[text on screen] Large Day 2026
[text on screen] 1 crew
[text on screen] 2 areas
[text on screen] Appalachian Blue Ridge Mountains
[text on screen] Maya Forest, Guatemala
[Kevin Ebert onscreen] We now have had such an excellent morning, we’ve been hanging round Puerto Arturo, and we’ve had similar to every kind of birds.
[text on screen] 306 species counted
[Jenna Curtis onscreen] It was a Golden-winged Warbler!
[text on screen] Large Day is our largest conservation fundraiser of the 12 months
[text on screen] Thanks in your Large Day help.
[Kevin Ebert voiceover] It’s simply been fantastic.
[string band music ends]
Finish of Transcript
On Might 9, 2026, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Group Sapsucker held their annual Large Day, a 24-hour marathon to search out as many birds as doable and lift funds for conservation. This 12 months, the crew divided into two teams: one exploring the Appalachia area of North Carolina and Tennessee; and the opposite in Guatemala’s Maya Forest, a sister panorama that harbors lots of the identical hen species at totally different instances of 12 months.
By the top of 24 hours, the groups had found an amazing 306 species in total, together with 25 species that had been noticed at each areas. The tally highlighted the way it takes a number of landscapes to help migratory hen populations.
Group Appalachia scoured forests and fields of the Blue Ridge Mountains in search of colourful warblers and listening for the candy songs of thrushes and orioles. Only a few weeks earlier, many of those birds had been in Guatemala, increase reserves in preparation for the lengthy flight north. In the meantime, Group Guatemala was deep within the Maya Forest (or Selva Maya) trying to find migratory birds that had but to go away for North America, in addition to lots of of colourful tropical species that reside there year-round.
These shared birds rely not solely on forests in the US and Canada, but additionally on forests in Latin America which are threatened by unlawful deforestation, forest fires, and rising temperatures. To spotlight the worth of worldwide conservation partnerships, Group Sapsucker was joined within the discipline by native consultants from the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (in North Carolina and Tennessee) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (in Guatemala).
The significance of birds and conservation was even underscored in a particular video announcement by Guatemala’s president, Bernardo Arévalo de León.
Shared Birds 1000’s of Miles Aside
Each groups began within the wee hours of the morning and noticed shared birds throughout the first half-hour. Group Guatemala noticed an Acadian Flycatcher roosting at night time with a flashlight and Group Appalachia an Indigo Bunting singing earlier than daybreak. A number of hours later and 1,300 miles to the southwest, Group Guatemala discovered the identical species, an immature male Indigo Bunting, in some fruiting bushes close to the city of Petén.
Among the many 25 species seen at each areas had been 16 Neotropical migratory species: Olive-sided Flycatcher, Indigo Bunting, Swainson’s Thrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and extra—every hundreds of miles aside however all counting on the identical forests at totally different instances of the 12 months.
“I adore it if you’re seeing a bunch of unfamiliar birds after which out of the blue there’s one thing you acknowledge from the States, like an Jap Wooden-Pewee,” mentioned Group Guatemala’s captain, Marshall Iliff.
“It was cool to consider not solely the truth that the birds make the migration, however that it was occurring so presently that a number of the inhabitants may nonetheless be within the Selva Maya and a few are already in North Carolina,” mentioned Kate Reed from Group Appalachia.
A Marathon of Birds
From miles of bumpy grime roads within the Maya Forest to traversing hills and valleys on windy roads within the Blue Ridge Mountains, the groups bought a style of all of it.
Group Appalachia spent 16 hours and 11 minutes birding, tallying 120 species from the lowlands round Asheville, North Carolina (2,100 ft), to Roan Highlands at 6,286 ft elevation. They fueled their journey with chocolate-covered espresso beans and crew huddles to construct pleasure.
With a bigger listing of doable species, Group Guatemala began the day simply after midnight and rallied all day. They birded for a complete of 23 hours and 42 minutes and tallied 211 species. “The toughest half,” mentioned Kevin Ebert of Group Guatemala, “was maintaining the momentum within the warmth of the afternoon.” By the ultimate minutes of the day, Iliff was struggling so as to add only one extra species to their listing.
“I used to be actually falling asleep whereas scanning with the flashlight. My hand would droop and so would the beam of sunshine, however then I heard a Spot-tailed Nightjar within the distance, and effectively that woke me proper up,” mentioned Iliff. “It was all value it.”
