Tug Hill Bird Quest
An Outdoor Classroom Right in Your Backyard
Do you love to watch birds? Want to learn more?
The Tug Hill Bird Quest is a region-wide bird observation event held each year during May. It's a great way to have fun and learn more about the birds that visit your neighborhood and backyard.
We supply fun bird information, birding tips and learning resources January through May! Your observations add to a multi-year record of the types and number of birds that arrive in the Tug Hill region each spring!
The Tug Hill Bird Quest is open to everyone.
School classrooms, homeschools, youth groups, families, and individuals that live in the Tug Hill region are welcome and encouraged to participate.
It's free, it's fun, and it's a great learning opportunity!
Scroll down for details and to register
Filling the feeder
Female Grosbeak Oriole and Goldfinch
Homeschool Bird Quest
A female Cardinal at a sunflower seed feeder
Brother and sister bird together
Bird Watchers by Emmanuel Vaucher
The Tug Hill Bird Quest connects us with nature, inspires curiosity and is easy to incorporate into any classroom or home setting!
Here's How It Works:
1 - Sign Up As An Observation Team
- Register as an Early Bird team by December 31st OR Register as a Spring Winger team by March 31st each year! Early Birds receive weekly emails January through March containing fun facts and learning activities.
- All teams receive daily Bird of the Day emails with bird ID tips and photos April through May.
- Schools, homeschools and youth groups in need can request to receive birdseed, a bird feeder and/or a Tug Hill natural history guidebook free of charge. All supplies are provided on a first come, first served basis as materials are available. Supplies are either delivered or picked up by teams in mid-April.
2 - Choose how you would like to observe birds - at a feeder or at another accessible place (yard, field, field border, park, natural area, street, or other place you can use each week). If you are observing birds at a birdfeeder, install (if needed) and/or add birdseed to your feeder(s) AT LEAST 2 weeks before the official observation week begins.
3 - Watch the feeder birds or the birds in your chosen accessible location for 15 minutes one day each week during May (May 4 - 29, 2026). Record the bird species and how many individuals of each you see.
4 - Enter your observations on the provided tally sheet and send the form to THTLT by June 6th.
- Tally sheets are emailed to teams with the first Bird of the Day email in April and can be downloaded from this page.
- THTLT compiles the team tally sheets and provides a report to all teams in mid-June.
Download:
Bird Quest: How to Watch & Count Instructions (PDF) »
Bird Quest: Tally Sheet (PDF) »
Have questions or are interested in participating:
Please contact Executive Director Heidi Sourwine at 315-779-8240 or email her at [email protected].
Learn More... Download these activities and visit these online sites...
Want to watch birds live on camera?
The bird feeding station at Cornell University’s Sapsucker Woods facility near Ithaca, NY is live with sound!
Go see who's there now: allaboutbirds.org/cams/cornell-lab-feederwatch/
Looking for a specific bird?
Learn out more about the birds you see using the North American Bird Guide online at: www.audubon.org/bird-guide
Special thanks to these local businesses who have generously provided bird feeders and seed for the Bird Quest:
