How many birds can a world of birders find in one day? You can help answer that question on 13 May 2017—the Global Big Day. 

Last year's Global Big Day featured more than 17,000 people across 154 countries, collectively reporting 6,331 species of birds—more than 60% of the world's bird species. Perhaps most importantly,  these data provided an amazing snapshot of bird populations worldwide on a single day, helping inform science and conservation.

Looking to get started preparing for Global Big Day? Here are three quick ways to have the most fun:

1. "Scout" your birding spots for May 13. Finding where the birds are ahead of time makes the big day birding more fun, and also gives you more chances to be out enjoying birds. Perfect. Learn how to use eBird to find birds. 
2. Use eBird Mobile. This free data-entry app makes it so you don't have to enter your sightings at the end of the day, and tools like Quick Entry mean you have less time with your face in a notebook. Get eBird Mobile here. 
3. Get a friend involved. Perhaps this is a good birding buddy, or someone who has never been birding before. Make it a friendly competition, or join forces as a Global Big Day team, and put your marker on the global participation map. Share on social media using #eBird_GBD. Check out the Facebook event.  

No matter what you do—have a great time, enjoy the birds around you, and let us know what you find! We're excited to see what we can achieve together on Global Big Day.