Group Appalachia discovered 24 warbler species—a day to recollect for any birder. One of the best needed to be the Golden-winged Warbler, a species whose inhabitants has declined precipitously and was the poster hen for Large Day this 12 months. Golden-winged Warblers actually do exemplify what this 12 months’s Large Day was all about. Some 25% of the Golden-winged Warbler inhabitants depends on forests in Mesoamerica, in keeping with a current study published by scientists at WCS and the Cornell Lab.
In the US, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy is restoring and defending vital habitat for Golden-winged Warblers within the locations the place the crew noticed them. “Once we heard the Golden-winged Warbler, the entire group bought actually pumped after which we heard a second one. It’s a very cool conservation story understanding that individuals are on the market doing the work to verify this hen sticks round,” mentioned David Wiles, a member of Group Appalachia.
The crew moved on to Hooper Lane, a wetland spot they’d been banking on to choose up shorebirds, waterfowl, and raptors. Nevertheless it was empty of shorebirds once they arrived. Fortunately, Kate Reed noticed the crew’s first and solely Nice Blue Heron perched in a distant tree.
“After birding at three unproductive spots that had been actually good throughout scouting, we had been fairly bummed. However we did a little bit huddle after which after we had been about an hour from sundown our luck turned,” mentioned Wiles.
The crew had set a aim of 120 species for his or her large day, crew member Cynthia Crowley mentioned—however they had been caught at 118. Then proper because the crew was pulling out of a car parking zone, SAHC’s Sarah Sheeran yelled to cease the automobile. “All of us search for and two Frequent Nighthawks are flying above the car parking zone. So she saved us—that was an actual spotlight,” mentioned Crowley. Species quantity 119 bought “numerous cheering as two nighthawks flew out of sight after the entire crew bought eyes on them,” mentioned Megan King.
Because the solar was setting the crew added the final new hen of the day—a Virginia Rail they heard grunting within the reeds and managed to see with a thermal-imaging scope. That took them to their aim of 120 species and capped off an exhilarating day of birding for Group Appalachia.
“It was such a particular expertise for me as extra of a newbie birder. I’m actually leaving Large Day feeling happy with what our crew was in a position to accomplish however, much more, so impressed to proceed my birding journey!”
—Megan King, Group Appalachia
Again in Guatemala, the crew began the morning sturdy with a 3-mile “energy stroll” by way of Puerto Arturo. “We blitzed by way of the forest and located 100 species [in just 2.5 hours of birding] and our native companions had been nailing each name within the forest—each name!” mentioned Iliff. Highlights included surprises like a Beautiful Cotinga, a Black-and-white Warbler, and two iconic raptors: Ornate Hawk-Eagle and Black-collared Hawk.
Within the morning at Puerto Arturo, the crew additionally heard a species that nobody knew. “Everybody was scratching their heads, so we whipped out Merlin Chook ID and Merlin returned a Streaked Flycatcher!” mentioned Iliff. “A uncommon hen for Petén, and one which a number of the Guatemalan birders hadn’t seen for 3-4 years.” mentioned Iliff. Fortunately, after the suggestion from Merlin, the crew was in a position to observe down the hen and make sure it—a Streaked Flycatcher certainly.
Group Guatemala’s luck continued all through the day, recognizing extra Neotropical migrants equivalent to Yellow-throated Vireo, Tennessee Warbler, and Northern Yellow Warbler alongside tropical species equivalent to Stripe-throated Hermit, White-collared Manakin, and Keel-billed Toucan.
The crew was aiming to beat the Petén Big Day record of 213 set in 2017, when Iliff additionally helped lead a crew alongside a unique however close by route by way of the well-known Tikal ruins. So the race was on to tally just a few extra species to push them in direction of the 213 mark.
Because the solar was about to set the crew jumped onto a ship to choose up just a few marsh birds. The boat captain sped by way of the waters and deftly nosed the boat right into a patch of reeds. Proper on cue, up popped a Pinnated Bittern—quickly upstaged by three Yellow-breasted Crakes. “It was an unimaginable expertise watching three of those little guys scurry and bounce across the water lettuce like a little bit gerbil. It was the very best 20 minutes of marsh birding that I’ve ever finished.” mentioned Iliff.
The unimaginable marsh birding introduced them as much as 207 species and a late night stretch introduced the crew a Spot-tailed Nightjar, Yellow-crowned Evening Heron, Yucatan Nightjar, and American Barn Owl to finish the day at 211 species and one drained (however completely happy) group of birders.
Birds Uniting Folks
Assembly native birders and constructing neighborhood was a spotlight for each groups.
Marquette Crockett and Sarah Sheeran from the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy offered invaluable on-the-ground information about birding routes, websites, and species for Group Appalachia. “SAHC people have been wonderful to work with,” mentioned David Wiles, “displaying us round their properties and connecting us with the native birding communities. It’s all been wonderful.”
