Feb 01, 2023

KDWPT returns Birding Big Year Contest for 2023

Posted Feb 01, 2023 9:00 PM

By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post

In 2003, former Denver Post journalist Mark Obmascik published "The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession." The book was later turned into a feature film starring Owen Wilson and Jack Black as birding enthusiasts who will do almost anything to see unique birds. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism (KDWPT) is once again following suit with a renewal of its Kansas Birding Big Year Contest. Kansas Wetlands Education Center Director Curtis Wolf said the area is perfect for the contest.

"Many bird watchers that utilize Cheyenne Bottoms are what we call 'listers,' which means they keep track of all the birds they see, whether it's for the year, for their backyard, for the state of Kansas, or their life list," he said. "This birding contest that Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has done the last few years is just a nice way of having some friendly competition of who sees the most birds for the year."

Last year's contest wrapped up at the end of 2022, with youth participant Franklin Miller earning the title of Kansas' Top Birder after identifying 322 unique birds in the state. No other competitor reported seeing more than 300 birds, though seven participants across all ages reported seeing at least 265 species.

Rules for the contest are simple: register online by April 1, abide by the American Birding Association Recording Rules, log data online, and submit a running total at the end of each quarter. The competition is broken up into three age divisions.

Birds spotted during the Christmas Bird Count would not apply since they were spotted before the New Year. That rules out the black scoter duck many came to see at Stone Lake in Great Bend, but the next unique sighting could be just around the corner. Sixty-one species were documented locally during the Christmas Count, down from the usual 75-85 species.

"The number of birds we're going to see here if the drought continues is going to be a little bit less," Wolf said. "But it's still a wonderful place to come out and see what you can find. With birds, you never know what you're going to see, where you're going to see them."

Competitors must register by April 1 by CLICKING HERE. Bird species can be logged at ebird.org.