Dear Attendees,
On behalf of the Morro Bay Bird Festival Planning Committee I would like to extend my sincere appreciation for your involvement in this years festival. Thanks to your participation, it was our most successful festival to date!
Thank you for sharing your festival photos via DropEvent. (see slide show below)
With gratitude,
Jeanette
Jeanette Stone
Morro Bay Bird Festival Chairperson
Join us for the 2025 Morro Bay Bird Festival!
Dates to be announced in July, 2024.
Morro Bay is a world-renowned destination for birding, and the Bird Festival is the perfect opportunity to experience all that this beautiful area has to offer. With over 200 events to choose from, there's something for everyone at the festival.
Here's just a sample of what you can do at the festival:
- Go on guided birding walks and tours
- Attend presentations by expert birders
- Take part in workshops on bird identification, photography, and conservation
- Visit the festival's exhibit hall and learn about local birding organizations
- Enjoy a variety of social events and activities
The Morro Bay Bird Festival is a great way to learn more about birds, connect with other birders, and enjoy the beauty of the Central Coast.
REGISTRATION | CHECK-IN | |
Wednesday | 3 pm - 6 pm | |
Thursday | 7 am - 5 pm | 6 am - 5 pm |
Friday | 6 am - 5 pm | 6 am - 5 pm |
Saturday | 6 am - 10 am 12 pm - 5 pm | 6 am - 5 pm |
Sunday | 6 am - 2 pm | 6 am - 2 pm |
Monday | 6:45 am - 9:30 am | See Registration Desk |
Saturday, January 13, 2024 is Community Family Day. Free fun for the whole family!!
Schedule of events:
Time | Location | Activity |
---|---|---|
10:00 am - 3:30 pm | Outside | Pick up Passport to Knowledge at the Welcome Table |
10:00 am - 4:00 pm | Bazaar | Hi-Mountain Lookout Condor Paper Plane |
10:00 am - 4:00 pm | Bazaar | SLO Beaver Brigade |
10:00 am - 4:00 pm | Multipurpose Room | Nature Journaling |
10:00 am - 4:00 pm | Multipurpose Room | LATO Oak Ambassadors |
10:00 am - 4:00 pm | Multipurpose Room | Ongoing Bird Related Arts & Crafts |
10:00 am - 4:00 pm | Bazaar | Sea Otter Savvy |
10:00 am - 4:00 pm | Bazaar | Piedras Blancas Lighthouse |
10:00 am - 4:00 pm | Bazaar | Pacific Wildlife Care Animal Ambassador |
12:00 pm - 12:45 pm | Lounge | Curious Critters |
1:00 pm - 1:45 pm | Lounge | Curious Critters |
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm | Multipurpose Room | Owl Pellet Dissection |
2024 Bird Festival Bazaar
The following businesses and environmental groups are participating in the 2024 Bird Festival Bazaar.
Hours - The Bazaar is open to the public (except for the Friday opening reception):
Friday: 12 pm to 4:30 pm,
(reception 5 pm to 6:30 pm is closed to public)
Saturday: 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday: 10 am to 4 pm
Location - Morro Bay Community Center, 1001 Kennedy Ave, Morro Bay
VENDORS | ||
Big Year Coffee | https://www.bigyearcoffee.com | Bird-friendly coffee products |
Birds by BIJS | https://birdsbybijs.com/ | Birding Tours |
Dick Marshall Wildfowl | https://www.etsy.com/shop/DickMarshallWildfowl | One of a kind hand carved wildfowl originals |
Great Oaks Studio | Metal sculptures | |
Hiromi Gibbs Fine Art | www.hiromigibbs.com | Original watercolor paintings, prints, and cards |
Julia Esdaile Art | https://juliaesdaileart.com/ | Art, watercolor/greeting card |
Linda Nelson | Painting | |
Nikon Sports Optics | https://www.nikonusa.com | Binoculars and spotting scopes |
Opticron LLC | www.opticronusa.com | Nature and sports optics |
Out of this World Optics | outofthisworldoptics.com | Binoculars, spotting scopes |
Rainey Day Studio | raineydaystudio.com | Wildlife jewelry |
René Reyes | https://www.etsy.com/shop/reyespaintings/ | Original bird paintings, cards and prints |
Rone Prinz | roneprinz.com | Jewelry & art |
Volumes of Pleasure Bookshop | Books, clothing & gifts | |
Zeiss Optics | https://www.zeiss.com | Optics |
ORGANIZATIONS | ||
Bureau of Land Management | piedras-blancas-light-station | Land conservation |
Hi-Mountain Lookout | https://www.condorlookout.org/ | Condor Lookout Project |
Morro Bay Bird Festival | https://www.morrobaybirdfestival.org | Clothing, hats, pins & books |
Morro Coast Audubon | https://www.morrocoastaudubon.org | Books, clothing & hats |
Pacific Wildlife Care | https://www.pacificwildlifecare.org | Wildlife rescue |
Sea Otter Savvy | https://www.seaottersavvy.org | Protecting sea otters and wildlife-viewing public |
SLO Beaver Brigade | http://www.slobeaverbrigade.com/ |
Opening Festival Reception
Friday, January 12, 2024
5:00 to 6:30pm
Morro Bay Community Center
Enjoy wine and cheese while mingling with fellow birders at the Bird Festival Bazaar. Browse the vendor booths featuring optics, books, music, nature art & photography, woodcarvings, jewelry, educational exhibits, and more! Takes place at the Morro Bay Community Center, 1001 Kennedy Way, Morro Bay!
