Tofino Shorebird Festival 2020

The Raincoast Education Society 22nd Tofino Shorebird Festival will be held the weekend of May 1st - 3rd, 2020.

Every year from late April through May, flocks of sandpipers, plovers, whimbrels, and many other shorebirds pass through the Tofino area.

The combination of expansive mudflats and long sandy beaches create an ideal habitat for these migratory shorebirds. Thousands of shorebirds stop here stop to feed and rest - some for just three days - as they make their impressive journey from South and Central America northward to their Arctic breeding grounds. The Tofino Shorebird Festival is a weekend of walks, talks, guided birding and more.

The protected forests, mudflats, sandy beaches, and rocky shorelines of this area create the right combination of habitats to draw over 40 species of shorebirds to the area, including the largest migratory concentrations of Whimbrels anywhere in British Columbia and impressive flocks of Western Sandpipers, Dunlin and more. The threatened Red Knot is also a regular visitor each spring, as well as Rock Sandpiper in winter. Local bird expert Adrian Dorst listed at least 30 species of shorebirds! Come out to the Tofino Shorebird Festival and marvel at these birds, learn more about them, and learn why Tofino is one of the very best places in western Canada for bird watching.