What Is the Tucson Bird Alliance Birdathon and How Can I Join?

The Birdathon is Tucson Bird Alliance's month-long community fundraising event, held April 1–30, in which participants go birding while raising money to support a healthy future for local birds. You can join by signing up for an existing team or by starting your own, then going birding and collecting support for your effort. The alliance describes it simply: "Join a team or start your own, go birding, and help us ensure a healthy future for our local birds!"

What the Birdathon Is

Birdathon is a fundraiser built around birding itself. Rather than a single-day competition, it runs across the entire month of April, so participants can bird at their own pace and on their own schedule. The event is framed as a community effort: teams of birders raise funds together, and the money supports the organization's work on behalf of birds across Southeast Arizona and beyond.

The alliance positions this work within a broader mission it states on its site: "We inspire people to enjoy and protect birds." Its history includes educating people about birds and speaking out on their behalf to policymakers across Southeast Arizona, at the state level, and to the US federal government.

How to Join

The site offers two paths, and the choice depends on whether you already have a birding group:

The published steps are:

1. Choose your path — join an existing team or start your own.
2. Go birding — spend time in the field during April, at whatever level suits you.
3. Raise support — the event is a fundraiser, so the birding is paired with gathering contributions for the cause.

The site's call to action is "Start Your Birdathon NOW," which indicates that registration and team setup happen through the Birdathon section of tucsonbirds.org.

What the Funds Support

The alliance states the purpose directly: helping "ensure a healthy future for our local birds." That connects to the organization's wider work, which the site describes as educating people about birds and advocating for them with policymakers in Southeast Arizona, the state, and the federal government. The Birdathon is one of several ways the alliance engages the public, alongside field trips, festivals, and native plant sales.

Beyond the Birdathon: Other Ways to Get Involved

If April doesn't fit your schedule, the alliance runs other entry points that build the same skills:

• Guided field trips — the site invites people to "come birding with us on a field trip" to "see more birds, meet other birders, and become part of the local birding community." Participants have described these walks as informative introductions to birding in the region.
• Southeast Arizona Birding Festival — the next festival is scheduled for August 12–16, 2026.
• Native plant sales — the alliance promotes native plant sales as a way to "create some bird habitat" at home.
• The Paton Center — a site the alliance highlights for hummingbirds and more.
• Tucson Bird Count — now hosted at tbc.tucsonbirds.org.

Practical Notes

• Timing: The Birdathon runs April 1–30. Plan team formation before April so you can bird throughout the month.
• Level of commitment: Because it spans a month, you can participate in short outings rather than a single long day.
• Verification: Confirm current registration details, team setup, and any fundraising tools on the Birdathon page at tucsonbirds.org, since event logistics can change year to year.

For anyone curious about local birds, the Birdathon doubles as a low-pressure reason to start birding: the structure gives you a month, a team, and a purpose, and the alliance's field trips and festival provide the community around it.