Host a Birdability Week 2026 Event: Bird Where You Are

Birdability Week 2026 is coming up October 19 through 25, and we would love for you to help us celebrate by hosting an accessible and inclusive birding outing, gathering, or event in your community.

This year’s theme is Bird Where You Are, and that very broad invitation is intentional!

There is no one right way to bird. Birding can happen on a trail, but it can also happen from an overlook, a car, a feeder, a window or balcony, or a favorite sit spot. We can bird by listening. We can bird indoors. We can bird alone or with a group. And we can participate at the pace, energy level, and in the way that works for our own bodies and minds.

Image description: A group of 18 people pose together on a paved path at Connetquot River State Park Preserve for a Birdability Week 2025 event. Some stand while others kneel or sit, including one person using a powered wheelchair. Several people wear binoculars or birding gear. Trees with orange, yellow, and green autumn leaves surround the group beneath a partly cloudy sky.

Why host a Birdability Week event?

At its heart, Birdability Week is a celebration of accessible birding. It is an opportunity to uplift disabled birders and birders with other health concerns, strengthen relationships between disability and birding communities, and create spaces that center access and inclusion.

Hosting an event can also help your bird club, Audubon chapter, nature center, park, community organization, or other group learn what accessibility and inclusion look like in practice.

And we really do mean practice.

None of us will create an event that is accessible to every person. Instead, our job is to think intentionally about barriers, remove or reduce the barriers we can, provide clear information about the barriers that remain, listen to participants, and keep learning - together.

Image description: a group of people walks together along a paved path in a lush, green park. Several individuals at the front of the group are using white canes. Some people are smiling and conversing as they walk. Most wear casual clothing and hats for sun protection, and many carry backpacks. Trees and grass surround them, with more people visible in the background, at this event on Sunday, May 18th, 2025 for the first national blind birder bird-a-thon at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton. (Photos by Robb Hill/For The Washington Post)

Accessible and inclusive are both important

We often talk about events being both accessible and inclusive because those words describe related but different pieces of the experience.

Accessibility includes the physical features and practices that allow someone to participate. That might include parking and drop-off areas, firm and stable surfaces, trail width and slope, accessible restrooms, benches, shade, transportation options, or adaptive equipment.

Inclusion is about belonging. It is about the culture we create, the way people are welcomed, and whether disabled participants are understood as members of the birding community.

We need both.

When planning an event, we encourage hosts to think about four essential elements:

Location. Consider parking and transportation, surfaces and slopes, distance, restrooms, places to sit, shade or shelter, and other physical, safety, or sensory features of the space.

Clear information. Tell participants what they can expect. Include both a start and end time, distance, pace, surfaces, terrain, hills or slopes, restroom availability, seating and rest opportunities, sensory considerations, and any known barriers. Make it easy to find a contact person for accessibility questions.

Transparency is part of accessibility. Saying, “There are no restrooms at this site,” or “The trail includes a short gravel section,” gives people information they can use to decide whether an event works for them.

Flexible participation. Build flexibility into the event itself. Move at the pace of the slowest birder. Allow frequent breaks. Offer a shorter route or stationary birding option. Make it clear that participants can turn back or leave early. If possible, offer seating, shade, or a quiet area.

Welcoming and inclusive culture. Assume disabled people know their own bodies, needs, and abilities. Ask before offering assistance. Respect mobility devices and service animals. Welcome different ways of birding and participating. And create an environment where nobody has to prove that they belong.

Image description: Accessible Birding Interns Zoe and George meeting with and at BOP in San Francisco as they planned events together in 2025.

Your event doesn't have to be a traditional bird walk

One of the things we especially want to emphasize this year is that a Birdability Week event can take many forms.

You might host a stationary birding gathering at a feeder or overlook. You could organize car birding or use an accessible vehicle to explore a larger area. You might gather for nature journaling in a park, host bird trivia or a social gathering, invite disabled birders for a community conversation, or plan a bird-themed game night.

You could even host a Birdability Week Show and Tell, inviting people to bring the tools, adaptive equipment, apps, or techniques that make birding work better for them and share what they have learned!

Image description: Macy, using ASL and leading a bird outing at George Washington Memorial Parkway NP Site while completing the Birdability internship in 2024.

You don't have to figure it out alone

Birdability has resources to help you plan.

You can watch the recording of our Birdability Week 2026 Accessible and Inclusive Outings & Events Info Session, where we talk through these ideas in more detail and hear directly from Birdability Captains about their own experiences creating and participating in accessible birding opportunities.

You can also explore our resources on topics including:

• Tip Sheet for Leading Accessible and Inclusive Bird Outings

• Writing Bird Outing and Event Descriptions

• Access Considerations

• Inclusive Language

• Interacting With Wheelchair Users

• Service Dogs and Accessible Birding

These resources are there so you do not have to reinvent the wheel. They draw from the experience of disabled birders, Birdability Captains, and community members who are continuing to learn and build this work alongside us.

Image description: A screenshot of the Birdability Week 2025 Accessible Outings and Events Map with pins identifying where events were held last year across the country

Tell us about your event

Once you know what you are planning, please submit your Birdability Week event.

We will add submitted events to the Birdability Week map and calendar so people can find accessible and inclusive opportunities happening in their communities. Sharing your event also helps make this growing movement visible and shows just how many people and organizations are working toward a birding community where disabled people know they belong.

Whether you are planning an accessible trail outing, a feeder watch, a game night, a community conversation, or something we haven't even thought of yet, we hope you will join us.

We cannot wait to see what you create for Birdability Week 2026.