Big Day 2022

Birding in the Big Apple

BIG DAY, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s 24-hour birding marathon and our biggest fundraiser for bird conservation, is headed to New York City on Saturday, May 14!

This year, the Lab's expert birders on Team Sapsucker will travel by foot, bike, subway–even ferry–on a mission to find at least 100 bird species in a single day, all while raising critical funds for bird conservation. They'll listen for warblers in Central Park, scour the Hudson and East River shores for seabirds and shorebirds, and ferry to Randall’s Island to find egrets and herons in the wetlands.

Cities are filled with birds! When you think of city birds, pigeons, starlings, and sparrows probably come to mind. But urban areas are rich with birds of all feathers–did you know cities support 20% of the world’s bird species?
Cities play a vital role in migration. From thrushes to vireos, flycatchers to warblers, migratory species rely on urban centers for stopover habitat to rest during long and hazardous journeys.
Birding is for everyone, everywhere. Cities may not be known as birders' paradises, but Team Sapsucker is out to prove that people everywhere–including in cities–are surrounded by the beauty of birds.

How You Can Help

Team Sapsucker is determined to make BIG DAY 2022 a success for birds–but they can’t do it alone. Birds, especially species that rely on city habitats, need transformative conservation solutions to combat pervasive threats like climate change, pollution, and migration hazards.

Thanks to Cornell Lab supporters, we’re already making strides for birds in cities and beyond through initiatives like Lights Out, which has partnered with 30 cities (and counting) around the U.S. to turn lights out at night and prevent hundreds of thousands of deadly window collisions every year.

You can help power important work like Lights Out for the year ahead by supporting Team Sapsucker's Big Day quest for bird conservation.