Every Martin Luther King weekend over 500 California bird festival lovers visit Morro Bay, California, a Globally Important Bird Area, to see, photograph, and learn more about birds. Morro Bay is located halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the Pacific Flyway. The area offers pristine beaches, beautiful state parks, an excellent natural history museum, panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean and, best of all, thousands of birds. Over 200 species are usually sighted during the Festival weekend.
Registration for the 2020 Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival will open on November 2, 2019.
Learn more about registration do's and don'ts on the Registration Options page.
Inn at Morro Bay
Early check-in will be available from 3 pm to 7 pm on Thursday, January 16, 2020, at the Inn at Morro Bay . No registration or registration changes will be available; it's just a head start on your process.
As always, the onsite Registration desk, check-in, trip starters, and the Bazaar (open to the public) will be located at the Morro Bay Community Center, 1001 Kennedy Way.
Festival T-shirts
In consideration of rising shirt costs and feedback from our registrants, the WBF T-shirt will now be offered as a separate item for $15 purchase during online registration. Volunteers, including trip leaders, will continue to receive a T-shirt as a ‘Thank You’ for their donation of time and expertise. T-shirts will also be for sale in limited quantities at the Festival. The 2020 T-shirt design TBD.
Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival Special Events
Opening Reception
Friday, January 17, 2020 5:00-6:30pm
2020 Reception
For Bird Festival Registrants
Enjoy wine and cheese and meet fellow birders in the Bird Festival Bazaar area. Browse through the vendor booths featuring binoculars and scopes, books and CDs, garden art, watercolors and nature photography, wood carvings, jewelry, clothing and more!
Keynote: Stephen Shunk
Saturday, January 18, 2020, 7:00-8:30pm
How Woodpeckers Can Save the World!
Woodpeckers represent one of the most specialized bird families in the world, and these woodland carpenters perform critical ecological services in North America’s forested habitats; nowhere else on Earth are woodpeckers such important contributors to forest ecology. Join author, naturalist, field biologist, and woodpecker fanatic, Steve Shunk, for an exciting journey into the lives and times of California’s woodpeckers. Steve will share secrets of woodpecker anatomy and stories of their natural histories as he interprets the keystone roles that woodpeckers play across the Golden State.
Keynote: Krisztina Scheeff
Sunday, January 19, 2020, 7:00-8:30pm
Dancing with the Grebes and their friends
Wildlife & Nature Photographer Krisztina spent years studying and photographing the Grebes on Lake Hodges. Their unique matting behavior called "rushing" is one of the most photographed animal behaviors. Called the “Grebe Whisperer” by many of her clients and fellow professional photographers, Krisztina will take you on a photographic journey into the world of Grebes and their friends and give you all the details on why and how these birds “walk on water” to find a mate. You will also get to experience some of her other favorites like the Atlantic Puffins.