Birdability Week returns October 19 through 25, 2026, and we cannot wait to gather again in celebration of access, belonging, and the deep joy of birds.

This year's theme, Bird Where You Are, is an invitation to notice the birds around you in whatever way works best for you. It is also a reminder that you don't have to bird a certain way, know every species, hike long distances, or keep up with anyone else to be part of this community.

Image description: A graphic with the headings listed below, and the symbol for ASL access along with the text "All recorded events will have sign ASL interpretation. Please let us know in your registration if you have additional access requests."

Birdability Week Offbeat Photo and Video Contest

The Birdability Week Offbeat Photo and Video Contest celebrates the humor, creativity, and unexpected moments that make birding memorable. You don't need expensive equipment or professional photography skills to participate. Whether you're using a phone, a point-and-shoot camera, a high-end camera, adaptive technology, a feeder camera, or another setup that works for you, we'd love to see the offbeat world of birds through your eyes.

Just like there is no one right way to bird, there is no one right way to photograph birds!

Contest Categories

Photography

1. Wing and a Prayer (and Poop!)
   Weird angles. Awkward feathers. Surprise bodily functions. If it makes you laugh, we want to see it.

2. Autofocus Gone Wrong
   The twig is perfectly sharp. The bird... not so much. Celebrate those wonderfully imperfect photos.

3. Birds Doing Bird Stuff
   Unexpected behaviors, funny interactions, dramatic moments, or classic bird chaos caught on camera.

4. Birds with Disabilities
   Birds adapt every day. Share photos that highlight birds living and thriving with visible disabilities.

Feeder Camera Videos

5. BIRB
   Your favorite bird moments captured on a feeder camera.

6. Not BIRB
   The squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks, bears, and other surprise visitors that stole the show. (No humans, please.)

   How to Enter

   • The contest is open worldwide.

   • Participants based in the United States are eligible to receive prizes. International participants are warmly encouraged to enter and are eligible for recognition.

   • You may submit one entry per category.

   • Photos must be submitted as JPEG or PNG files.

   • Videos must be submitted as MP4 files (30 MB maximum).

   • Each entry should include a title and a short description (2 to 4 sentences) telling us about the moment or why you chose to share it.

     Check out the Full Information and Rules and then Submit Your Photos and Videos!

Contest submissions open August 1, 2026, and close September 20, 2026.

We're grateful to Birds & Blooms for partnering with Birdability on this year's Offbeat Photo and Video Contest and helping us celebrate the creativity, humor, and unique perspectives of birders everywhere.

We can't wait to see what you've captured!

Birdability Week 2026 Virtual Events

Throughout the week, Birdability will host a full schedule of free virtual events featuring Birdability Captains and Interns, naturalists, scientists, authors, photographers, and community members with a wide range of lived experiences. Every virtual event will include captions, ASL interpretation, and other accessibility features to help more people participate.

Finding Balance: Self-Care while Birding                                                              A Birdability Week 2026 Discussion 

Date: Monday, October 19, 2026 Time: 7:00 ET
Presenters: Eric Clow and Jayme Boucher, Co-facilitators
Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/xk7rTkuRRtOpCgb8BfEvWw

Join Birdability Captains Eric Clow and Jayme Boucher for an open conversation about the many ways disabled birders care for themselves while spending time with birds. From birding while floating in a pool, to using adaptive equipment that reduces fatigue, to choosing places where birds can be enjoyed without walking, people with disabilities and other health conditions are constantly finding creative ways to make birding work for their bodies and minds. This community roundtable is an opportunity to hear practical ideas from others, share your own tips and experiences, and explore how self-care can help make birding more sustainable, enjoyable, and accessible. 

Birding While d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing Panel

Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2026 Time: 7:00 ET
Presenters: Nick Parker, Macy DeGraw,  Aurora Kuczek, Amy Sugeno
Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/xQp2oMpFQGO4tWZJgOCyLA

Join a conversation with Birdability Captains, community members, and past Accessible Birding Interns who identify as Deaf, deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, and in other ways across the spectrum of hearing experiences. Together, they'll share their birding journeys, the barriers they've encountered, the accommodations and strategies that have helped them, and what makes them feel welcomed and included. The panel will also explore the rich diversity within the d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, including the distinction between Deaf as a cultural and linguistic identity and deaf as a term for hearing loss or disability. Panelists will discuss the many ways people connect with birds beyond sound and offer practical ideas for making bird walks, bird clubs, festivals, and other birding experiences more welcoming and accessible.

Inclusive Nature Panel:

Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2026  Time: 1:00 P.M. ET
Presenters: Dominique Daye Hunter, Tavi Steinhart, Tammah Watts and Moderator Lauren Pharr
Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/-D3htO8PTYSdGGoBHg1T2A

Join author and editor Lauren Pharr and contributors to the upcoming book Inclusive Nature for a conversation about creating outdoor spaces, conservation organizations, and birding communities where more people can truly belong. Drawing from their own lived experiences and professional work, the panelists will explore the many ways that race, disability, gender, culture, and other intersecting identities have shaped who has had access to nature and/or faced barriers to participation. Panelists will share stories, discuss the changes they've seen make a meaningful difference, and identify actions that individuals, organizations, and communities can take to make nature more accessible, inclusive, and welcoming for everyone.

