About#
Big Day is a birdwatching event where participants compete to record the number of bird species they can see or hear within a 24-hour time limit.Since 2016, we have been organizing Big Day events several times a year across Japan.
There is only one goal: Adding “one more species” to your list.
To the sea, to the mountains, before dawn, or in the middle of the night—it doesn’t matter. You literally run around, listen carefully, and never miss even a small shadow moving in the bushes.
It’s a bit different from leisurely nature observation—a slightly eccentric outdoor endurance sport where participants compete with their honed birding skills.
Above all, Big Day is a fun event. It’s the enjoyment that brings participants back voluntarily year after year.
Why we do this#
Big Day is an event to thoroughly enjoy birds, setting aside conservation and science for a moment. At the same time, we aim to publish the recorded data through GBIF and Zenodo in the future, preserving it as an avifaunal record that researchers around the world can reference.