2018 BIRDING CLASSIC, 2: Great Texas Birding Classic 
continues to grow and fund habitat restoration…details 
ahead on Passport to Texas. 

This is Passport to Texas

The Great Texas Birding Classic continues to attract 
seasoned and beginning birders to its flock.

06— It’s really crazy. We keep seeing amazing growth. I keep wondering 
when we might plateau, and it hasn’t happened yet.

Shelly Plante is Nature Tourism Manager for Texas Parks and 
Wildlife. The tournament had a growth spurt beginning in 
2013 after it became statewide.  

14—We had the largest participation in over ten years in that first year that 
we were statewide. And that was 58 teams. Since then, we’ve grown every 
single year.

The money raised funds conservation grants. Birders have 
fun doing it, when they participate in various tournaments. 
One of the most popular is the Big Sit.

20— And it is what it sounds like. You are sitting in a 17-foot diameter circle 
for 24 hours (or parts of 24-hours), to see how many birds come through 
that area. Of the 113 teams that were registered for the Birding Classic, 40 
of those teams were Big Sit teams. And they took place in every region of 
the state.

Register a team before April 1, at birdingclassic.org. 

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation supports our 
series and helps keep Texas wild with support of proud 
members across the state. Find out more at tpwf.org

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti