Since 2020, birders in the Bay Area and beyond have banded together each year for the Bird Photo Big Day. Our Fall Challenge Big Day event focuses on both our Bird Photo Contest and on collectively counting as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. 

Kids Nature Journal and Bird Bingo – We are also offering free, downloadable family-friendly activities to enhance the fun! Click Here! Thank you Anastasia Nguyen for creating it! The 2025 Fall Challenge Bird Photo Big Day is on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. Please read below to learn how to join the fun! Donate to the Big Day by visiting our Bird Day site. 

How to participate: Head over to Facebook and join the group; that’s where all the action takes place. Don’t want to take photos but still want to participate? You can join in on the fun, too! We need folks to cheer on the photographers and help identify birds. If you aren’t on Facebook, email your pictures to kbutler@sfbbo.org and we will post them for you (see rules at bottom of page).

All photos submitted to the Big Day are eligible to compete in a fun, free Bird Photo Contest in three categories: Best Bird Behavior, Funniest Bird Photo, and Best Photo of one of the Bird Species shown on our 2025 CFC T-Shirt (Northern Harrier, Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Song Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, Great Blue Heron, and the endangered Ridgway’s Rail). Photos must be taken in the 24 hours of the Big Day, can be taken anywhere in the world, and must indicate where the photo was taken. They will be judged on the following criteria: composition, quality (i.e. exposure, clarity), how well the photo fits the category, and the adherence to the Big Day Rules (please see below). Our three winners will receive a free 2025 CFC T-Shirt!

​This is also a fundraiser for SFBBO, so we invite everyone to make a generous donation to help SFBBO continue to promote sustainability in the Bay Area and beyond by engaging diverse communities with avian science, habitat conservation, and education.

​All levels of birders and photographers are welcome! There are no bad pictures, especially if it’s a bird species we need.

Rules:

• Free to participate, but this is also a fundraiser to support our bird conservation science and outreach programs, so donations of all levels are welcome and appreciated.
• Birds first! Please practice mindful birding and avoid using audio playback.
• Birds must be living in the wild and unrestrained.
• Only photos taken in the 24 hours from midnight to 11:59pm local time on the Bird Photo Big Day date will count.
• Photos must be uploaded to the Bird Photo Big Day Facebook Group or emailed to kbutler@sfbbo.org to be included by 12:00pm Pacific time on Sunday, Sept. 21.
• Please include the species name if you know it and the location where the photo was taken. 
• If uploading multiple images to the Facebook group at the same time, please caption each image.
• Submission of images grants SFBBO rights to use the photographs.*
• Follow local laws and rules and please respect property rights.

* A nonexclusive, worldwide, perpetual, fully-paid, royalty-free license to use the photographs in any manner related to the contest or its conservation work (i.e. for its websites, newsletters, social media, and other publications.)  Consider this another wonderful way to make a donation to SFBBO!