What is the bird of the day challenge?
This game grew out of a friendly competition started in 2016 with a Sibley 365-day bird calendar. We challenged each other to see the bird-of-the-day on its specific day. It was a fun challenge, but the problem was that the calendar was ordered taxonomically, with ducks and grebes and grouse at the start of the year and finches and warblers and sparrows at the end. We wanted a competition that was phenological, such that the birds would be appropriate to the season. To that end, we designed our own Bird-of-the-Day Challenge calendar such that each day’s bird is picked randomly, but with a probability proportional to the likelihood that birdwatchers would see and report that species on that day anywhere in the continental United States. Due to popular demand, we continue to make a new calendar every year.
The challenge is designed to be fair and even, with no specific advantage given to any region or time of year, although we admit that areas with more bird species will likely have an easier time. But, that’s birding!
How to play?
Scoring is easy. Every day of the year has 1 bird. If you see the bird on that day, you get 1 point. Thus, there’s a maximum of 365 points to be accumulated in non-leap years. As for score-keeping: we make the calendar, but you play along at home. We encourage all participants to put their sightings on eBird, and we also encourage participants to make their eBird profiles public, like this.
If you would like to be kept informed on updates, please enter your email address here:
Back for 2025: Purchase a customized photo calendar with all of the Birds of the Day!
The Birds for Each Day
The full calendar is below.
You can also download the calendar as a pdf,
or as an iCal or Google Calendar import file.
For the archives of past years’ calendars, see: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.
The “rarity” ranking is based on how probable (1) or improbable (5) each bird was to be selected for that day.
| Day | Species | Rarity Score | |
| January 1, 2025 | American Pipit | 1 | |
| January 2, 2025 | American White Pelican | 2 | |
| January 3, 2025 | Couch’s Kingbird | 4 | |
| January 4, 2025 | Black Scoter | 2 | |
| January 5, 2025 | American Robin | 1 | |
| January 6, 2025 | Common Eider | 3 | |
| January 7, 2025 | Black-crowned Night Heron | 2 | |
| January 8, 2025 | Red-breasted Merganser | 1 | |
| January 9, 2025 | Bohemian Waxwing | 3 | |
| January 10, 2025 | Sanderling | 3 | |
| January 11, 2025 | Little Blue Heron | 1 | |
| January 12, 2025 | Common Goldeneye | 2 | |
| January 13, 2025 | Evening Grosbeak | 4 | |
| January 14, 2025 | Black-legged Kittiwake | 4 | |
| January 15, 2025 | Red-bellied Woodpecker | 1 | |
| January 16, 2025 | California Gull | 3 | |
| January 17, 2025 | Brown-headed Nuthatch | 2 | |
| January 18, 2025 | Bushtit | 2 | |
| January 19, 2025 | Ring-billed Gull | 1 | |
| January 20, 2025 | Northern Shrike | 2 | |
| January 21, 2025 | Common Merganser | 1 | |
| January 22, 2025 | Plain Chachalaca | 4 | |
| January 23, 2025 | Gray Catbird | 3 | |
