GBD2025 Recap: Big Wins for Birds and Birders in the Caribbean by Bird Caribbean

From dawn choruses to birding by the last cool sliver of moonlight—the BirdsCaribbean community took flight on Saturday, May 10, for an electric 24 hours of non-stop citizen science, friendly rivalry, and collective action for birds! Oh—and they only broke almost every Caribbean Global Big Day record along the way!

Twice a year, during peak migration (once in spring and once in fall) birders across the globe spring into action to record as many different bird species as they can in 24 hours. Every eBird checklist powers research—tracking habitat use, revealing global population trends, and ensuring that conservation efforts are directed where they’re needed most. 

And what better way to strive to record every bird using the Caribbean’s lush forests, serene wetlands, city parks, and even backyards, than to unite—for some friendly competition of course! Every year, the BirdsCaribbean GBD Teams Competition pits island and multinational teams against each other—all vying to spot the most overall species and the most West Indian birds on Global Big Day! Teams get bragging rights, funds are raised to execute vital bird conservation work, and Caribbean biodiversity wins. 

Our birding community gave it their all…and then some! The numbers don’t lie—we’ve got the stats to prove how epic #GlobalBigDayBirdsCarib 2025 was...
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Global Big Day results for our BirdsCaribbean Teams. The numbers in red show which team

had the highest number for each category. 

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Global Big Day 2025 A Record-Breaking Event

A Grey kingbird, photographed during the GBD

The local birding community came together in full force for Global Big Day 2025 (GBD25)! While we missed two of our most experienced birders, it was inspiring to witness the enthusiasm and dedication of our two first-year participants. By the end of the day, we recorded an impressive 59 species—likely a record for this time of year.

All local birders were part of our dedicated team, Bajan Birders & Friends, which proudly participates in  BirdsCaribbean's annual Global Big Day fundraiser. This year, we shattered all previous team records! We saw peaks across multiple categories:

• Team members: 15 participants—the most we've ever had.
• Countries represented: 4, broadening our reach.
• Checklists submitted: 104 from these four countries.
• Species observed: 251—soaring past last year’s record of 221.
• Funds raised: $840—a new high for our team!

The outstanding effort from everyone made this year's event truly special. I want to extend a heartfelt thank you for an incredible day of birding, on behalf of both our team and BirdsCaribbean.

Team Members

• Barbados: Julian Moore, John Webster, Michael St. John, Quincy Clarke, Ocean Campbell, Macrae Hoyos
• UK: John Lepley (Birded in Barbados)
• Trinidad & Tobago: Jerome Foster (Contributed from St. Lucia)
• United States : Bert Alm (Florida) (Contributed from Puerto Rico)
• United States: Andrew Farnsworth (New York), Karen Sullivan (Ohio), Judd Patterson (Colorado)
• Canada: Janet Spiers (Ontario), Corinna Chaudhary (Ottawa), Keith Miles (Alberta)

Local Trip Report | Bajan Birders & Friends Trip Reports

An incredible effort from everyone this year—let’s keep the momentum going for future birding adventures!

PS: Lookout for a post from the rookies on their first Global Big Day

World Migratory Bird Day 2024: Protect Insects, Protect Birds

Yellow Warbler with a Caterpillar

Saturday, October 12th is World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD).  It is a global awareness-raising campaign celebrated annually to highlight the importance of migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them. In 2024, the theme was "Protect Insects, Protect Birds".   The campaign emphasized insects' critical role in migratory birds' survival.  Insects are a primary food source for many bird species, especially during breeding and migration periods. The decline in insect populations due to factors such as habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change poses a significant threat to migratory birds.  Insects provide essential nutrients for birds, especially during breeding and migration, they play a role in maintaining healthy ecosystems that support bird migration and are vital components of food webs and help regulate plant populations.  By protecting insects, we can help ensure the survival of migratory birds and maintain the balance of our ecosystems.  On World Migratory Bird Day birders from all over the world take part in this campaign that seeks to draw attention to the ply of birds. It is called the October Big Day.

