals will increase as spring enlivens birds and birders, and May will provide the most birding festivals cross-continent while spring migration is in full swing. Fall birding festivals are every bit as much fun, but the best birding festivals are the ones you choose to attend!

We thank all the individuals, groups, and chambers of commerce who establish and conduct annual birding festivals throughout the United States, Canada, and beyond! Birding fests are a wonderful way to bring birders together and create a greater awareness of the birds that surround us – wherever we are, wherever we go. Which birding festivals would you like to check out in person?