The Birding Cup Is Back!

• by Shaver's Creek Environmental Center

Find all the teams, individual birders, and support raised at the 2022 Birding Cup Hub.

Thanks for Birding With Us!

Last year, we reintroduced three competitive Birding Cup categories while virtually welcoming birders from around the globe during a time of physical distancing. We were thrilled by our community’s positive response to the ways the Birding Cup adapted to global events. This year, we proudly reintroduced ALL of our friendly competitive categories and once again welcomed our Global Community as a non-competitive, collaborative approach to birding that welcomes birders of all skill sets from anywhere in the world, including those who are brand new to birding!

Seeing birders celebrate biodiversity in central Pennsylvania and across the globe has been nothing short of heartwarming. Despite near-constant rain in the Centre Region on May 6–7, our intrepid birders came together — raincoats and all — to bring awareness to the natural world and to support conservation. We are so thankful for our generous and joyful Shaver’s Creek community.

A great Birding Cup from Nairobi, Kenya!  Being almost on the equator means only about 12 hours of sunlight year-round, so I was a bit disadvantaged against the long days the US.  Nonetheless, I hit 25 species within 200 yards from home before breakfast. I went on to finish my day with 38 species, adding the Eastern Paradise-Whydah to my life list. Looking forward to next year!

— Tim Kasten, the Tufted Twitmice
Tree Swallow on Branch
A Tree Swallow.

The Results

Including all local and global categories, the 2022 Birding Cup saw 30 teams consisting of 109 birders count 235 unique species across the United States and Kenya. Whether these individuals were celebrating over two decades of participation, or were picking up binoculars for the first time, everyone birded and fundraised together over the same 24 hours!

Five people looking up with binoculars
Mixed Flock, searching for birds.

Locally, teams could once again choose to compete in our five Cup categories: the Birding Cup, awarded to the team of three or more that sees the most species within seven Central Pennsylvania counties; the County Cup, to the team that sees the most species within one of those seven counties; the Birding Boot, awarded to the team that identifies the most species while traveling only by nonmotorized means; the Potter Mug, for most species seen by a team composed of members with less than two years of birding experience; and the Micro Cup, awarded to the 2-person team with the highest count within a mile-diameter circle.

It was an insane amount of precipitation, but we kept a positive outlook and had a blast. We tallied 93 bird species, with highlights of a Mourning Warbler, a White-Eyed Vireo, and White-Winged Scoters. We collected lifelong birding memories and look forward to our next bird outing!

— John Carter, Feathered Body Inspectors
Birders around the globe
Pictured from left to right: Mixed Flock; Feathered Body Inspectors; Tim Kasten of Tufted Twitmice.

Why We Bird

This year, we raised funds to invest in the newly named Klingsberg Aviary. Final touches to the aviary — such as native landscaping, visitor seating, accessible pathways, educational program space, and visual screening for the comfort of smaller raptors — will improve the experience for visitors and the animals that call it home. Already a site already enjoyed by tens of thousands of annual visitors and renowned in the animal care field, these modifications will further expand the Klingsberg Aviary’s reputation as a national model.

So far, we have raised nearly $11,000. Thank you for your support! The bird counting may be over (for now), but if you haven’t donated, or if you were waiting to make a gift per bird, you can do so today.

This year’s Birding Cup was also made possible with the incredible support of local businesses. Shaver’s Creek would like to thank:

Two people looking through spotting scopes
Mark McLaughlin and Doug Wentzel of Bad Optics. Photo by Laurie McLaughlin.

The big day was cloudy with rain, but our spirits remained bright and sunny. A Bad Optics first: one good Tern deserves another (and another). We recorded Forster’s, Common, and Caspian Terns on the same day for the first time in team history!

— Doug Wentzel, Bad Optics

What We Saw

Check out all 235 species below. Are some birds listed that you’ve never seen before? Thank our friends from across the globe!

Rose-breasted Grosbeak on a branch
A Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.

Check out the global Trip Report, which includes how many individuals of each species were seen. Please note, some species are omitted from our eBird checklists due to their conservation status or because they were not yet uploaded to eBird by the respective team.