| January 24, 2025 | Gadwall | 2 | |
| January 25, 2025 | Turkey Vulture | 1 | |
| January 26, 2025 | Say’s Phoebe | 1 | |
| January 27, 2025 | Herring Gull | 2 | |
| January 28, 2025 | Golden-crowned Sparrow | 2 | |
| January 29, 2025 | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 2 | |
| January 30, 2025 | Sora | 2 | |
| January 31, 2025 | American Tree Sparrow | 1 | |
| February 1, 2025 | King Rail | 4 | |
| February 2, 2025 | Brown Pelican | 1 | |
| February 3, 2025 | White-winged Scoter | 1 | |
| February 4, 2025 | Costa’s Hummingbird | 4 | |
| February 5, 2025 | Purple Finch | 1 | |
| February 6, 2025 | Downy Woodpecker | 1 | |
| February 7, 2025 | Field Sparrow | 3 | |
| February 8, 2025 | Green-winged Teal | 2 | |
| February 9, 2025 | Curve-billed Thrasher | 3 | |
| February 10, 2025 | American Coot | 2 | |
| February 11, 2025 | Mountain Bluebird | 4 | |
| February 12, 2025 | Anhinga | 1 | |
| February 13, 2025 | Glaucous Gull | 3 | |
| February 14, 2025 | Blue-winged Teal | 3 | |
| February 15, 2025 | Clark’s Nutcracker | 3 | |
| February 16, 2025 | Boat-tailed Grackle | 2 | |
| February 17, 2025 | Rusty Blackbird | 2 | |
| February 18, 2025 | Steller’s Jay | 3 | |
| February 19, 2025 | American Goldfinch | 1 | |
| February 20, 2025 | Northern Shoveler | 1 | |
| February 21, 2025 | Brown-headed Cowbird | 2 | |
| February 22, 2025 | Mourning Dove | 1 | |
| February 23, 2025 | Oak Titmouse | 1 | |
| February 24, 2025 | Wood Stork | 1 | |
| February 25, 2025 | Belted Kingfisher | 1 | |
| February 26, 2025 | Great Horned Owl | 1 | |
| February 27, 2025 | Tundra Swan | 3 | |
| February 28, 2025 | Fox Sparrow | 3 | |
| March 1, 2025 | American Black Duck | 2 | |
| March 2, 2025 | Lesser Scaup | 1 | |
| March 3, 2025 | Cactus Wren | 2 | |
| March 4, 2025 | American Wigeon | 2 | |
| March 5, 2025 | Band-tailed Pigeon | 4 | |
| March 6, 2025 | Allen’s Hummingbird | 2 | |
| March 7, 2025 | Black-crested Titmouse | 2 | |
| March 8, 2025 | Anna’s Hummingbird | 1 | |
| March 9, 2025 | Marsh Wren | 2 | |
| March 10, 2025 | Pacific Loon | 4 | |
| March 11, 2025 | Greater Scaup | 1 | |
| March 12, 2025 | Red-winged Blackbird | 1 | |
| March 13, 2025 | Purple Martin | 2 | |
| March 14, 2025 | Mottled Duck | 2 | |
| March 15, 2025 | Hairy Woodpecker | 1 | |
| March 16, 2025 | Verdin | 3 | |
| March 17, 2025 | Barred Owl | 1 | |
| March 18, 2025 | Mountain Chickadee | 2 | |
| March 19, 2025 | California Towhee | 2 | |
| March 20, 2025 | Pine Siskin | 1 | |
| March 21, 2025 | White-tailed Hawk | 4 | |
| March 22, 2025 | Bufflehead | 2 | |
| March 23, 2025 | Black-necked Stilt | 1 | |
| March 24, 2025 | Northern Pygmy-Owl | 4 | |
| March 25, 2025 | Whimbrel | 3 | |
| March 26, 2025 | Golden-cheeked Warbler | 4 | |
| March 27, 2025 | Winter Wren | 2 | |
| March 28, 2025 | Mute Swan | 3 | |
| March 29, 2025 | Common Gallinule | 4 | |
| March 30, 2025 | Great-tailed Grackle | 1 | |
| March 31, 2025 | Prothonotary Warbler | 4 | |
| April 1, 2025 | Canvasback | 2 | |
| April 2, 2025 | Green Heron | 2 | |
| April 3, 2025 | American Bittern | 3 | |