The crew was coated in mud and grime after a protracted day of labor, and we shared our gear to assist them see birds they’d by no means seen earlier than. They had been simply so excited.
—David Wiles, Group Appalachia
Assembly different folks through the day introduced sudden moments of pleasure. Group Appalachia bumped into Amy Jackson, March 2026 eBirder of the month, who helped them spot a uncommon Olive-sided Flycatcher at Beaver Lake. Earlier within the week they had been birding in an space that had been broken by Tropical Storm Helene once they met a clean-up crew from Mountain True. Once they came upon about Large Day, “they bought actual excited,” mentioned Wiles. “The crew was coated in mud and grime after a protracted day of labor, and we shared our gear to assist them see birds they’d by no means seen earlier than. They had been simply so excited.”
Group Guatemala was joined by 4 native hen consultants who helped them discover key species alongside the route and navigate the dusty roads of the Maya Forest. “Kevin, Fernando, Cati, and Santiago had been with us the entire time they usually had been so sharp, gracious, enjoyable to be with, and tremendous excessive endurance,” mentioned Marshall Iliff.
“All of the native people had been so accommodating, particularly our hosts from the Wildlife Conservation Society,” mentioned Kevin Ebert, “attempting to assist us in any manner doable, each with birds and maintaining us snug. There was at all times a lot good meals.”
Birding for Conservation
The thrill round World Large Day impressed the President of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo de León, to make a proper announcement sharing his help for conservation of the Maya Forest not solely to focus on birds but additionally nationwide pleasure and tradition.
The Cornell Lab has been working with Wildlife Conservation Society to revive and defend the 5 Nice Forests in Mesoamerica, together with the Maya Forest. The 5 Nice Forests kind an space solely the dimensions of Virginia—but they provide a house to billions of migratory songbirds and function vital wintering grounds and stopover websites.
“Our aim is to harness the facility of eBird fashions to determine the place investments in restoration and forest protections are most wanted—advancing the imaginative and prescient of the Five Great Forests Initiative to safe 10 million hectares of completely protected forests and restore 500,000 hectares of degraded lands,” mentioned Anna Lello-Smith, a conservation scientist at WCS.
“What occurs in Central America instantly impacts the birds we love in the US and Canada,” mentioned Lello-Smith. “These forests are on the coronary heart of migration, sustaining a lot of our birds for greater than half the 12 months.”
Within the Maya Forest’s sister forest, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy has been exhausting at work to revive vital breeding habitat. SAHC obtained a grant from the Lab’s Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative to revive delicate habitats broken throughout Tropical Storm Helene. The positioning helps a bunch of high-elevation, uncommon and at-risk species, together with Golden-winged Warbler, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Northern Noticed-whet Owl, and Purple Crossbill.
Tallying the outcomes, websites beneath SAHC administration supported an unimaginable 74% of the birds Group Appalachia noticed throughout Large Day, with 12 of these species noticed completely at SAHC websites, in keeping with crew captain Jenna Curtis.
“Attending to go birding on [SAHC] properties… crystallized for me the facility of partnerships between the Lab and SAHC, but additionally between SAHC and their quite a few companions,” mentioned Megan King from Group Appalachia.
The Cornell Lab is grateful to the various donors who supported Large Day, our greatest conservation fundraiser of the 12 months. There’s nonetheless time to support bird conservation across the hemispheres with a 2026 Big Day donation.
Essentially the most spectacular half… was the individuals who got here collectively to help the trigger… Assembly and interacting with these unimaginable, like-minded human beings was the spotlight of this journey.”
—Rachel England, Group Guatemala
Group Appalachia
The Appalachia crew was Jenna Curtis, Cynthia Crowley, Megan King, Kate Reed, and David Wiles, joined by our companions Sarah Sheeran and Marquette Crockett from the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy with help from Travis Bordley and Josie Cohen.
Group Guatemala
Group Guatemala was Marshall Iliff, Kevin Ebert, Rachel England, and Melissa Mancuso, joined by professional native birders Kevin Estuardo Reyes Ramos, Belmont Fernando Avelar Morales, Audelia Catalina Ramírez López, Josué Santiago Juarez, and our companions at Wildlife Conservation Society. The crew was additionally supported by the Petén Birders Affiliation and the Carmelita Cooperative.
View the Full Large Day Lists
To see the place each groups went birding and the total lists of every little thing they discovered, view Group Sapsucker’s eBird Journey Experiences:
