Josh Bergmark / 24 Feb 2026
After receiving nearly 100 excellent applications from around the world, it was a difficult task to pick just a couple of them. Thankfully, several generous donors have allowed us to increase the number of grants we can award for 2026 from two to five. Congratulations to our well-planned and dedicated recipients!
During the course of this year, these motivated young birders will head out into the field for at least two weeks to search for nine different lost birds around the world. All are destined for very remote areas where comprehensive surveys hardly exist, historical or otherwise. Tasked primarily with photographing and/or sound-recording their target lost birds, detailed eBird checklists generated during their searches will produce truly valuable insights into the avifauna of these poorly-known regions. Though of course, we are eagerly anticipating success with some of these lost species could put them back on the map for conservationists and birders alike.
Subscribe to the Ornis newsletter for updates on progression of the grants this year. Interested young birders should check back on the 1st of July when we will open the submission process for next year.
These grants are entirely funded by support thanks to donations from birders like you. If you would like to support the next round of grants please consider visiting our donation page.
GUADALUPE STORM-PETREL (LAST DOCUMENTED 1912)
Felix Jimenez Rojas
Since 2007, the successful eradication of feral goats has allowed for the recovery and reconnection of remnant patches of cypress, pine and oak forest on Guadalupe, which was the historical breeding habitat of this long-lost species. Feral cats are right now being removed, but most recent conservation effort has been focused on Ainley's Storm-Petrel and Townsend's Storm-Petrel, their strongholds being on offshore islets. No systematic search has been conducted for breeding storm-petrels in the high-altitude forests on the main island for a long time. Under this current context, a follow-up is needed to check if any recolonization has occurred, and we are very happy that the ABC Marine Program were able to contribute additional funds for this project. Felix plans to spend a month searching for burrows and mist-netting at night in the historical nesting areas, along with conducting some pelagic surveys in the adjacent waters.
SINÚ PARAKEET (LAST DOCUMENTED 1949)
Yulisa Navarro
For the past six years, Yulisa has dedicated much of her time to searching for the Sinú Parakeet in Colombia. She participated in two expeditions organized by the American Bird Conservancy and the Córdoba Ornithological Society, and has additionally led more than twenty field campaigns in this area. New modelling updated in 2025 revealed new and completely un-surveyed areas potentially still containing the long-lost parakeet, and Yulisa is keen to check them with the help of several community groups which she has fostered strong relationships with over previous years. There is even an (inconclusive) photo which potentially shows a pair of suspicious Pyrrhura, taken recently at one of the sites she will be checking.
TANA RIVER CISTICOLA and RED WEAVER (LAST DOCUMENTED 1967 and 2014)
James Apolloh Omenya with Nature Kenya
These two species share a core-range in some remote parts of Kenya close to the border with Somalia. Only rarely visited by birdwatchers and ornithologists, a local bird guide like James with the drive to spend multiple weeks out in the field searching through appropriate habitat in this poorly-known area is key. Having birded with him around Arabuko Sokoke National Park, we know his abilities first-hand! Separately, the Search for Lost Birds is funding Nature Kenya for a project in the same area which will mist-net and sound record cisticolas with the intent of untangling confusion surrounding the actual taxonomic existence (or not) of Tana River Cisticola. The sharing of information between these two teams applying different methods at the same time of year we think is likely to result in success.
GHANA CUCKOOSHRIKE (LAST DOCUMENTED 2010)
Paul Bonfils with Adrian Pajot, Maxence Pajot, & Emile Senecal
Even in recent months there have been sightings of this enigmatic West African endemic in several countries, but still no recent photos or sound recordings have been produced. But this expedition is not just about finding cuckooshrikes. The team aims to record vocalisations, note behaviour and micro-habitats, and otherwise collect any other information which may help reduce the chances that the species is lost again. Further, these remote forests hold several other very poorly-known birds (which are not lost but could benefit from further study), and amongst the team are some entomologists who hope to conduct novel nocturnal insect surveys.
THE LOST BIRDS OF NEW IRELAND
Casper Leijgraaf with Danny Bregman, Lonnie Bregman, Joep Duijvestijn, & Cornel Schepers
This skilled team of Dutch birders will be heading to Papua New Guinea in order to access the highest elevations of New Ireland, where at least four lost birds could be found. These are New Britain Sparrowhawk (last documented 1994), White-naped Lory (last documented 2008), New Ireland Friarbird (last documented 2012), and Bismarck Island-Thrush (last documented 1994). There is real potential for discovery in these mountains, which are so hard to access that they have only been ornithologically explored a handful of times. All the checklists they obtain will provide invaluable citizen science data, and collaboration with the local landowners may allow future visits by birders to stop these species getting lost again.