Birding at the Intersections

Date: Thursday, October 22, 2026 Time: 7:00 ET
Presenters: Joelle Varsovia, Lindsay Rowe, Jo Doumbia
Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/UJ4Zd8qFTRiY6P4Yveu-Pw

Join Birdability Captains and community members with intersecting identities for a conversation about how race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, culture, neurodivergence, and other aspects of identity shape people's experiences of birding and spending time in nature. Through their own lived experiences, panelists will explore the ways barriers to participation often overlap and reinforce one another, and how belonging is created when we recognize and address the whole person rather than a single aspect of identity. Panelists will share stories about navigating birding and conservation spaces, discuss the changes that have helped them feel welcome and included, and explore how building truly accessible birding communities requires understanding that access, equity, and inclusion are deeply connected.

Birding wth an Energy-Limiting Condition Panel

Date: Friday, October 23, 2026 Time: 7:00 ET
Presenters: Kara Reichart Bercaw, Katharine Baldwin, Carol Tepper
Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/GzDzZFOqTQyaiaqN7IYWNA

Many birders live with energy-limiting conditions, including disabilities and health conditions that affect energy, stamina, pain, fatigue, or post-exertional recovery. While every person's experience is different, many people navigate the daily challenge of balancing the activities they love with limited physical or mental energy. Birdability Captains will share how they have adapted their birding practices to fit their changing bodies and lives, from birding closer to home and pacing themselves to embracing rest, mobility aids, technology, and other accommodations. They'll talk honestly about the emotional side of adjusting expectations, finding joy in different ways of birding, and letting go of the idea that there is only one "right" way to be a birder.

Birds and Brains - A Keynote Conversation About Traumatic Brain Injury and Healing with Birds with Day Scott and Emily Nichols

Date: Saturday, October 24, 2026 Time: 4:00 ET
Presenters: Day Scott, Emily Nichols
Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/2LHEk8uLRleFcMMDOJL8JA

Join Birdability keynote speaker Day Scott (@TheWildernessGoddess) and Birdability Captain Emily Nichols for a conversation about living with and recovering from traumatic brain injury, and the unexpected ways birds can become part of the healing process. After surviving traumatic brain injuries that changed the course of their lives, both Day and Emily found themselves navigating new relationships with their bodies, minds, identities, and the world around them. Although each person's experience with traumatic brain injury is unique, birds became an important source of grounding, curiosity, connection, and joy in both of their journeys. Together, they'll share their personal stories, discuss the challenges and realities of living with TBI, and explore what birds, birding, and time in nature have offered them along the way. Drawing on both lived experience and emerging science about the brain's remarkable capacity to adapt and change, they'll reflect on how paying attention to birds can support healing, emotional well-being, and a renewed sense of possibility.

Birdability Week Wrap-up Social + Photo/Video Contest Winners Announced

Date: Sunday, October 5, 2026  Time: 4:00 ET
Presenters: Photo/Contest Planning Committee, Judges, and Winners
Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/mBQLvSb2Sry9f-IVy7T6bg

Join us as we wrap up Birdability Week 2026 with a joyful community celebration. Together, we'll reflect on the week, share highlights from events across the country, and celebrate the many ways people connected with birds by birding where they are. We'll also announce the winners of the 2026 Birdability Week Photo and Video Contest. This annual contest showcases the creativity, humor, and unique perspectives of birders from across our community. You'll get to see this year's finalist photos and videos, hear the stories behind them, and celebrate the photographers and videographers who captured memorable moments with birds. Bring your favorite Birdability Week memory, say hello to friends old and new, and help us close out the week together in community.

Image Description: A blue background & starbursts & Birdability Week 2026 logo featuring a WBNU. Text reads: "Celebrating birders with disabilities and working to make outdoor spaces and birding accessible for all." Six circular photos are arranged around the text, showing Keynote Speaker Day Scott using a camera with a large telephoto lens, Jayme Boucher holding a camera during a bird outing, Macy DeGraw signing at an outdoor event , Joelle Varsovia holding a purple sea star at a shoreline, Eric Clow using a power wheelchair on a paved path, & Tammah Watts holding binoculars. There is also a small image of hands signing that indicates ASL access. 

Our Generous Birdability Week Sponsors

Birdability Week is made possible by the generous support of organizations, businesses, bird clubs, and individuals who believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to connect with birds and nature. Their support helps us offer a full week of free, accessible programming, including virtual events with ASL interpretation and captioning, educational resources, community conversations, the Offbeat Photo and Video Contest, and more.

Become a Birdability Week Sponsor

By sponsoring Birdability Week, you are investing in a future where access and inclusion are part of birding, conservation, and outdoor recreation. Your support helps keep Birdability Week programs free and accessible while also advancing Birdability's broader work to improve access to birds and nature through education, partnerships, community leadership, and practical accessibility resources.

Learn more about Birdability Week sponsorship opportunities:
Sponsorship Information Sheet is available here.

Ready to become a sponsor?
Fill out our Sponsorship Form!

Thank you to our 2026 Birdability Week sponsors:

Northern Cardinal Level Sponsors

Eastern Bluebird Level Sponsors

Ruby-crowned Kinglet Level Sponsors

2026 Organizational Sponsors