See who Alabama Audubon named 2025 Bird of the Year

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The Snowy Plover is Alabama Audubon’s 2025 Bird of the Year. (Alabama Audubon)

On Saturday night, we had the privilege of attending Alabama Audubon’s second-ever “Bird of the Year” Gala at Cahaba Brewing Company in Birmingham. It was a night to remember, culminating in the grand reveal of the 2025 Bird of the Year.

Congratulations to our feathered friend, the Snowy Plover!

Keep reading to hear about our experience at the gala and to learn why the Snowy Plover was chosen.

Celebrating birding, conservation + wildlife

On Saturday, February 1, bird enthusiasts gathered at Cahaba Brewing in Birmingham for the exciting reveal of the 2025 Bird of the Year.

Before the big reveal, we got to:

  • Play a bird trio game, where attendees create an interesting trio of birds from cards they were given
  • Compared our wingspan to an Albatross (who’s wingspan can be up to 11 feet)
  • Enjoy yummy bites
  • Participate in a silent auction for swag + birding experiences

Other highlights of the gala include:

  • The first awarding of the Avian Ally Award to UAB Facilities Division for going above + beyond to help protect Alabama’s birds in 2024
  • 2025 Bird of the Year featured in an amazing art piece by UAB student Ava Bailey

Our favorite part of the evening, of course, was the highly anticipated reveal of the 2025 Bird of the Year. What made it even more special, though, was that we managed to correctly guess the Snowy Plover because of their recent achievements and high conservation concern.

Plovers need our protection

These small shorebirds reside in Alabama at Gulf Shores State Park, Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge and Pelican Island.

However, the Snowy Plover population, among other shorebirds, is highly threatened due to habitat loss.

“Alabama’s coastal habitats—beaches, marshes, and islands—provide critical nesting, foraging, and overwintering grounds for many species of shorebirds and seabirds.

These habitats represent highly dynamic ecosystems that are particularly sensitive to erosion, sea-level rise, annual weather and tidal regimes, climate change, and human development and disturbance.

Coastal birds, particularly those that nest on beachfronts, are threatened by these pressures and are exceptionally sensitive to human recreational disturbances.”

Alabama Audubon’s website

Alabama Coastal Bird Stewardship Program

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Plovers have had a successful nesting season in 2024. (Alabama Audubon)

Since 2017, Alabama Coastal Bird Stewardship program has provided critical protection and monitoring for our state’s sensitive beach-nesting bird populations.

Administered by Alabama Audubon staff at both its Birmingham headquarters and Mobile-based field office, the program utilizes local volunteers to monitor and enhance the breeding success of several species of concern on the beaches of Mobile and Baldwin Counties.

On September 12, 2024, Alabama Audubon announced on their Facebook that they were celebrating the successful nesting season of seven Snowy Plover fledglings on Dauphin Island thanks to the monitoring and protection of threatened shorebirds.

“While we are encouraged to see these numbers rise, we still have a long way to go!

Historically there have been Black Skimmers, Wilson’s Plovers and various tern species nesting successfully on the beaches of the island.

Now only Snowy Plovers are successfully fledging birds on these sands, and that appears to be due to our protective measures. Every action matters in deciding the future for these birds – which are currently listed as a species of highest conservation concern in the state.”

Alabama Audubon Facebook

What do you think of the Snowy Plover being named 2025 Bird of the Year? Let us know on Facebook & Instagram!

Audrey Kent
Audrey Kent
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