Mark your calendar! The North Carolina Bird Atlas is hosting a Big Atlas Weekend June 28-30. Birders across North Carolina will join forces to visit priority blocks, including under-birded areas. Bonus: prize opportunities for atlasers of all skill levels. Read on to learn more.
June 28-30, 2024
Online and In the Field
All across the state ATLASTERS and ATLAS TECHNICIANS are getting out into priority blocks for a weekend of blockbusting! Are you an avid and dedicated atlaser ready to take your contribution to the next level? Do you have hundreds of eBird lists and want to bring your expertise to the atlas? We need YOU confirming breeding behavior that weekend! Submit your checklist through the North Carolina Breeding Bird Atlas portal in eBird. If you are new to atlasing, check out our Atlasing Essentials!
- June 28th 6-8 pm EDT – Kickoff. Introduction by Atlas coordinators and a fun presentation.
- June 28-30 – Big Atlas Weekend! Atlas priority blocks from 6 pm EDT Friday to 11:59 pm EDT Sunday. Join the Facebook Event. Post to Social Media.
- July 3rd 6-8 pm: Highlights from the weekend, state winners and one interstate champion!
It’s Simple!
Choose any under visited priority block and just…Go atlasing!
- START anytime after Friday at 6:00 pm
- STOP at least one minute before Midnight on Sunday, June 23
- SHARE your story to inspire others.
- SEND to cc.king@ncwildlife.org for Instagram and Facebook
Become a weekend wonder / social media influencer
Birders who have adopted priority blocks across the state will be out atlasing their blocks that weekend looking for additional species and breeding confirmations. It’s a great time of year for atlasing, when many of our local breeding species are actively feeding their young.
Challenges and Prizes
The Big Atlas Weekend will have prize opportunities for atlasers of all skill levels, ranging from first-timers to veterans. One prize winner will be randomly selected in each of the following categories to win a Cornell Lab of Ornithology Bird Academy course of their choosing.
CHALLENGES:
- Complete Atlas checklist with nocturnal effort
- Learn about atlasing at night. A nocturnal checklist is considered to be a checklist that begins between 20 minutes after sunset and 40 minutes before sunrise.
- Newly Coded or Upgraded species that were not coded in that block before the Big Atlas Weekend
- Learn about breeding codes.
- See species lists in a block.
- Complete Atlas checklist in an incomplete block
Eligible checklists must be complete and submitted to the appropriate atlas portal between 6 PM June 28 and 11:59 PM June 30 (Eastern Time).
For background information to prepare to accomplish this year’s challenges:
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- Block Map
- Learn about breeding codes.
- Explore the Atlas effort map.
Interstate Competition
Just to make this event even more exciting, the Atlas team has set up a friendly competition between the participating projects—Newfoundland, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, New York, Maryland and DC, and North Carolina. The winning project will receive the Big Atlas Weekend trophy and have their state or province engraved on the side.