| April 4, 2025 | Palm Warbler | 1 | |
| April 5, 2025 | Common Loon | 2 | |
| April 6, 2025 | White-eyed Vireo | 2 | |
| April 7, 2025 | Horned Grebe | 1 | |
| April 8, 2025 | Lincoln’s Sparrow | 2 | |
| April 9, 2025 | Northern Saw-whet Owl | 4 | |
| April 10, 2025 | Brown Creeper | 1 | |
| April 11, 2025 | Cliff Swallow | 1 | |
| April 12, 2025 | Worm-eating Warbler | 2 | |
| April 13, 2025 | Grasshopper Sparrow | 3 | |
| April 14, 2025 | Tufted Titmouse | 1 | |
| April 15, 2025 | Hooded Oriole | 2 | |
| April 16, 2025 | Yellow-headed Blackbird | 3 | |
| April 17, 2025 | Eastern Towhee | 2 | |
| April 18, 2025 | Sage Thrasher | 4 | |
| April 19, 2025 | Hepatic Tanager | 4 | |
| April 20, 2025 | Black-headed Grosbeak | 4 | |
| April 21, 2025 | Pinyon Jay | 4 | |
| April 22, 2025 | Nuttall’s Woodpecker | 2 | |
| April 23, 2025 | Double-crested Cormorant | 1 | |
| April 24, 2025 | Eastern Wood-Pewee | 4 | |
| April 25, 2025 | Northern Waterthrush | 1 | |
| April 26, 2025 | Bonaparte’s Gull | 2 | |
| April 27, 2025 | Warbling Vireo | 2 | |
| April 28, 2025 | Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 2 | |
| April 29, 2025 | Swainson’s Hawk | 1 | |
| April 30, 2025 | Blackpoll Warbler | 2 | |
| May 1, 2025 | Great Crested Flycatcher | 1 | |
| May 2, 2025 | Bay-breasted Warbler | 2 | |
| May 3, 2025 | Black-throated Gray Warbler | 2 | |
| May 4, 2025 | Swamp Sparrow | 1 | |
| May 5, 2025 | Lucy’s Warbler | 4 | |
| May 6, 2025 | Pine Warbler | 2 | |
| May 7, 2025 | Golden-winged Warbler | 4 | |
| May 8, 2025 | Blue Grosbeak | 2 | |
| May 9, 2025 | Nashville Warbler | 1 | |
| May 10, 2025 | Cassin’s Vireo | 4 | |
| May 11, 2025 | Northern Rough-winged Swallow | 1 | |
| May 12, 2025 | Eastern Kingbird | 1 | |
| May 13, 2025 | Cape May Warbler | 2 | |
| May 14, 2025 | Canyon Towhee | 3 | |
| May 15, 2025 | Orchard Oriole | 1 | |
| May 16, 2025 | Common Yellowthroat | 1 | |
| May 17, 2025 | Semipalmated Plover | 2 | |
| May 18, 2025 | Pacific Wren | 4 | |
| May 19, 2025 | Yellow-billed Magpie | 4 | |
| May 20, 2025 | Red-cockaded Woodpecker | 5 | |
| May 21, 2025 | Ring-necked Pheasant | 3 | |
| May 22, 2025 | Acorn Woodpecker | 4 | |
| May 23, 2025 | Pyrrhuloxia | 4 | |
| May 24, 2025 | Tricolored Heron | 4 | |
| May 25, 2025 | California Thrasher | 4 | |
| May 26, 2025 | Bullock’s Oriole | 1 | |
| May 27, 2025 | Ovenbird | 1 | |
| May 28, 2025 | Western Meadowlark | 2 | |
| May 29, 2025 | Lawrence’s Goldfinch | 4 | |
| May 30, 2025 | Veery | 1 | |
| May 31, 2025 | Baltimore Oriole | 1 | |
| June 1, 2025 | Scarlet Tanager | 2 | |
| June 2, 2025 | White-winged Dove | 3 | |
| June 3, 2025 | Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | |
| June 4, 2025 | Bank Swallow | 1 | |
| June 5, 2025 | Yellow Warbler | 1 | |
| June 6, 2025 | Yellow-breasted Chat | 1 | |
| June 7, 2025 | American Barn Owl | 5 | |
| June 8, 2025 | Chimney Swift | 2 | |
| June 9, 2025 | Indigo Bunting | 1 | |
| June 10, 2025 | Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 1 | |
| June 11, 2025 | Virginia’s Warbler | 4 | |
