Four Days of Birding: Florida Birding and Nature Festival

TAMPA – The four-day Florida Birding and Nature Festival features field trips, boat excursions, seminars by experts, nationally renowned keynote speakers, a free nature expo and a free-flying birds of prey show.

It will be April 9-12, 2026, at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Suncoast Youth Conservation Center, 6650 Dickman Road in Apollo Beach (just south of Tampa).

Scheduled to coincide with peak of spring migration, the event previously was during the fall migration. Organizers moved the festival after hurricanes Helene and Milton in fall 2024 caused widespread damage and disrupted lives along Florida’s West coast.

More than 180 species have been observed during previous festivals, and the new dates are expected to be even more productive for birders.

The field trips, led by knowledgeable guides, include walking, wagon, boat and kayak trips and a bus tour of Central Florida birding hot spots. Some field trips explore sites normally not open to the public.

Destinations include Egmont Key, the Cross Bar Ranch in Spring Hill, Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve, Fort DeSoto Park, Coffeepot Bayou, the Alafia Bank Bird Sanctuary, and the Lower Green Swamp Nature Preserve. One outing will even give individuals an opportunity to see the rare Everglades Kite, which has expanded its range to Central Florida.

The keynote talks will be at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 1239 W, Del Webb in Sun City Center and include a buffet dinner.

Friday evening’s keynote speaker will be Leslie Kemp Pool, an associate professor at Rollins College and the author of “Saving Florida: Women’s Fight for the Environment in the Twentieth Century.” It chronicles how women – from social club members to renowned authors such as Marjory Stoneman Douglas - were critical to the effort to protect natural Florida.

Saturday evening’s speaker will be Hilary Flower. The Eckerd College associate professor is the author of “The Kite and The Snail: An Endangered Bird, Its unlikely Prey and a Story of Hope in a Changing World.” It explores the remarkable success of the endangered Everglades Snail Kite, which once fed almost exclusively on apple snails but learned to forage for invasive snails when the native snail population dwindled. The raptor has migrated to central Florida and Flower also will lead a field trip to Lake Tohopekaliga, where it is commonly seen.

The festival also will offer two days of in-person and Zoom-broadcasted seminars, with experts covering fascinating nature topics.

Earthquest Inc. will offer free-flying birds of prey demonstrations on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. at the Suncoast Youth Conservation Center in Apollo Beach. The demonstrations, open to the public, are free.

A free Nature Expo on Friday, April 10, and Saturday, April 11, at the Conservation Center will feature displays from numerous environmental organizations, nature-related businesses, and artists.

For information and registration, see https://www.floridabirdingandnaturefestival.org/