The Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology (PSO) will host its Second Annual Breeding Bird Blitz for Conservation from June 17-20, 2022.

Birders are invited to join the Blitz by forming a team, raising funds, and completing one or more “big days” to document birds during nesting season.

Teams will enlist their friends to support their efforts with a donation to support three critical bird conservation projects.

The goals of the 2022 Blitz are to include even more teams of birders than last year and raise $15,000 to support the following bird conservation organizations and projects--

-- Erie Bird Observatory, Erie County: Conservation-focused monitoring of bird migration in the Lake Erie Coastal Zone

-- Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art, Dauphin County: habitat restoration to support forest birds, including Cerulean and Golden-winged Warblers

-- Willistown Conservation Trust, Chester County: scrub-shrub habitat restoration at Rushton Woods Preserve to improve nesting and migrant stopover habitat

How It Works

Teams of two or more birders can register through the website and decide to cover a single county or a region of the state.

While drawing up plans for their Blitz, the team members will reach out to friends to tell them what they are doing and ask for their support with a donation.

Donations can be made via PayPal, credit card, or check; details are found on the website.

After the event, teams will submit their results, primarily through the eBird website.

The teams that raise the most funds and document the most species will receive special recognition from PSO.

There are also dedicated categories for teams with youth birders and “green” birding teams, who use only non-motorized transportation.

Bird-lovers of all ages and skill levels are invited to visit the Breeding Bird Blitz for Conservation webpage to learn more about the event, to form and register a team, or to make a donation.

2021 Breeding Bird Blitz

In 2021, the Inaugural Breeding Bird Blitz for Conservation engaged twenty-two teams across the state and raised $10,645 in support of bird conservation projects.

Birders documented 152 species during the four-day event and contributed to the 4,500 complete eBird checklists submitted in Pennsylvania during the third week of June, a 9% increase over the same period the previous year.

March 28 Webinar

PSO is hosting a webinar on the event on March 28 at 7:00 p.m. Visit the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology Facebook page to register for the webinar or Click Here. A recording will be available afterwards through PSO’s YouTube channel.

Visit the Breeding Bird Blitz for Conservation webpage for updates on the event and all the details and stories from last year’s Blitz.  Media inquiries should be sent to Brian Byrnes, brianjbyrnes79@gmail.com, or call 610-420-2264.

The Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization founded in 1990 to foster the study and appreciation of the wild birds of Pennsylvania and to promote the conservation of birds and their habitats.

PSO organizes and supports several bird monitoring projects, hosts field trips, an annual meeting, and publishes the quarterly journal Pennsylvania Birds. More information about PSO can be found online.

[Posted: March 17, 2022]

3/21/2022