THINKING OF FORMING A SOLIDARITY TEAM FOR RACE DAY 2020? READ ON!
Three simple steps…
1 – Form a virtual ‘team’ – as many or few members as you want
2 – Spread the message – you’re birding on Race Day 2020 to help save Steppe Eagles
3 – Do some birding* on Race Day (March 31st – or as near as you can)
*NB please be responsible and follow local COVID-19 guidelines to the letter – if you can’t get out on the patch, birding from the garden or window is great!
It’s that easy! A bit more detail:
Donating
There’s no pressure to ‘traditionally’ fundraise, just to make a final push towards our collective target. So it’s important to flag up why you’re doing it, and that people can support you by donating to the COTF20 Just Giving page – https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cotf20 . You can ask them to write a message with their donation if you want – e.g “To the Sandpipers – great work! From Donald T”. If you want to set yourself a modest target, by all means, please do so!
Social media and publicity
All tweets and FB posts should include #COTF20 – otherwise we won’t find you and be able to boost the signal!
Please also try and include #SteppeUpforEagles #FlywayFamily
On the Day
Go birding! This can be for an hour, for the day, or for 24 hours – make your own rules, parameters, and story. BUT, be sure to strictly observe coronavirus protocol wherever you are – if you can physically distance safely (and it’s legal to) on the local patch, great – if not, your garden or window are more than fine!
All we need as a collective is for everyone to facebook post, tweet and publicise the hell out of it! Video messages – anytime, but especially from the field on the day – would be really great!
You don’t need to be together – in fact, team members birding in different places just helps spread the message wider!
What better way to turn the chaos into something joyful and meaningful – go birding, beat the isolation blues, raise money and awareness for a vital conservation cause!
Resources
Why Steppe Eagles? An overview HERE
What will the funds will pay for? See HERE
Champions Of The Flyway 2020 – STEPPE UP FOR EAGLES!

Will you be a Flyway Champion and help save Steppe Eagles? DONATE HERE!
Champions of the Flyway is now a well known fund- and awareness-raising event in global birding and conservation circles. Since our humble beginnings back in 2014, we’ve raised over $500,000 for bird conservation, mainly for projects tackling the illegal killing of birds migrating along the flyways. Over the past six years we’ve shed light on the many challenging issues migratory birds face, helping seven different Birdlife International partners in their ongoing struggle against the slaughter of migrants on the ground.
In 2020, Champions of the Flyway is spreading its wings once again, and answering a call from the wilds of Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan – the call of the majestic but tragically fast-declining Steppe Eagle.
These beautiful, iconic birds of prey, once widespread and common throughout their range, are now classed as Globally Endangered by the IUCN, who estimate there may now be as few as just 50,000 mature individuals left on the planet. Their plight is shocking and urgent – but, with enough support and help, it is reversible….
Champions of the Flyway is therefore dedicating its 2020 campaign to helping our Birdlife Partners in Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan reverse the fortunes of this magnificent species, where no less than 80% of the global population breed. In an incredibly fitting parallel, 80% of the global population migrate through Israel every spring on their way to the remote steppes and savannas – so our 2020 teams will be literally seeing what they save, and saving what they see! (Thinking of entering a team? Click here!)

Steppe Eagles are unique in their breeding habits, and of the challenges that face them, two are particularly severe – collisions with powerlines and fires. Our local Birdlife partners have worked hard to produce a suite of tangible solutions, from surveys identifying the worst-affected breeding grounds, to planning and working with energy companies, to implementing preventative and mitigation measures, to national publicity awareness campaigns and much more – and we are absolutely honoured to be carrying (and shaking!) the can on their behalf. Donate here!
This may be a slightly different project compared to previous campaigns, but we feel that the Flyway Family can to step up where we are needed the most, and Steppe Eagles need our urgent help, sooner rather than later. We are eternally grateful to our supporters over the years, but we need you more than ever to help protect and save this majestic traveller, such a symbol of the epic avian migrations between Africa and Eurasia that unite our continents and cultures.
RACE DAY 2020 is 31st MARCH – REGISTER YOUR TEAM HERE!