What is the Amos Butler Audubon Society Birdathon?
Since 1987 the ABAS Birdathon has been on a mission to promote the enjoyment and stewardship of the birds of Central Indiana. Birdathon is the organization’s premier fundraising event. A notice is sent out in early January requesting grant submissions for conservation and education projects. The grant requests which are determined to be the best candidates for fulfilling our mission are selected for funding. Each year teams of avid birdwatchers conduct a “Big Day” event in the spring to locate as many species as possible in a 24-hour period to raise Birdathon funds. We began with just one team, but now over a dozen participate in this event. Loyal volunteers, who do not participate on a team, also seek Birdathon pledges. If you’d like to be involved contact Birdathon Chair Neil Brookhouse at
2026 Birdathon – Birding for Bucks to Save Birds
2026 marks the 39th Amos Butler Audubon Birdathon and this year we have received the largest amount of grant requests in our history. The Birdathon Committee did an excellent job of selecting the most impactful grants with a heavy focus on research projects, habitat restoration and conservation projects. North American birds continue to face big challenges, like habitat loss, climate change and environmental pollutants. ABAS is working hard to address these challenges through this year’s grants. ABAS continues to work with long term partners like the American Bird Conservancy and the Marian University EcoLab while also building new relationships at Conner Prairie and Hamilton County Parks. We are thrilled about the grant requests we received this year and all of the great work being done throughout Central Indiana and beyond. Please help us raise the $40,760 necessary to fund the largest amount of grant requests in Birdathon history.
2026 – Make a Difference, Make a Pledge
Birdathon teams will be scouring the state during May, counting birds and asking donors to sponsor their efforts. If you don’t know a team member, you could choose to make a donation directly to the Birdathon. Either way, your dollars will go far to ensure the future of our Indiana birds. Donate online below! As always, thank you for the continued support from our Corporate Sponsors.
2026 Birdathon Donations Supported the Following:
Improving Migratory Bird Habitat in Colombia
The American Bird Conservancy – $18,000
Forestry Technician Funding
With such great results in in Central Colombia from previous grants, we will continue to support ABC and its local partner in Colombia, Vivo Cuenca, to create winter habitat for migratory birds such as Golden-winged, Cerulean, and Canada Warblers. All three of these species, which pass through Indiana on their way to their breeding grounds, are facing population declines due to habitat loss. This year ABC’s goal is to protect the existing forest fragments and improve habitat quality and connectivity by planting native trees within coffee-growing landscapes. ABC is seeking support from Amos Butler Audubon Society for 10 months of salary for one forestry technician, a crucial project role, as well as funds to support other project staff.
Research Projects
Indiana University Kokomo – $9,100
Local and migratory movement ecology of Ruby-throated hummingbirds
This grant request is to investigate movement ecology of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) in Indiana, using the latest transmitter technology by Cellular Tracking Technologies (CTT), ultralight BlūMorpho transmitters (0.06g). This new technology will provide valuable data to gain a better understanding of local movement patterns in urban habitats as well as long-distance migration behavior of hummingbird populations in urban and rural environments of Central Indiana.
Education & Outreach Projects
Indiana Audubon Society – $2,500
Banding for Science and Stewardship
This grant will fund Indiana Audubon’s request for the purchase of a complete set of banding equipment and to deliver a series of training and outreach across central Indiana. The kit will allow safe, hands-on banding demonstrations and structured apprenticeships at Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary and at Eagle Creek Park Ornithology Center summer camps. The project will also be supporting regional educational requests and providing the resources to train assistants and stewards for banding science.
Franklin College – $1,600
Avian Adventures: Explore the Wild Side of STEM Camp GRIZ at Franklin College
This grant will fund the purchase of supplies and cover speaker fees for Avian Adventures a five-day STEM camp designed to immerse middle and high school students in the ecology, biology, and conservation of birds. Through hands-on activities, campers will explore avian adaptations, habitat design, and the role of birds in local ecosystems. The program emphasizes enjoyment, education, and stewardship of birds while fostering scientific literacy and community engagement. Avian Adventures is one of five hands-on modules associated with the larger CampGRIZ experience. Serving 30 campers, Avian Adventures combines interactive learning with real-world conservation practices. Activities include a birds of prey demonstration, goose banding, nest architecture challenge, birdwatching and call identification, owl pellet dissection, nature journaling, birdhouse building, and a flight physics lab.
Conner Prairie Museum – $1,000
Adaptive Equipment for Greater Accessibility at Event
This grant will enable the museum’s purchase of adaptive equipment, which will allow greater accessibility and participation, especially among children, the elderly, and those who are differently abled.
Center for Earth and Environmental Science – $2,000
Supporting Bird-related Community Service and Education at IU Indianapolis
This grant will fund the purchase of binoculars, to enhance current bird-related service learning offerings and permit expansion of the program. Good-quality binoculars will facilitate future bird-focused research and additionally be available for other CEES education and public outreach activities. These could include teacher professional development workshops, where bird-centered middle school/high school curricula would be developed. Binoculars could be loaned to the Biology Department for its ornithology courses. Currently, the capacity for class trips to engage in bird watching is stymied by a lack of field glasses.
Preserving & Enhancing Local Habitats
Keep Indianapolis Beautiful – $2,000
Nine13Sports Bike Park native plantings
This grant will support the funding to plant thousands of perennials and about 20 trees in a new traffic safety garden and bike park KIB is creating with Nine13sports at 29th Street and the Central Canal. The site currently includes a cracked parking lot, a rusting chain-link fence, overgrown brush, and has been a consistent site of trash and environmental dumping.
Marian University Nina Mason Pulliam EcoLab – $3,000
Continued Community Involvement in Environmental Restoration
This year the grant will continue a multiyear, ongoing project using students to plant native trees and perennials in an urban gem. The restoration work will be led by the EcoLab Director, Dr. David Benson, EcoLab Science Director, Dr. Zachary Sylvain, and Taylor Lehman, the full-time Restoration Ecologist for the EcoLab. This year, Marian will focus on the south end of the EcoLab, where a large woody-invasive removal project was recently completed, and another is planned. The recently completed area will be replanted in some locations with native trees and shrubs. The project includes plans to install a “boot brush station” to help keep new invasives out and educate the public on how humans act as seed vectors in natural environments like the EcoLab.
Hamilton County Parks & Recreation – $1,500
Purple Martin Habitat Expansion at Strawtown Koteewi Park
This grant will fund the purchase and installation of additional Purple Martin habitat to expand the existing colony at Strawtown Koteewi Park. HCPR will also purchase and install interpretive signage to inform the public of the project’s goal. The system currently consists of 12 gourd housing systems
2026 Birdathon Teams Species Counts
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Birdathon without our teams of intrepid birders. All teams give up regular meals and sleep to count the birds, all while raising donations to ensure the birds we value so highly will be around for the future. Check back here to see each team’s Big Day species count as they finish. If you’re interested in becoming a team, see the Birdathon Team Guidelines
Species Counts by Team
Birdathon 2025
For over a quarter-century, the Amos Butler Audubon Society has been on a mission — a mission to promote the enjoyment and stewardship of the birds of Central Indiana. Birdathon 2025 (ending June 30, 2025) once again raised a record amount of money to fund 11 grants this year. The Munshower’s Merlins (Community Hospital) took top honors as the fundraising champs and Second Cycle Birders species champs with 183 species.