October Big Day

 Last year's October Big Day, a staggering 36,332 people from 191 countries spent part or all of the day seeking out and recording birds in their local areas. The collective effort resulted in an impressive 83,735 checklists submitted to eBird.org, showcasing the incredible diversity of birds across the planet. In Barbados, the Big Day resulted in an underwhelming 38 species recorded.  Local birders are determined to do much better this year! We are preparing to hit the ground running on Saturday morning aiming to significantly increase the number of species recorded and contribute more significantly to the global day of birding. You can help. 

Here is how to participate

• Get an eBird account: eBird is a worldwide bird checklist program used by millions of birders. It’s what allows us to compile everyone’s contributions into a single massive October Big Day list—while at the same time gathering data to help scientists better understand birds. Sign up here. It’s 100% free from start to finish.
• Watch Birds on 12 Oct: It’s that simple. You don’t need to be a bird expert or go out all day long, even 10 minutes of birding from home counts. October Big Day runs from midnight to midnight in your local time zone. You can report what you find from anywhere in the world.
• Enter what you see and hear in eBird: You can enter your observations via our website or download the free eBird Mobile app to make submitting lists even easier. Please enter your checklists no later than 15 Oct to be included in the results announcement.
• Watch the results roll in: During the day, follow along with bird reports from more than 180 countries in real time on our October Big Day page.

So whether you are here on the island or overseas, a veteran birder or a newbie get out birding on Saturday, October 12th, World Migratory Bird Day. Submit your sightings to ebird.org and become part of this global celebration of birds and remember "Protect Insects, Protect Birds". 

Enjoy your birding!!

Bajan Birders & Friends Flock Together for GBD 2024

May is Global Big Day month, and this year, it falls on Saturday, May 11th! Our local birding team, The Bajan Birders & Friends, is once again participating in BirdsCaribbean's annual Global Big Day fundraiser.

This team unites local birders with those who have visited our beautiful island and share our love for birds and birding. Last year, our ten-member team, which was made up of birders spread across four countries, raised an impressive $435 and spotted a remarkable 220 bird species! This fantastic achievement landed them in 7th place for the most birds seen on the day.  This year we are looking to improve in all categories, so help us by joining our team and/or making a donation.

This year's fundraising efforts aim to support Caribbean nationals with travel scholarships to attend the upcoming Birds Caribbean 24th International Conference, taking place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from July 18th to 22nd. Last year, 17 teams from 35 countries identified an astounding 1,146 bird species and collectively raised over $20,000 for the crucial Caribbean Bird Banding program.

This year you can get involved by joining our team "Bajan Birders & Friends"!

1. Go to the fundraising page clicking the JOIN A TEAM button below the Global Big Day graphic on this page.
2. Click "Join an existing team "
3. In the box "Which team would you like to join?" Scroll down  until you find our team "Bajan Birders & Friends" and click "Join Fundraiser"

and/or . . .

Donating to one or more of the birding and fundraising teams. Simply click the DONATE button at the top of the page and you can specify if you want your donation to go to the general campaign or to a particular team (all funds go to the same cause but teams do compete to raise the most funds).

Come out May 11, have some fun and enjoy your birding

A Successful Global Big Day 2023

Collared Plover was one of the rare birds seen during the GBD2023

The Global Big Day, which celebrated World Migratory Birds Day, was a success at all levels - locally, regionally, and internationally. Locally, seven birders submitted more than 50 checklists to ebird, recording 54 species, a new local record for the Global Big Day. Two of these species, Black Swift (Cypseloides niger) and Collared Plover (Charadrius collaris), were first records for 2023. Several rare birds for the island were also spotted on the day. These included a Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) in St. Andrew, a Striated Heron (Butorides striata) in St. Thomas, and a Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) at Oistins. In the north, St. Lucy hosted six Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) and the aforementioned Collared Plover (Charadrius collaris).

American Coots at Redland, St. George

 Another notable observation was the combined count of 261 Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis) at two locations and the continued expansion of American Coots, across the island was evident with thirty-one birds recorded at four locations on the day.

