Photos courtesy of BLM 

The annual Harney County Migratory Bird Festival is set for Thursday-Sunday, April 11-14, 2024. Open your schedule and plan for some fun! Here are some highlights: 

Tours: We are offering the full gamut of tours – van-guided; we-lead-you-drive caravans; and self-guided – and you can enjoy touring by a variety of means, like walking, hiking, biking, riding, or driving! And, in response to festival-goer requests, we’ve changed our tour structure to provide different, unique experiences with each opportunity! No more “different tour name but going to the same locations as the others”! We are also dispatching several tours directly from Malheur Refuge HQ, giving people more time to bird and less time in a vehicle. And we can’t forget the famous Bird Crawl! This year we’re featuring two-days of self-exploration and a beautiful watercolor “passport” by local artist Mary Lou Wilhelm. 

Activities and other programs: There are many non-tour activities to enjoy throughout festival weekend. Some highlights include a program called ‘Star Stories on the Wing’ with Oregon Outback Star Safari; the ‘Belted Kingfisher – Messenger of the Waterways’ book talk at the Harney County Library; social events including Wetlands Happy Hour, Bird Trivia Night, and the pinnacle Saturday Swoop, featuring the family of William Finley! We’re also excited to welcome a Malheur Refuge Stewardship Work Party for the first time. 

Specifics for kids and families: Enjoy free-family-Saturday with a day out and about in Harney County. Stop by the Harney County Library for their StoryWalk experience, then stroll downtown look in business windows for over 600 pieces of student artwork. This art is the product of our festival Artist in Residence program! Next, come to the Harney County Fairgrounds for the Kids’ Fair in the Field, supported by the High Desert Partnership, and the Kids’ Birdhouse Building Workshop, sponsored by the local Lions Club. Don’t forget to pop into the festival Art Show & Sale where our youth art contest submissions will be on display and ready for your winning public vote! 

Art show and sale: This year, the Art Show and Sale has 23 artists bringing their unique works for your shopping experience. We’ve got everything from fine art, metalworks, and optics to photography, woodworks, and jewelry. There are new and returning creators, local and regional entrepreneurs, and affordable, one-of-a-kind works for everyone to enjoy. Come and see us!

Did you know? The Bird Festival began in 1981 as a Kiwanis sponsored event to highlight spring birding in Harney County. The Harney Basin is very-nearly the halfway point for birds from Coastal Texas, the Mexican Highlands and Central California traveling to their breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska and even eastern Siberia.  The annual spring migration along the Pacific Flyway passes right through our area, bringing over 100 migrant bird species for the watchful eye! 

Over the past 40 years, the Bird Festival has evolved to include organized, expert-led tours; family and youth activities in and out of the classroom; virtual programs and workshops; and numerous commerce opportunities. The festival is orchestrated by multiple partners with the main purposes of 1. bringing people to Harney County, and 2. supporting opportunities for people to connect with natural resources.  

We hope to see you out and about during festival weekend. And rest assured…we’re working hard to educate visitors on birding from the curb – not from the middle of the highway! 

For all the event details, go online to www.migratorybirdfestival.com.