Competition founder and coordinator Tim Keyes of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said the interest and turnout, which included eight new teams, “was an affirmation that the program is still going strong.”

The Awesome Anhingas from Cobb County won the High School Division and overall competition, seeing or hearing 128 species in a 24-hour search that ranged from the Georgia coast to Kennesaw Mountain in metro Atlanta. Nine of the 32 teams reported 70 or more species and two had over 100.

The Youth Birding Competition is aimed at inspiring an awareness and appreciation of Georgia birds and the outdoors. This year’s event ran from 5 p.m. April 10 to 5 p.m. Saturday. During that nine-day span, kindergarteners through high-schoolers picked a 24-hour period and competed by age group to find the most bird species. Teams sporting names such as Rockin’ Robins, Tuff Titmice and Bufford Bluebirds hailed from Morgan County to Atlanta and Rome.

Eight teams chose to fundraise for conservation organizations, totaling $2,872. Eagle Eyes, from Brunswick, led with of $1,489 pledged to Birds Georgia. Other recipients included the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and The Environmental Resources Network Inc. or TERN, friends group of DNR’s Wildlife Conservation Section.

Mentor Honors

For the second straight year, Tasha Messer was named the top mentor. The Atlanta naturalist spent 163 hours prepping and mentoring three teams representing DeKalb County Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs: Birding Crew in the Primary Division and Angel Chicks and Halo Hawks in the Elementary Division. Messer received a framed print of an orchid oriole by Dick Parks, a founding member of the Georgia Ornithological Society, which helps sponsor the competition.

The award was renamed the David Hedeen Mentor Award this year in memory of the well-known Georgia birder who died in January. The honor also connected to the Youth Birding Competition’s roots.

In 2004, Hedeen’s invitation for Keyes to take part in the World Series of Birding based in Cape May, New Jersey, led to the wildlife biologist starting the DNR event in 2006. “I was blown away by the quality of some of the youth teams” at the World Series, Keyes said. The morning after – “sleep-deprived and drinking coffee” – his discussions with other birders spawned the idea of the Georgia competition. Keyes received a TERN grant to start the Youth Birding Competition, “got 70 kids that first year and it’s been going great ever since.

“Without David,” he added, “there would not be a YBC.”

Blue-ribbon Artists

Saturday’s banquet at the center near Mansfield also featured the winners and 140-plus entries in a T-shirt art contest. Birding participants received shirts featuring a black-and-white warbler by Emma Lo of Sandy Springs. At 9 years old, the fourth grader at SKA Academy of Art and Design in Duluth is the competition’s youngest grand-prize winner. Lo, who also led the elementary school division, received a $100 Amazon gift card.

While DNR named most T-shirt division winners in March, the top entry from a youth who took part in the birding competition was announced Saturday. That award went to Mattie Middleton for her painting of a wood thrush. The senior from Model High School in Rome birded with the Bufford Bluebirds team, which led the high school division in fundraising. Mattie won Best Artwork by a Birder last year, as well. Winning art entries are posted on SmugMug.

2027 Competition

The 2027 Youth Birding Competition banquet will be April 17. Registration opens online this winter.

The competition and art contest – which have inspired similar events in other states, including Birmingham Zoo’s recent Alabama Bird Search Youth Challenge – are sponsored by the Wildlife Conservation Section, TERN, Georgia Ornithological Society, Birds Georgia and Georgia Power.

The Wildlife Conservation Section conserves Georgia wildlife not legally fished for or hunted, as well as rare plants and natural habitats. The agency depends primarily on fundraisers, grants and contributions. Learn more at about license plates and direct donations.

Complete Results

High School Division

1. Awesome Anhingas (Cobb County): 128 species, division and overall competition winner
2. Kestrels (Tucker): 111 species
3. Feather Finders (Atlanta): 86 species

Middle School Division

1. Carolina Wrinners (Atlanta): 84 species
2. Eagle Eyes (Brunswick): 80 species
3. Bird Dawgs (Morgan County): 73 species

Elementary School Division

1. (tie) Rockin’ Robins (Morgan County) and Angel Chicks (DeKalb County Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs): 65 species
2. Halo Hawks (DeKalb County RPCA: 63 species

Primary School Division

1. Birding Crew (DeKalb County RPCA): 65 species
2. Wild Wrens (Oxford): 22 species
3. Blue Jays (Troup County): 18 species

Fundraising (division leaders)

1. Middle: Eagle Eyes (Brunswick): division and overall top fundraiser, raising $1,489 (for Birds Georgia)
2. Elementary: Halo Hawks (DeKalb County RPCA): $278
3. Primary: Birding Crew (DeKalb County RPCA): $150
4. High: Bufford Bluebirds (Rome): $100
   Fundraising for conservation is a voluntary part of the event.

Top first-year teams

• Primary: Blue Jays (Good Hope), 18 species
• Elementary: Angel Chicks (DeKalb County RPCA), 65 species
• Middle: Carolina Wrinners (Atlanta), 84 species

David Hedeen Mentor Award

• Tasha Messer, mentoring Birding Crew in the Primary Division and Angel Chicks and Halo Hawks in the Elementary Division, all from DeKalb County Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs.

Read the 2026 T-shirt Art Contest details and results.