Birding Cup

Join us for the 3rd Annual Morgantown Birding Cup, Friday, May 20 – Saturday, May 21, 2022

Everyone is invited to join Mountaineer Audubon and the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia for the third annual Morgantown Birding Cup, which will be held from 6pm on Friday, May 20, to 6pm on Saturday, May 21, 2022. This is a friendly competition; the goal is for families, friends, and individuals to have fun and count all the bird species that they encounter during this 24-hour period, as well as to raise awareness about the West Virginia Young Birders Club.

This year, we are planning to have two categories: “at-home” and “at-large.” Participants in the at-home category should travel only within walking distance of where they live; participants in the at-large category can travel and count bird species in any (or all) of the five West Virginia counties in Mountaineer Audubon’s region: Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, and Taylor.

A Morgantown Bird Cup “team” can have as many as eight members or as few as one. Members of a team must stay together when they’re counting, and for a bird to “count,” at least half of a team’s members must see it. Gathering at the residence of one group member and walking from there is acceptable for the at-home category.

Please register for the Morgantown Birding Cup ahead of time by filling out this form. Registration is free but fundraising is welcome; any funds raised from the Morgantown Birding Cup will benefit the West Virginia Young Birders Club.

Teams should start counting bird species at 6pm on Friday, May 20, and stop counting at 6pm on Saturday, May 21. We will hold an in-person count party at the ACCA’s Outdoor Classroom in Cheat Lake. Participants will be sent directions.

Email your bird list to Katie no later than 6:30pm on May 21 or deliver your list in-person to the count party by 6:30pm. You can keep your list on eBird.org or using another method of your choosing. By submitting your list to eBird, you will also be participating in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s global citizen-science initiative.

We’re looking forward to another fun, friendly competition this year!

Past Morgantown Birding Cup Winners:

2021:
First Place, Orion Metheny (82 species)
Second Place, Zealon Wight-Maier (78 species)
Third Place, The Hemlock Sherlocks, aka LeJay & the Blue Jays (74 species)
Fourth Place, The Downsy Woodpeckers (73 species)

2020:
First Place, Hannah Clipp & Derek Courtney (90 species)
Second Place, Mollee Brown (84 species)
Third Place, LeJay & Helen Ann Graffious & Amy Hill (65 species)