Montana Audubon

06/22/2026

Thank you all for making this year's Wings Across the Big Sky festival another success! 🦅✨

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended, supported, and sponsored our 3-day Wings Across the Big Sky festival this year in Kalispell. Your generosity, enthusiasm, and commitment to conserving birds, wildlife, and the landscapes we all cherish helps make this gathering truly special each year. 💞

To our sponsors, including lead sponsor, Glacier Bank, thank you for investing in conservation and community. To our 150+ guests, 20+ field-trip leaders, Montana Audubon members, and our co-chair partners this year, Flathead Audubon Society, thank you for showing up, sharing your passion, and helping us celebrate the incredible wildlife and wild places that make Montana special. 🏔️🩵

Photo credit to Victor Perez Photography 📸

06/19/2026

🌞Summer starts tomorrow- what better way to celebrate the new migrating wildlife than with Montana Audubon’s annual Birdathon, one of our largest fundraisers of the year!

🐦‍⬛What is Birdathon? For 24 hours, starting at 6 pm on June 24 and going until 6 pm on June 25, Montana Audubon staff will spread out across the state to count as many bird species as possible to raise money to support our important research, advocacy, and educational work in Montana. We’re hoping to find 100 bird species in total this year!

💌Giving to Birdathon is easy: donate on a per-bird species basis, or make a lump-sum gift of any amount through mail-in or online donation. To make a pledge, return your donation envelope to us in the mail, or email your pledge information to [email protected].

💞Double Your Conservation Impact! Thanks to a generous donor, your gift will be matched up to $10,000. This means that your Birdathon donation will have double the impact!

Online donation form can be found at this link: https://form-renderer-app.donorperfect.io/give/montana-audubon/birdathon-2026

06/19/2026

We applaud Senator Steve Daines and the other members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee for their efforts to advance the America the Beautiful Bill to reauthorize the Legacy Restoration Fund while protecting and honoring the original commitment to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). We are happy to see that this bill does not change or amend LWCF in any way, guaranteeing protection of permanent, dedicated funding.

Executive Director, Larry Berrin said, "this is great news for the most successful bipartisan conservation program in the nation that has invested nearly $750 million in public lands and recreation projects here in Montana.”

Read more at E&ENews: https://www.eenews.net/articles/momentum-grows-for-outdoors-act-reauthorization/

05/22/2026

📢Attention high school students, college students, and recent college grads! Scholarships are available to attend Wings Across the Big Sky, Montana’s premier birding festival, June 12-14, 2026 in Kalispell, MT.

Thanks to Flathead Audubon and Five Valleys Audubon, 20 student scholarships are available to cover festival costs!

Flathead Audubon has 10 scholarships available to students or recent college grads of any age from anywhere in the US. Click the link to apply! https://forms.gle/3F48D1Bzp9eoYxyi7

For Missoula-area residents, Five Valleys Audubon is providing 10 scholarships as well. Please email them at [email protected] for more information on how to apply.

After you are awarded a scholarship, you can register for the festival, enter your assigned code, and all your festival costs will be covered. Click below to register:
https://montanaaudubon2022.regfox.com/2026-wings-across-the-big-sky-birding-festival

05/21/2026

Montana’s public lands belong to all of us — and the call to protect them is growing louder. 🏔️🦅

Read the latest guest column from Montana Audubon Executive Director Larry Berrin at the Flathead Beacon where he shares why Montanans are calling for stronger public lands protections — and why leaders should listen.

Read our piece, then help spread the word by sharing with fellow public lands lovers and advocates.

https://flatheadbeacon.com/2026/05/19/are-montana-leaders-listening-to-the-calls-for-public-lands-protections/

05/21/2026

Join us in Billings next Tuesday, May 26, to learn about how communities, nonprofits, and YOU can access new public funding to invest in conservation, public access, and working lands right here in northwest Montana.🌱

At these events, you’ll:
🦅 Hear how HB 932 works and what kinds of projects are eligible for funding.
🦉 Learn about new community grant programs through Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
🐦‍⬛ Share your ideas for projects that could benefit Livingston, Billings, Paradise Valley and beyond.

We’ll be joined by experts including Mike Mershon of Montana Wildlife Federation, Heather Bilden of Coulee Creek Ranch, and Peter Dudley of Montana Audubon!

We hope you’ll join us and help shape the future of Montana’s lands and wildlife! 🏔️

05/21/2026

Thank you to Naturalist Journeys, LLC, one of our 2026 Wings Across the Big Sky Birding Festival sponsors!

Join us this year in Kalispell, Montana from June 12 to 14 for the 25th annual festival for a weekend full of birds and community.

Learn more about the festival and register online: https://mtaudubon.org/events/wings-across-the-big-sky/

05/20/2026

A recent guest column in support of public lands and the critically important Land and Water Conservation Fund, by Montana Audubon's Executive Director, Larry Berrin.

Missoula Current: https://missoulacurrent.com/public-land-protection/

Missoulian: https://missoulian.com/opinion/column/article_20944868-8fd9-4e5d-9dbe-3ba5a178dc43.html

Billings: https://billingsgazette.com/opinion/column/article_80e52642-3b40-54af-830a-c04cdf911608.html

Helena: https://helenair.com/opinion/column/article_b04cbf42-a446-522f-9fca-d753f59b19ec.html

Bozeman: https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/opinions/guest_columnists/larry-berrin-are-montana-leaders-listening-to-calls-for-public-lands-protections/article_938f3a00-6ad0-43b1-9147-237ade6417eb.html

Montanans don’t always agree on politics. But when it comes to public lands, and the wildlife that depend on them, there is a remarkable and enduring consensus: these places matter,

05/14/2026

Thank you to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, one of our 2026 Wings Across the Big Sky Birding Festival sponsors!

Join us this year in Kalispell, Montana from June 12 to 14 for the 25th annual festival for a weekend full of birds and community.

Learn more about the festival and register online: https://mtaudubon.org/events/wings-across-the-big-sky/

05/12/2026

📣 Reminder! Virtual training for our Common Nighthawk Citizen Science Survey is tonight at 7pm via zoom. Fill out our Survey Interest Form at our citizen science website and you will receive a zoom invitation via email.
https://montanabirdsurveys.weebly.com/nightjars.html

Join us for a presentation about the natural history, ecology, identification, and conservation of Common Nighthawks and how to get involved in surveying them around Montana.

Visit our citizen science website for more information on this survey, or email Casey at [email protected] with any questions!

Special thanks to our funding partners L.E.A.W. Family Foundation and MFWP.