| June 12, 2025 | Eastern Screech-Owl | 5 | |
| June 13, 2025 | Blue Jay | 1 | |
| June 14, 2025 | Hooded Warbler | 2 | |
| June 15, 2025 | Gila Woodpecker | 4 | |
| June 16, 2025 | Wild Turkey | 2 | |
| June 17, 2025 | Horned Lark | 2 | |
| June 18, 2025 | Purple Gallinule | 4 | |
| June 19, 2025 | Snowy Egret | 2 | |
| June 20, 2025 | Wilson’s Phalarope | 4 | |
| June 21, 2025 | Western Wood-Pewee | 1 | |
| June 22, 2025 | Hermit Thrush | 2 | |
| June 23, 2025 | Black-capped Chickadee | 2 | |
| June 24, 2025 | Cedar Waxwing | 1 | |
| June 25, 2025 | Western Kingbird | 1 | |
| June 26, 2025 | Olive-sided Flycatcher | 4 | |
| June 27, 2025 | Fulvous Whistling-Duck | 5 | |
| June 28, 2025 | Ruby-throated Hummingbird | 2 | |
| June 29, 2025 | Barn Swallow | 1 | |
| June 30, 2025 | Swainson’s Thrush | 1 | |
| July 1, 2025 | Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 2 | |
| July 2, 2025 | Prairie Warbler | 3 | |
| July 3, 2025 | Northern Mockingbird | 1 | |
| July 4, 2025 | Chipping Sparrow | 1 | |
| July 5, 2025 | Northern House Wren | 2 | |
| July 6, 2025 | Carolina Wren | 2 | |
| July 7, 2025 | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | 4 | |
| July 8, 2025 | Sooty Shearwater | 4 | |
| July 9, 2025 | Clay-colored Sparrow | 3 | |
| July 10, 2025 | Abert’s Towhee | 4 | |
| July 11, 2025 | Hermit Warbler | 4 | |
| July 12, 2025 | Short-billed Dowitcher | 2 | |
| July 13, 2025 | Violet-green Swallow | 1 | |
| July 14, 2025 | Mallard | 2 | |
| July 15, 2025 | Great Blue Heron | 1 | |
| July 16, 2025 | Chuck-will’s-widow | 5 | |
| July 17, 2025 | Golden Eagle | 4 | |
| July 18, 2025 | Western Tanager | 2 | |
| July 19, 2025 | Acadian Flycatcher | 2 | |
| July 20, 2025 | Common Grackle | 1 | |
| July 21, 2025 | Common Tern | 1 | |
| July 22, 2025 | Wood Thrush | 2 | |
| July 23, 2025 | Mexican Jay | 4 | |
| July 24, 2025 | Bell’s Vireo | 2 | |
| July 25, 2025 | Roseate Tern | 4 | |
| July 26, 2025 | Black-chinned Hummingbird | 1 | |
| July 27, 2025 | Semipalmated Sandpiper | 1 | |
| July 28, 2025 | Black Tern | 3 | |
| July 29, 2025 | White-faced Ibis | 4 | |
| July 30, 2025 | Osprey | 1 | |
| July 31, 2025 | Scissor-tailed Flycatcher | 2 | |
| August 1, 2025 | Fish Crow | 2 | |
| August 2, 2025 | Elegant Trogon | 5 | |
| August 3, 2025 | Ruddy Duck | 2 | |
| August 4, 2025 | Burrowing Owl | 4 | |
| August 5, 2025 | Willow Flycatcher | 2 | |
| August 6, 2025 | Western Flycatcher | 4 | |
| August 7, 2025 | Saltmarsh Sparrow | 3 | |
| August 8, 2025 | Ash-throated Flycatcher | 2 | |
| August 9, 2025 | Lesser Yellowlegs | 1 | |
| August 10, 2025 | Wrentit | 2 | |
| August 11, 2025 | Trumpeter Swan | 4 | |
| August 12, 2025 | Western Bluebird | 2 | |
| August 13, 2025 | Western Cattle-Egret | 2 | |
| August 14, 2025 | Chestnut-sided Warbler | 2 | |
| August 15, 2025 | White-tailed Kite | 4 | |
| August 16, 2025 | Bewick’s Wren | 2 | |
| August 17, 2025 | Lark Sparrow | 2 | |
| August 18, 2025 | Least Sandpiper | 2 | |
| August 19, 2025 | Loggerhead Shrike | 3 | |
| August 20, 2025 | Pigeon Guillemot | 4 | |
| August 21, 2025 | Tree Swallow | 1 | |
