Have fun birding the Colorado county of your choice this fall and help raise funds for Colorado Field Ornithologists and their conservation initiatives.

The conservation project receiving funding from this year's Birding Challenge is "Flams in a Fiery Future," which evaluates how environmental shifts—specifically wildfires and forest thinning/fuels management—impact Flammulated Owl behaviors, populations, and communities in Colorado.

Flammulated Owl by Dr. Kate McGinn.

Note: Federal and state permits are required to handle wild birds.

There are five categories depending on how much time and effort you want to put into the 2026 Challenge:

The Challenge. The most competitive category, teams of two or more go all out to find as many species as they can within their chosen Colorado county.

The Under-25 Challenge. As the name implies, teams must be made up of individuals aged 25 years or younger, although an adult may accompany them for supervision and/or transportation.

The Green Challenge. This category is for those who want to minimize their carbon footprint by using only self-propelled (non-motorized) transportation (walking, pedaling, paddling, etc.).

The Big Sit. Choose one location for your effort and record all birds you can positively identify from there. This could be your yard, your go-to local birding hotspot or the top of Mount Audubon!

Bird Your Own Way. For everyone else there’s BYOW! You can participate on your own, host a birding party, do a “Big Sit” in your yard or favorite hot spot or any other plan that strikes your fancy.