 The Bajan Birders & Friends team did an amazing job in the Birds Caribbean Global Big Day team event and Fundraisers. This team consisted of local bird enthusiasts and some international ones who had visited and birded on the island before. They broke two team records: they saw 220 species, beating their previous record of 195 from last year, 2022; and they raised $435 for bird banding in the Caribbean, more than four times their previous amount of $105. We are still waiting for the official results from Birds Caribbean, but we can confidently say that we had a successful World Migratory Birds Day.

See the team's trip report here

 PS. Stay tuned for the regional and international official results

WMBD2023: A Big Day, Globally, Regionally & Locally

WMBD2023 poster

We are just days away from World Migratory Bird Day, an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats.  This campaign occurs twice a year around the two peak days of bird migration, which fall this year on May 13th and October 14th. Each year a theme is selected to highlight an important issue of importance to bird conservation. 2023's theme is Water: Sustaining Bird Life and focuses on the importance of water and aquatic ecosystems for migratory birds. Globally many events are planned on these days but none as big as Cornell Lab of Ornithology Global Big Day

Global Big Day

The Global Big Day is the biggest global birding event of the year.  It brings together birders from all over the world with one common goal, to document as many bird species as possible in a single day. Last year more than 51,000 people from 201 countries took part and submitted 132,000 checklists to eBird, which was a new record for one day of birding.  We record over 7,600 bird species. Can we top that this year? with your help, we can - Click here to see how you can participate

Birds Caribbean, the largest regional organization dedicated to the conservation of Caribbean birds and their habitats, is driving the regional awareness campaign for World Migratory Bird Day.  It is doing this with its annual Global Big Day team event and Fundraisers. It is an event where birders from the region and their friends across the world form virtual teams and compete to see which team reports the most bird species and raises the most funds towards a regional bird conservation cause.  This year funds raised will go towards Caribbean Bird Banding Network.  This will allow the organization to host training workshops, sponsor internships, provide banding supplies, and grow the community of scientists that are advancing research and conservation of Caribbean birds. For the third time this year, a locally based team will be taking part.

Our local team is called Bajan Birders & Friends.  A relatively small team made up of local birders and birders from the region and across the world who have visited Barbados. Last year our nine-member team from 5 different countries outdid itself.  We tallied 195 species placing 7th out of the fifteen teams.  When it came to the average number of species seen observed per person for each of the 15 teams, we place 2nd with 22 species per person. We were disappointed though with raising only $55.  This year I am hoping we finish in the top 4 and at least double our last year's funds.  Help our team Bajan Birders & Friends by becoming a team member or/and contributing to the fundraising effort.  To do so is easy Just follow these steps.

So what are your plans for May 13th, World Migratory Bird Day? Whatever you are doing be safe, and if it birding? Enjoy your birding. 

A Big Weekend of Birding

October Big Day

Global Bird Weekend 7-9th

The weekend starting October 07th, will be a big weekend of birding worldwide. This is because birders from across the globe will come together for two major birding events, the October Big Day, on the Saturday 8th, and the Global Bird Weekend, starting Friday the 7th right through to Sunday the 9th.  (Click the above links for more).

In 2020 the island recorded its highest species count for this weekend of birding, 66 species. Last year we fell six species short of that total.  Can we surpass 66 species this year? You can help, How?  

Here is how to participate in the October Big Day:

• Get an eBird account: eBird is a worldwide bird checklist program used by millions of birders. It’s what allows us to compile everyone’s sightings into a single massive Global Big Day list—while at the same time collecting the data to help scientists better understand birds. Sign up here. It’s 100% free from start to finish.
• Watch birds on 8 October: It’s that simple. October Big Day runs from midnight to midnight in your local time zone. You don’t need to be a bird expert or go out all day long, even 10 minutes of birding from home counts.
• Enter what you see and hear on eBird: You can enter your sightings via our website or download the free eBird Mobile app to make submitting lists even easier. Please enter your checklists before 12 October to be included in our initial results announcement.
• Watch the sightings roll in: During the day, follow along with sightings from more than 190 countries in real-time on our October Big Day page.

Join us for the Big Weekend of Birding.