Pre-order Shirt Prices
Women's Scoop-necked Short Sleeved Tee | $25 |
Unisex Short Sleeved Tee | $25 |
Unisex Long-sleeved Tee | $30 |
Unisex Hoodie | $40 |
Jennifer Ackerman has been a birdwatcher since the age of seven and has been writing about science and nature for more than three decades.
Her previous book, The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think, was selected as a Best Science Book by NPR’s "Science Friday" and was a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. Her New York Times bestselling book, The Genius of Birds, has been translated into 25 languages and was named one of the best nonfiction books of 2016 by the Wall Street Journal and a Nature Book of the Year by the London Sunday Times.
Ackerman's articles and essays have appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, Scientific American, and many other publications. She is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in Nonfiction, a Bunting Fellowship, and a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
John (Jack) Muir Laws is a scientist, educator, and author, who helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding science. His work intersects science, art, and mindfulness.
Trained as a wildlife biologist and an associate of the California Academy of Sciences, he observes the world with rigorous attention. He looks for mysteries, plays with ideas, and seeks connections in all he sees. Attention, observation, curiosity, and creative thinking are not gifts, but skills that grow with training and deliberate practice. As an educator and author, Jack teaches techniques and supports routines that develop these skills to make them a part of everyday life.
Jon's interest in birds developed from the age of eight when he became absorbed with the Hooded Orioles in his yard in the L.A. area in 1962.
He has written extensively about birds since the 1970's, often with his colleague, Kimball Garrett. Together they wrote Birds of Southern California, Status and Distribution (1981) and Warblers (1997). Jon also worked extensively with Jonathan Alderfer and together co-authored the Birds of North America by the National Geographic Society up through the 7th edition (2017) and Birding Essentials (2007) and co-edited the three editions of the Complete Birds of North America by National Geographic.
Jon has served on various committees, notably the California Bird Records Committee (30 years), the ABA Checklist Committee and the Committee on Taxonomy and Nomenclature of the AOS (2000 to present). Beyond birds Jon has an interest in history and the music and poetry of Leonard Cohen.
Check out our 2024 Pre-festival Zoom Cast Presentation:
Join Dave Keeling on a journey - Discovering the birds of the Morro Bay Bird Festival
Birding Adventure in the Himalayan Kingdoms of Nepal, Sikkim & Bhutan with Jim Bland
Dying Trees as a Natural Resource with Gillian Martin
Past Presentations:
2022 (Flying by the seat of our pants)
Presenter | Title of Presentation | Video Link |
---|---|---|
Mark Mushkat | Becoming a Better Birder - 45 tips in 45 minutes | 45 tips in 45 minutes |
Jessica Griffiths | Why Birds Flock | Why Birds Flock |
Kelly Vandenhevel | PWC Meet the Raptors | PWC and Meet the Raptor |
Sarah Killingsworth | Advanced Bird Photography 1 & 2 | Advanced Photography |
Steve Beissinger | Conserving the Black Rail | Black Rail |
Steve Schubert | Peregrine Falcons of Morro Rock | Peregrine Falcon |
Brian Sullivan | Cornell on the Cutting Edge of Bird Science | Cutting Edge of Bird Science |
John Muir Laws | The 7 Habits of Successful Happy Birders 1 & 2 | 7 Habits - Successful Happy Birders |
Chris Cameron | Human/Raptor Interactions through the Centuries | Human and Raptor Interactions |
John Muir Laws | Keeping a Birders' Field Journal | Bird Journal |
Norm Pillsbury | Bird Recording | Bird Recordings |
Tom & Peggy Burhenn | Owl Boxes - Why and How? Building and Info | Owl Boxes |
Benjamin Jacobs-Schwartz | Sea to Summit and Feathers to Flight - The Marvelous Hummingbird | Part 1: Sea to Summit & World Tropics - Part 2: Feathers to Flight |
Bob Revel | Bobolink - the New Way to Run a Bird Festival | Bobolink |
Kara Hagedorn | Sunshine's Story (red-tailed hawk) | Sunshine's Story |
Jessica Griffiths | Birding by Ear | Birding by Ear |
Steve Schubert | Condor Recovery Program | Condor Recovery Program |
Mary Whitfield | MOTUS - Science is tracking birds and bats | The Science of Tracking Birds and Bats |
John Muir Laws | Bird Drawing Basics - Fast Sketching | Bird Sketching, Parts 1 & 2 |
Heather Hayes | Tracking the Long Billed Curlew | Tracking the Long-billed Curlew |
Claudia Freitas | Shorebirds | Shorebirds |