Pacific Northwest Birding Festivals

Come bird with the Kittitas Environmental Education Network, or KEEN, for three days during the second weekend of May and discover the natural beauty of Central Washington. Kittitas County features diverse and spectacular habitats ranging from snow-capped mountains, thousands of acres of public forest, lush riparian corridors and endangered shrub-steppe open space. The Yakima River ... Read more

The intention of this free all-day event is to encourage and inspire people to welcome wildlife, including birds and butterflies, into their backyards, gardens, and communities. There will be educational exhibits, arts and crafts vendors, and native plant sales. Don't leave the kids at home! There will be plenty to keep the entire family entertained. ... Read more

The Leavenworth area features spectacular habitats ranging from snow-capped mountains to sunny ponderosa pine forests, lush riparian zones to shrub-steppe. All field trips during this festival are led by experts and professionals in their field. Learn about the wide variety of migratory birds that come to the Leavenworth area for the breeding season. The one ... Read more

The Meadowlark Nature Festival has evolved into one of Canada’s premier outdoor nature celebrations offering over 90 environmental tours and events held under the open sky, which take people from Canada’s unique desert to the alpine meadows high above the Okanagan Lake. People from across North America and as far away as Europe now come ... Read more

The Ladd Marsh Bird Festival is an uncrowded, non-competitive birding opportunity for the whole family. The Ladd Marsh Bird Festival is held at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area located about 7 miles south of La Grande, Oregon. The event is scheduled at the height of spring migration and nesting ... Read more

Every Memorial Day weekend, members of Washington's Audubon chapters and their families and friends gather at the primitive, yet free!, Wenas Creek Campground in the Wenas Valley, on the east side of the Cascades between Ellensburg and Yakima, to enjoy the natural surroundings, abundant bird life, and each other's company. There are campfire programs every ... Read more

Organized by the East Cascades Audubon Society, the Dean Hale Woodpecker Festival sees 11 species of woodpeckers and over 200 species of birds in total every year. Led by experienced birders, the festival is timed to see young woodpeckers leaving their nests. For full information and details, go to www.ecaudubon.org. As long as you are ... Read more

For this year's details, visit the Monroe Swift website. Eastside Audubon and other local organizations invite you to Swift Night Out, their annual festival held on a Saturday evening in September to celebrate the peak of the Vaux's migration in Monroe. Each September thousands of migrating Vaux's Swifts pause to roost in the old brick ... Read more

Puget Sound Birdfest in Edmonds, Washington is an annual fall celebration of birds and nature found on the beautiful shores of Puget Sound. The three-day event includes speakers, guided walks, land and water-based field trips, exhibits, and educational activities for children and adults. Plan to spend the weekend in Edmonds, birding and meeting other birders, ... Read more

Join the USFS Chelan/Entiat Ranger District, HawkWatch International, and North Central Washington Audubon Society this fall for the 10th annual Chelan Ridge Hawk Migration Festival. This free family event combines activities in Pateros, WA and migration trips to the Chelan Ridge migration site to learn about and celebrate raptors as they journey to winter territories. You will ... Read more

Few communities are lucky enough to have a National Wildlife Refuge in their backyard. Come celebrate the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge at The Watershed Festival, an annual celebration featuring art, discovery, music and family fun. This year’s festival will include a number of displays from local organizations, walking tours, the Insect Extravaganza, ... Read more

The inaugural Wings Over Willapa Festival will celebrate Willapa National Wildlife Refuge with a day full of classes, workshops, guided tours and more. Whether you’re an experienced birder or just getting acquainted with the great outdoors, nature lovers of all ages are sure to find plenty to do. Because the Refuge is distributed among several ... Read more

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge holds a special place in many birders' and naturalists' hearts. Each year, volunteers put together a weekend full of field trips, concerts, and more. Keep an eye on their website www.ridgefieldfriends.org for details and schedule as they evolve.

Celebrate the 40th (!) annual Winter Wings Birdfest and enjoy over 50 guided birding and photography field trips, workshops, receptions, keynotes, and more throughout the Klamath Basin in Oregon and California. Featured speakers will be Pepper Trail, George Lepp, and Julie Zickefoose. To learn more visit www.WinterWingsFest.org. Registration opened December 15th. Register as early as ... Read more

The North Puget Sound is a wonderful place to watch birds of all kinds and the Port Susan Snow Goose and Birding Festival facilitates your exploration. The festival typically offers several classes about wildlife and tours of favorite places to watch the birds that winter here. Winter residents include Great Blue Heron, Eagles, Hawks, and ... Read more

This annual birding festival celebrates the incredible variety of migratory birds that visit Blaine, Semiahmoo, Birch Bay, and Drayton Harbor, located on the Pacific Flyway in the Northwest corner of Washington State, with field trips, nature cruises, wildlife demonstrations, arts & crafts, kid's activities, expert wildlife speakers and more. For full details, including places and ... Read more

The 2019 theme of the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival is “Elegant Travelers on a Journey.” Kurt Braunwart, co-chair of the festival, says, “I have been involved with the festival for almost 20 years and it always amazes me how every year there is something fresh and new about nature and the local area. Even as ... Read more

This festival provides participants the opportunity to view a wide variety of birds normally seen on the Olympic Peninsula. Field trips are planned for Sequim Bay, Port Angeles Harbor, Ediz Hook, Dungeness Spit, the Elwha River, Salt Creek and at Neah Bay, as well as trips through wooded areas to view songbirds and locate owls ... Read more

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of shorebirds stop to rest and feed in Grays Harbor estuary on their migration northward. Coming from as far south as Argentina, these Arctic-bound shorebirds are among the world's greatest migrants. Some birds travel over 15,000 miles round trip! Tens of thousands of shorebirds feed on the open mudflats in ... Read more