Details: Last Updated: Thursday, September 11, 2025, 1:55 pm

Utah Birding Slam

Enjoy your favorite hobby while contributing to conservation

The Utah Birding Slam is a simple way to add a little more fun to your bird-watching or “birding” — whether you’re a beginner, an expert or somewhere in between.

The funds raised by the Utah Birding Slam will help support a variety of habitat improvement and research projects. These efforts will benefit many species, including the birds you enjoy watching.

The Birding Slam is a partnership between the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and multiple conservation organizations. The program is designed to:

Encourage birders to improve their identification skills
Increase excitement for birds and birding
Raise money to support birds and their habitats
Collect data for DWR conservation efforts
Create friendly competition among birders

Yellow-headed backbird standing in water, surrounded by trees, its head pointed upward

How do you sign up for a birding slam?

It’s easy to get started:

Go online (or to any license agent) to pay for your registration. Each Birding Slam registration allows you to complete one of the slams listed below. The entry fee per registration is:
- $20 for adults (18 and older)
- $10 for youth (17 and younger)
Create a free eBird account — if you don't have one already — to submit your slam checklists.
Go birding and complete the slam of your choice. Each slam has its own unique set of tasks to complete, but you will need to submit an online form, which will be live soon, and an eBird checklist for each slam.
Once you finish a slam, you will receive the reward listed for each slam.

Where to find bird species

You can find hotspots and species distribution maps in the eBird app.

General rules

You must follow all current state and federal wildlife regulations and respect all state, federal, and private property boundaries.
No use of electronic calls.
Birds must be conclusively identified by sight or sound observations.
Take a selfie while you’re birding (or have a companion take your photo), especially in regional locations. Include the photo in your checklist. (Photos are not mandatory, but they are helpful.)
All participants, especially Beginner Slam participants, must create an eBird account. (The account is free, but individuals between the ages of 13–17 will need parental consent to upload content to eBird.)
New birders are encouraged to watch the free eBird Essentials course (specifically the Share Your Observations video).
Be ethical: respect the birds, especially during nesting season, and don't harass other birders.
Birders of any age can participate. (Youth participants will need their parents or guardians to help them complete slams and submit their data.)
Birds may be counted as long as they appear on the current Utah Ornithological Society (UOS) checklist.

Completing a slam

Slams are completed on the honor system. If it's feasible, you can submit a photo of yourself as you are completing each of the slams and submit the photos along with your checklists online.

To complete a slam, you must:

Fill out the simple slam submission form on the DWR website. (The form will be online soon.)
Indicate which slam you completed, including providing the registration number and Customer ID from your license, and answer the required questions.
Be sure to include a link to your eBird checklist before hitting submit. (Submitting photos isn’t mandatory, but it is helpful.)
Upon completion, you will receive a confirmation email, letting you know you were successful in submitting your form.
We will review your submission and data, and once confirmed, we will send you your slam reward.

Note: The completion form will be online soon.

Rewards

For each slam you complete, you'll earn a uniquely designed enamel pin to showcase your birding skills!

Beginner Slam: American robin pin
Backyard Slam: House finch pin
County Slam: Western tanager pin
Wetland Slam: Black-necked stilt pin
High-Elevation Slam: Black rosy-finch pin
Ultimate Slam: Flammulated owl pin

Slams

Check out the different slam requirements and choose the slam that's right for you.

Beginner Slam

This slam is for the birder who is just starting out. It's a great introduction to birding and using eBird.

See the requirements to complete the slam.

Create a free eBird account on your computer or by downloading the eBird smartphone app. (Find out more about how to use eBird by watching the quick tutorials online.)
Download the eBird app to your smartphone (if you have one)
Submit one complete checklist to eBird that documents at least 1 bird.
Note: You can use any available resources to learn more about bird identification. Bird books and smartphone apps (like the Merlin bird identification app) are good options for learning how to identify birds.

Backyard Slam (beginner-level challenge)

This slam requires you to locate and identify some of the bird species nearest you. See the requirements to complete the slam.

Identify 10 species of birds within a 5-mile radius of your place of residence.
Submit at least five eBird checklists by going out to identify birds on five different occasions. (Bird species may overlap.)

County Slam (intermediate-level challenge)

This slam involves finding and identifying birds in many of Utah's 29 counties. Note: Bird species can be repeated from county to county. See the requirements to complete the slam.

Find 14 bird species in five counties of your choice.

Wetland Slam (intermediate-level challenge)

This slam involves identifying birds in and around our diverse wetland habitats statewide. Marshes, especially around the Great Salt Lake ecosystem, provide valuable food and habitat for thousands of migratory birds. These bird species range from various shorebirds and wading birds to migratory waterfowl and songbirds found in nearby vegetation. See the requirements to complete the slam.

Find and identify 30 of the wetland species listed below: