Twitches

Why we need twitchers

Keen and experienced birders are sometimes called ‘twitchers’. A small proportion of twitchers can go to extraordinary lengths to see as many different bird species as possible, and in as many different situations, regions and countries. There are a great many variations on what an individual twitcher wants to see but it usually involves personal pleasure or challenge, and not necessarily, though sometimes, a sense of competition.

Often it can be a sociable “fun thing”, such as happens with our Queensland Twitchathons. However, the Queensland Twitchathon is primarily aimed at raising funds (through sponsorships) to be used to fund avian research. In addition, most of our team contestants just love to see birds in their natural habitat AND enjoy each other’s company with a common goal.

Twitching has other important side benefits in that keen twitchers usually become experienced bird observers, skilled at identifying many bird species under all sorts of weather conditions. We try and include new birders and young birders so that there is maximum benefit from the Twitchathon. Twitchathon participants are most suitable people to assist with the conduct of bird population surveys. Their reliable observations yield the vital data required to indicate whether bird biodiversity is at risk and whether degradation of bird habitats is putting a given species under threat.

The Queensland Twitchathon

The 2023 Birds Queensland Twitchathon

Is taking place from 22nd September to 3rd October 2023.

Entries open 1st August 2023 – Click here to enter.

Team Sponsorship

You can make either a general donation to Birds Queensland or a sponsorship donation in support of a team/individual on the donation page.
Please note that this year donations are being handled for Birds Qld through a third-party site: justgiving.com.

Rules and details

The following details are available:

1. See the 2023 Twitchathon Rules page for details about the conditions under which the twitchathon is run.
2. Team applications can be made online via the fundraising campaign page. Alternatively, email the twitch coordinator with the following details in order to be registered in the system:

• Team Name
• Name, Email address, and Phone number for each participant.
• Highlight who the Team leader is
• Nominate the race category(s) that you will be competing in: 12 Hours or 24 Hours or Eco Category

Checklists

The following species lists are available:

• Reduced lists for the 2022 Twitchathon have been prepared (they are the same as last year)
  • IOC (10.1) Species Checklist for South-east Queensland – Twitchathon 2022
  • IOC (10.1) Species Checklist for Queensland – Twitchathon 2022
• Or you may wish to use the more complete lists, based on IOC V13.1:
  • Queensland_Checklist
  • South-East Qld_Checklist