Big Day 2026: Team Sapsucker Found 306 Species in North Carolina and Guatemala!

_{This YouTube video was produced by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.}

On May 9, 2026, Cornell Lab’s Team Sapsucker tackled an incredible challenge: a 24-hour birding marathon across two “sister landscapes” – the Appalachian Blue Ridge Mountains and Guatemala’s Maya Forest. Their mission? Find as many birds as possible to raise funds for critical conservation efforts.

🌎 The Results:

• 306 total species spotted
• 16 shared Neotropical migrants seen on the same day, nearly 1,500 miles apart
• Awesome birds like Golden-winged Warbler, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, and Lovely Cotinga

🌟 Key Highlights:
This Big Day showcased how migratory birds connect our hemisphere’s forests – from the forests of Guatemala to the rolling mountains of North Carolina. These shared birds rely on protected habitats at both ends of their incredible journeys.

Big Day is the Cornell Lab’s biggest fundraising event of the year. With your Big Day support, the Cornell Lab can continue to:

🏔️ Work with conservation partners to protect vital habitats from the forests of Appalachia to the Five Great Forests of Central America and beyond.
🪶 Grow our impact by delivering eBird data to help partners identify and restore vital migration routes
💡 Expand use of our BirdCast technology that predicts bird migration each night and alerts cities when to power down lights to prevent deadly bird collisions
🤳 Spark millions of people around the world to learn and care more about birds with our free Merlin Bird ID app.

Learn more & contribute here: https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/bigday2026

Special thanks to our partners:

Wildlife Conservation Society
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
Local birding experts who enhanced our findings

Music by Che Apalache. GRAMMY nominated, Che Apalache is founded by Joe Troop, a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter hailing from the North Carolina Piedmont. His music is deeply inspired by his travels throughout Latin America.