Hi! I'm Maia Stark and I am 11 years old.  I have been birding since I was six and have been doing the birdathon since I was eight. Over the past three years I've raised over $6,000 through the birdathon for the Tucson Audubon Society. My goal this year is to raise $500 more than last year- a total of $2,500. I do the birdathon because I believe it is important to do my part to protect birds and the places they live. The money raised goes to the Tucson Audubon Society for their education and conservation programs.  I am doing the birdathon on April 23 with my friends, David Bygott, Jeannette Hanby, and Helen Kalevas. My goal is to find 70 bird species. Please support the Tucson Audubon Society and birds by pledging to my birdathon. 

April 23 Update

The birdathon has been so much fun, as well as a wonderful success! We saw many new birds, went to lots of new places and surpassed our goal greatly.  Our goal was 70 species, yet we recorded 96! The highlight species are the beautiful Lazuli bunting, cheerful Western tanager, Gray hawk, Elf owl, regal Great Blue Heron and rare Violet-crowned hummingbird. We also were lucky to see Coot ducklings- a different kind of cute. We began on Friday morning in Milagro, our neighborhood, then went to Sweetwater Wetlands. We visited Empire Ranch where we found lots of birds, but no burrowing owls, which I was hoping to see.  Then we went on to Patagonia, where we had a picnic and found great variety at the Tucson Audubon Paton Center.  We also stopped at the Patagonia Roadside Rest and Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve.  We spent the night, ate breakfast, and even saw a few new species at Spirit Tree B&B- a wonderful lodging just outside of Patagonia. The next morning we got up really early to explore Patagonia Lake before our 24 hours was up. Thank you to all of our donors and to anyone else who went out of our way to support us while we birded for the birds!

Birds have a unique, special, and different meaning to each of us. So too is each of our connection with Tucson Audubon Society personal and distinct. During Birdathon, we combine the love of bird watching during spring migration with support for bird conservation.

Birdathoners are birders and social fundraisers, joining together to make a difference for the birds and habitats of southeast Arizona. Birdathoners continue a tradition that has held strong for over 25 years. 

Each Birdathoner's personal network of supporters is what helps makes Birdathon possible. 

This April and May, I'm going birding for the birds!