BirdLife South Africa’s Birding Big Day (BBD) 2025 took place on 06 December 2025.

Over 670 species were logged and a total of 62 406 records were created over the course of the day – an invaluable new dataset which helps us better understand the state of South Africa’s birds!

Overall Winners

50 km winners: Team Hamerkop with 322, retaining their crown.
6 km winners: a tie between Bosveld Laksmanne and Wild Tomorrow Watchers with 234 (an unbelievable result for this category!)

Provincial Winners:

Mpumalanga: Hamerkop with 322
Limpopo: Wat-Kyk-Jy with 306
Gauteng: Soaring iSuzus with 201
North West: Wacky Waxbills with 250
Northern Cape: Bird Smits with 163
Western Cape: Four Cuckoos for a Day with 205
Eastern Cape: Klaasy Kentonians with 199
Free State: Three Ruffs and a Reeve with 201
KwaZulu-Natal: Off the Rails with 267

The day was an great success, with 503 teams registering – 50 more than the highest year ever!
Thank you to all that participated and donated to our Science and Innovation Programme, and thank you to our sponsors RETURN Africa for their support throughout the event.

Birding Big Day 2025 is proudly sponsored by RETURN Africa.

Birding Big Day 2025 Return Africa Luck Draw

Register for Birding Big Day, and you will be entered into a Lucky Draw to win this incredible prize from RETURN Africa, one of South Africa’s premiere birding destinations!

Follow along with the birding fun!

6km Radius Challenge – https://www.birdlasser.com/events/bbd20256k
50km Radius Challenge – https://www.birdlasser.com/events/bbd2025
Gauteng – https://www.birdlasser.com/events/bbd2025Gauteng
Eastern-Cape – https://www.birdlasser.com/events/bbd2025EC
Free State – https://www.birdlasser.com/events/bbd2025FS
KwaZulu-Natal – https://www.birdlasser.com/events/bbd2025KZN
Limpopo – https://www.birdlasser.com/events/bbd2025LIM
Mpumalanga – https://www.birdlasser.com/events/bbd2025MPU
North-West – https://www.birdlasser.com/events/bbd2025NW
Northern Cape – https://www.birdlasser.com/events/bbd2025NC
Western Cape – https://www.birdlasser.com/events/bbd2025WC

Learn more about the RETURN Africa Lucky Draw here

Play along by entering your data on BirdLasser!

Teams are invited to log their sightings on the mobile app BirdLasser. The sightings will automatically be displayed on a dedicated BirdLasser Birding Big Day event page. In order to participate, one member of the team must enter the data on BirdLasser while birding. The following information must be provided on BirdLife South Africa’s online form:

  • The name and email address of the person in the team who will log the sightings on BirdLasser. Please make sure you enter the correct email address, you can find it under the settings menu on the BirdLasser App.
  • Team name which will appear on the BirdLasser events page (maximum 25 characters).
  • Names of team members.

During the day, the challenge page will automatically update as teams record their sightings, thus adding to the excitement of the day. Progress will be reported in social and other media. For more information about BirdLasser, visit www.birdlasser.com or email support@birdlasser.com.

All participants will be loaded in each of the nine provincial BirdLasser events and scores will be kept as to how many species each team record in a province. Please note this will only be available for teams using BirdLasser and only for teams entering the 50km radius challenge.

Payment

You need to register for Birding Big Day before the event by completing the online form. There is no entry fee, but please consider making a donation.

If you want to order a limited edition, commemorative Birding Big Day badge, please visit BirdLife South Africa’s online shop.

Donations can be made through the registration form below, or paid into BirdLife South Africa’s bank account.

Please use the payment reference ‘BBD’ followed by your team name and send deposit slip or proof of payment via email to bbd@birdlife.org.za.

Bank account details

Account Name: BirdLife South Africa
Bank: First National Bank
Branch: Randburg
Branch code: 254005
Account number: 62067506281

Categories

You can participate in one of two categories:

50 km Radius Category
The rules for this category are:

  • The maximum area that can be visited is an area within a radius of 50 km.
  • Please note this a RADIUS of 50 km – so from boundary to boundary it is 100 km.
  • Teams registering for this category will automatically be entered into provincial challenges (this will not be the case for the 6 km radius category).

6 km Radius Category
The rules for this category are:

  • The maximum area that can be visited is an area within a radius of 6 km.
  • Note this is a RADIUS of 6 km – from boundary to boundary the distance is 12 km.
  • Teams registering in this category will not be automatically entered into provincial challenges. Please email bbd@birdlife.org.za if you want your team to be entered into a provincial challenge. Indicate clearly which provincial challenge. 

More information

For more information, contact bbd@birdlife.org.za.