| August 22, 2025 | Long-billed Dowitcher | 2 | |
| August 23, 2025 | Hudsonian Godwit | 4 | |
| August 24, 2025 | Magnolia Warbler | 1 | |
| August 25, 2025 | Snow Goose | 5 | |
| August 26, 2025 | White-breasted Nuthatch | 1 | |
| August 27, 2025 | Red-headed Woodpecker | 2 | |
| August 28, 2025 | Eurasian Collared-Dove | 2 | |
| August 29, 2025 | Western Gull | 3 | |
| August 30, 2025 | Common Pauraque | 5 | |
| August 31, 2025 | Solitary Sandpiper | 1 | |
| September 1, 2025 | Common Ground-Dove | 2 | |
| September 2, 2025 | Sandhill Crane | 3 | |
| September 3, 2025 | Rock Pigeon | 1 | |
| September 4, 2025 | Spotted Sandpiper | 1 | |
| September 5, 2025 | Gull-billed Tern | 5 | |
| September 6, 2025 | Rose-breasted Grosbeak | 2 | |
| September 7, 2025 | Chestnut-backed Chickadee | 3 | |
| September 8, 2025 | Common Murre | 3 | |
| September 9, 2025 | Black-throated Green Warbler | 3 | |
| September 10, 2025 | Willet | 2 | |
| September 11, 2025 | Glaucous-winged Gull | 4 | |
| September 12, 2025 | Reddish Egret | 4 | |
| September 13, 2025 | Laughing Gull | 2 | |
| September 14, 2025 | Wilson’s Warbler | 1 | |
| September 15, 2025 | Black Phoebe | 2 | |
| September 16, 2025 | Surf Scoter | 4 | |
| September 17, 2025 | Royal Tern | 4 | |
| September 18, 2025 | Townsend’s Solitaire | 3 | |
| September 19, 2025 | Red Knot | 3 | |
| September 20, 2025 | Forster’s Tern | 2 | |
| September 21, 2025 | Dark-eyed Junco | 2 | |
| September 22, 2025 | American Redstart | 1 | |
| September 23, 2025 | American Kestrel | 2 | |
| September 24, 2025 | Spotted Towhee | 3 | |
| September 25, 2025 | Orange-crowned Warbler | 1 | |
| September 26, 2025 | Northern Flicker | 1 | |
| September 27, 2025 | Black-headed Gull | 5 | |
| September 28, 2025 | Black-throated Blue Warbler | 1 | |
| September 29, 2025 | Brown Thrasher | 1 | |
| September 30, 2025 | American Golden-Plover | 3 | |
| October 1, 2025 | Black-and-white Warbler | 2 | |
| October 2, 2025 | Greater Yellowlegs | 1 | |
| October 3, 2025 | Red-breasted Nuthatch | 2 | |
| October 4, 2025 | Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | |
| October 5, 2025 | Rock Wren | 4 | |
| October 6, 2025 | Northern Parula | 3 | |
| October 7, 2025 | Song Sparrow | 1 | |
| October 8, 2025 | Least Flycatcher | 5 | |
| October 9, 2025 | Savannah Sparrow | 2 | |
| October 10, 2025 | Green Jay | 4 | |
| October 11, 2025 | Black-footed Albatross | 4 | |
| October 12, 2025 | White-crowned Sparrow | 2 | |
| October 13, 2025 | Golden-fronted Woodpecker | 4 | |
| October 14, 2025 | Caspian Tern | 2 | |
| October 15, 2025 | Bald Eagle | 2 | |
| October 16, 2025 | Neotropic Cormorant | 4 | |
| October 17, 2025 | Hutton’s Vireo | 4 | |
| October 18, 2025 | Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | |
| October 19, 2025 | Long-billed Thrasher | 4 | |
| October 20, 2025 | Broad-winged Hawk | 4 | |
| October 21, 2025 | Black Vulture | 2 | |
| October 22, 2025 | Summer Tanager | 3 | |
| October 23, 2025 | Pygmy Nuthatch | 2 | |
| October 24, 2025 | Clapper Rail | 2 | |
| October 25, 2025 | California Quail | 2 | |
