Grants

Blue Ridge Bird Observatory (BRBO) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization funded primarily through grants and private donations. Work is conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and the U.S. Bird Banding Lab.

The autumn 2025 Big Bald Mountain Bird Migration Project is generously funded though a grant from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (North Carolina License Plate Grant Program) for the eleventh year.

We are pleased to partner with the Highlands Biological Station to operate our MAPS station in Highlands, NC for the sixth consecutive year. Generous funding support for this bird monitoring effort comes from Highland Biological Foundation.

This spring and summer 2025 BRBO will open and operate a new migration and MAPS station near Hot Springs, NC with the generous support of the Tourism Development Authority of Madison County and The Conservation Fund.

Financial support from generous private donations helps to provide opportunities to more than 350 students and teachers from area schools to learn about regional bird ecology at the Big Bald Mountain Bird Migration Project.

SARR appreciates the grants and foundation support over the past 10 years from the following organizations:

Highlands Biological Foundation
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy
The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina
The Hughes-Cunningham Fund
The Tennessee Ornithological Society
Mainspring Conservation Trust
Balsam Mountain Trust

Blue Ridge Audubon Society
GlaxoSmithKline
The Charles and Betti Saunders Foundation
The Franklin Bird Club
Madison Rotary Club, Madison County, NC
Tourism Development Authority of Madison County
The Conservation Fund