How to Participate!

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Please note: Please read rules, category descriptions, and registration forms closely.

Join the fun in a few easy steps:

  1. Pick a tournament category and read tournament rules.
  2. Find team members.
    Ask friends, family, co-workers, bird club members, or other people in your community to join you in the field.
  3. Find a sponsor(s) or collect registration fees from your teammates.
    See Sponsorship Tips for strategies to find one or more team sponsors to cover your entry fees.
  4. Fill out a team Registration Form and pay registration fees online.
  5. Birding Classic teamRegister on the Texas eBird portal.
    Teams need an eBird account in order to submit a final tournament checklist. You should practice entering your bird lists from scouting trips into eBird before the tournament if you are new to eBird. This will help you get used to the way eBird works. This online field checklist can be a handy tool to have in the field as it lists most statewide springtime Texas birds in eBird order to make data entry of your official list easier. For more information, visit Bird Checklist Submission.
  6. Select tournament day(s), and go out and bird!
    Send your selected tournament date(s) to gtbc@tpwd.texas.gov within 24 hours of your competition day(s) for official Birding Classic records.
  7. Submit official tournament checklist through eBird within 48 hours of completing your tournament.
    Follow submission directions provided at Bird Checklist Submission. Once you've entered your checklist into eBird, you will need to share that list in eBird with the Birding Classic account, GTBCStaff. If you don't use a phone app that syncs with eBird, this statewide field checklist of springtime Texas birds (listed in eBird order) can be a good tool to record species your team sees/hears. Printing this list for use in the field can make data entry of your official checklist easier.
  8. Share!
    Are you on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? Use #GTBC24 on any platform so other birders can follow the action. 
    Like the  Birding Classic Facebook page and post photos directly.
  9. See how you did!
    Final Results will be posted online once checklists from all teams are received and scored from eBird. GTBC staff will work with winning teams from several tournaments to select conservation project grant recipients. Conservation grant amounts and number of grants awarded is dependent on money raised through team registration fees and sponsorship dollars.
  10. Start planning for 2025!
    29th Annual Great Texas Birding Classic dates are April 15 - May 15, 2025.

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