• WildlifeWildlife WatchingBiothonHow to Get Started

    How to Get Started

    Three-banded Lady Beetle © Kent McFarland

    Step One: Choose What You’ll Count

    Choose to count all the winged things (birds, bats, and winged insects) along with VCE’s team or go all in for birds. The choice is yours!

    Step Two: Choose Your Location

    Count in your backyard, neighborhood, favorite natural area, or at an under-surveyed area in Vermont. You can find under-surveyed areas on our map.

    Step Three: Join Our iNaturalist Project

    Join our VCE Biothon 2023: Wings Over Vermont project on iNaturalist. If you’ve never used iNaturalist before, you can learn how on iNaturalist’s Getting Started page. When you join our project, your observations will automatically be included in the Biothon: Wings Over Vermont counts.

    Step Four: Get Out and Count

    Count all the winged species you find within a 24-hour period (or however long you like) in May. While winged things are the focus of this fundraiser, you could sharpen your conservation multitasking skills by also logging your observations of other life forms.

    Step Five: Upload Your Observations

    Upload all your observations in VCE’s Biothon 2023 project on iNaturalist. If you’re counting birds only and prefer a paper checklist, you can download a Vermont eBird printable checklist or visit the Vermont eBird bar chart page to learn what might be found near you. You can also try this easy to use checklist.