October Big Day—12 Oct 2024

By Team eBird 17 Sep 2024

October is right around the corner, and that means its time to mark your calendars for October Big Day—12 Oct 2024!

Like Global Big Day, October Big Day is an opportunity to unite around our shared love of birds. Last October, nearly 36,332 people from 191 countries submitted 83,735 checklists with eBird, demonstrating the power of birds to bring people together. Each year more and more participants join in this global celebration, how many people will contribute this year?

Wherever you are on 12 October, take a few minutes to join in this global celebration. Participate from anywhere—even from home! By taking part in October Big Day you’re also celebrating Global Bird Weekend and World Migratory Bird Day. Be a part of the global team and help set a new record for October birding.

Plan for your October Big Day

Whether you’re a seasoned birder or just starting out, October Big Day is the perfect opportunity to contribute to participatory science, enjoy nature, and connect with a global community of bird lovers. With two months left to the big day, here’s how you can prepare for the celebration:

• Take the free eBird Essentials course for an introduction to eBird or learn how to make your checklists more valuable for science and conservation,
• Use eBird Mobile Explore to plan your route by locating nearby places to go birding and recently reported species.
• Explore Birds of the World to discover new things about your favorite species —FREE ACCESS starting 8am ET Friday, October 11th through 9am ET Monday, October 14th.
• Download the free Merlin Bird ID app to help you to identify the birds you see and hear on October Big Day. Upload your recordings to your eBird checklists to help Merlin identify more birds by sound.

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 appto 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.

eBird Trip Reports on October Big Day

eBird Trip Reports are a great way to share where you went and the birds you found on October Big Day. We had so much fun exploring eBird Trip Reports from last October and can’t wait to see more this year!

Simply create an eBird Trip Report for 12 October 2024. As you submit lists and upload media throughout the big day, they’ll be added to your report automatically. Send the trip report link to friends and family so they can follow along. (Learn more about eBird Trip Reports)

Create an eBird Trip, such as this one from October Big Day 2021 by Liam Ragan, to share your locations, species lists, and media from October Big Day. You can make eBird Trip Reports for past October Big Days as well!

October Big Day Pro Tips

• Make your observations more valuable: submit complete checklists, keep counts of the birds that you see, and keep multiple checklists throughout the day.
• Bring a Friend: Birding with others can be more enjoyable and can help with spotting and identifying birds.
• Share what you’re seeing on social media with #OctoberBigDay!

No matter where you go birding on 12 October, have fun, enjoy the birds you find, and share your observations with eBird. Your checklists will help us better understand global bird populations through products like these animated abundance maps brought to you by eBird Science.