Starting in May 2024, Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine and Texas Audubon are kicking off Bird Bingo, a months-long game in which participants attempt to achieve a “bingo” and win prizes by spotting birds listed on one of several regional bingo cards or a statewide card.
To play, you can use the statewide card on the facing page or download a statewide or regional card. When you see any bird pictured on your card, mark it with an X or other symbol. When you've marked off a row of birds in any of three directions, horizontally, vertically or diagonally, you've got a Bird Bingo.
Once you have a bingo (or several), take a photo of your card and email it to the address listed at the top of the card.
For the statewide card in the magazine, that's allthebirds@texasbirdbingo.com. Each bingo is one entry, and you can submit several entries on one card. A blackout (entire card full) on a regional card is five entries. A blackout on the statewide card is 25 entries.
Birding is rewarding on its own, but we have some great prizes lined up for 31 lucky participants. When Bird Bingo closes at the end of November, we will draw winners at random. Thirty people will win a birding excursion with a Texas Audubon master birder (winners can bring a plus-one), and one lucky participant and a plus-one will win a guided trip to one of Audubon's bird sanctuary islands, an experience which one of our own magazine photographers has called “the highlight of my career.”
To find more information and download regional cards, visit texasbirdbingo.com. Or, pick up a regional card at almost any of our state parks. Looking for a birdy place to start your search? Check out one of our Great Texas Wildlife Trails (for more info, visit tpwd.texas.gov/wildlifetrails) The game runs from May through the end of November 2024, so grab a pen or pencil and get birding!
The Mineola Nature Preserve, "Birding Capital of East Texas," is one of the sponsors for this promotion, and it is a great place to start your bingo journey in the Pineywoods Region.
You can pick up a card at City Hall, Lost Creek in downtown, and at the Mineola Area Chamber of Commerce building or download them by clicking on any of the pictures here on this page.