| October 26, 2025 | Roseate Spoonbill | 3 | |
| October 27, 2025 | Eared Grebe | 3 | |
| October 28, 2025 | Short-eared Owl | 4 | |
| October 29, 2025 | Yellow-rumped Warbler | 1 | |
| October 30, 2025 | Eastern Bluebird | 1 | |
| October 31, 2025 | Vesper Sparrow | 4 | |
| November 1, 2025 | Vermilion Flycatcher | 2 | |
| November 2, 2025 | White Ibis | 3 | |
| November 3, 2025 | House Finch | 1 | |
| November 4, 2025 | Ring-necked Duck | 2 | |
| November 5, 2025 | Brewer’s Blackbird | 1 | |
| November 6, 2025 | Painted Bunting | 4 | |
| November 7, 2025 | Virginia Rail | 2 | |
| November 8, 2025 | Manx Shearwater | 5 | |
| November 9, 2025 | Common Raven | 1 | |
| November 10, 2025 | Pied-billed Grebe | 1 | |
| November 11, 2025 | Western Sandpiper | 2 | |
| November 12, 2025 | Sedge Wren | 4 | |
| November 13, 2025 | White-throated Sparrow | 2 | |
| November 14, 2025 | Purple Sandpiper | 5 | |
| November 15, 2025 | Northern Harrier | 1 | |
| November 16, 2025 | Greater White-fronted Goose | 3 | |
| November 17, 2025 | American Avocet | 3 | |
| November 18, 2025 | Franklin’s Gull | 2 | |
| November 19, 2025 | Phainopepla | 3 | |
| November 20, 2025 | Dunlin | 2 | |
| November 21, 2025 | Northern Cardinal | 1 | |
| November 22, 2025 | Red-shouldered Hawk | 1 | |
| November 23, 2025 | Marbled Godwit | 3 | |
| November 24, 2025 | Long-tailed Duck | 2 | |
| November 25, 2025 | Chihuahuan Raven | 3 | |
| November 26, 2025 | Snowy Owl | 4 | |
| November 27, 2025 | Inca Dove | 2 | |
| November 28, 2025 | Redhead | 1 | |
| November 29, 2025 | Townsend’s Warbler | 3 | |
| November 30, 2025 | Eastern Meadowlark | 3 | |
| December 1, 2025 | Lesser Goldfinch | 1 | |
| December 2, 2025 | Great Egret | 1 | |
| December 3, 2025 | Northern Pintail | 1 | |
| December 4, 2025 | Wilson’s Snipe | 3 | |
| December 5, 2025 | Hooded Merganser | 1 | |
| December 6, 2025 | Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | |
| December 7, 2025 | Baird’s Sandpiper | 5 | |
| December 8, 2025 | Great Black-backed Gull | 2 | |
| December 9, 2025 | Pileated Woodpecker | 1 | |
| December 10, 2025 | Wood Duck | 3 | |
| December 11, 2025 | American Crow | 1 | |
| December 12, 2025 | Brant | 2 | |
| December 13, 2025 | Sandwich Tern | 4 | |
| December 14, 2025 | Cinnamon Teal | 3 | |
| December 15, 2025 | Spotted Dove | 5 | |
| December 16, 2025 | Thayer’s Gull | 3 | |
| December 17, 2025 | Varied Thrush | 2 | |
| December 18, 2025 | Red Crossbill | 4 | |
| December 19, 2025 | Black-billed Magpie | 2 | |
| December 20, 2025 | Red-breasted Sapsucker | 2 | |
| December 21, 2025 | Eastern Phoebe | 1 | |
| December 22, 2025 | Carolina Chickadee | 1 | |
| December 23, 2025 | Crested Caracara | 3 | |
| December 24, 2025 | Ruddy Turnstone | 3 | |
| December 25, 2025 | House Sparrow | 1 | |
| December 26, 2025 | Cackling Goose | 3 | |
| December 27, 2025 | European Starling | 1 | |
| December 28, 2025 | Canada Goose | 1 | |
| December 29, 2025 | Western Grebe | 2 | |
| December 30, 2025 | Killdeer | 1 | |
| December 31, 2025 | Golden-crowned Kinglet | 2 |