MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — The Alabama Tourism Department has announced this year’s campaign to boost tourism: birding.

While it may not be known to wide audiences as a bird-watching paradise, Alabama is home to more than 430 species of birds that can be spotted throughout the state.

The Year of Alabama Birding started on March 22 and goes through May in the prime of bird-watching season. The year-long theme consists of a variety of promotions and initiatives created to attract birders to Alabama.

Some of these promotions include spreads in the 2023 Alabama Vacation Guide featuring top birding trails and events, birdsongs played at all Alabama Welcome Centers and publication of more than 280 birding sites throughout the state.

Even a “Find Your Flock” quiz will come to the Alabama Tourism website, where visitors can find out which Alabama bird they most resemble. It takes a person’s likes, dislikes, and personality into account to determine their avian match.

It may be the Year of Alabama Birding, but this program won’t end when the bird-watching season is over.

“We aren’t ending it after a year,” ATD Director Lee Sentell says, “We will be launching components of it during the next two years, and the impact will carry on far beyond that.”