This year’s Biggest Week In American Birding (BWIAB) event will be held May 9, 2025 – May 18, 2025 in multiple locations around northwest Ohio.
The 10-day birding festival is timed to coincide with the peak of spring songbird migration through northwest Ohio and across Lake Erie.
Northwestern Ohio is the Warbler Capital of the World, according to the Black Swamp Bird Observatory.
Hosted by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO), the Biggest Week In American Birding attracts over 90,000 birders from all over the world
The Biggest Week in American Birding is headquartered at the Maumee Bay Lodge & Conference Center in Maumee Bay State Park in Oregon, OH.
The festival location is approximately 110 miles west of Cleveland, Ohio and 40 miles southwest of Detroit, Michigan.
The southwestern shoreline of Lake Erie contains unique habitats that attract warblers and other songbirds as they undertake their annual spring migration.
Several BWIAB birding locations are located along the Ohio Lake Erie Birding Trail, including Howard Marsh Metropark, Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, Maumee Bay State Park, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.
Birding tours and other experiences will be available throughout the region. A series of Biggest Week in American Birding field trip site guides provide information about festival bus tours, drive along tours, and other events.
For more information, visit www.biggestweekinamericanbirding.com.
Biggest Week Smartphone App
The Biggest Week in American Birding festival app for iOS and Android is available to help birders plan for the Biggest Week. The app provides lists of birds for each birding location, maps of hotspots, and quick links to festival schedule information.
Ohio Lake Erie Birding Trail Guidebook
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife, in collaboration with Ohio Sea Grant, released an updated edition of the Ohio Lake Erie Birding Trail Guidebook. The latest edition guidebook details the best places to see birds along the Lake Erie coast. The Ohio Lake Erie Birding Trail Guidebook is available online and print copies may be purchased at birding events throughout the year.
Related Events
The 2025 BWIAB festival coincides with a variety of spring birding events. Bird Day is May 4 in the USA. World Migratory Bird Day will be celebrated on May 11 and October 12.
After resting along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Erie, birds move north, many reaching the northern shore near Point Pele in Ontario.
The Friends of Point Pelee and Point Pelee National Park will celebrate the spring migration at the 2025 Festival of Birds from May 1 to May 19. During the Festival of Birds and throughout May, Friends of Point Pelee members post daily migration reports to ONTBIRDS. For more information, visit www.festivalofbirds.ca.
Northern New York Audubon (NNYA) will be hosting the 2025 Great Adirondack Birding Celebration from Friday, May 30 through Sunday, June 1.
The 2025 GBAC will attract birders from across the region to experience the avian diversity of the Adirondacks region.
Originally established by the Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center, the GBAC has long been a highlight of New York’s birding calendar. For more information about the 2025 GBAC, visit the Northern New York Audubon website.
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