Photo: Tina Dudley

When: Thursday, April 3, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: National Wildlife Federation, 11100 Wildlife Center Drive, Reston, VA 20190
Fee: FREE

The Northern Virginia Bird Alliance is hosting a hands-on introduction to playing a prize-winning bird-themed board game called Wingspan.

If you love birds and you love board games - you’ll love Wingspan! Imagine a game of Monopoly, but instead of using cash for real estate transactions, you are building a wealth of birds on your wildlife preserves by using real-life information about North American birds and their habitats, feeding behaviors, and nesting preferences.

Wingspan is a competitive, card-driven, board game from designer Elizabeth Hargrave and Stonemaier Games. It is the 2019 winner of the prestigious Kennerspiel des Jahres Award, an international award honoring family-friendly board games. There are hundreds of unique and beautiful bird cards, which are pulled from a deck. You can use your turn to gain food tokens (fruit, fish, grain, worms, or rodents) and once you have the right food for a bird (e.g., fish for a Bald Eagle or fruit for a Cedar Waxwing), you can strategically play that bird card in a habitat where the bird is found (e.g., forest, grasslands, or wetlands.) Your birds can reproduce if you buy eggs for them. Points are assigned for each bird (with rare birds earning more points), as well as eggs, food, and special categories. The winner is the player with the most points after 4 rounds. A game can take 60-90 minutes.

Watch this video to learn how to play the game. This is a great way to share your love of birds and birding with your friends and family. This event is free, but registration is required as space is limited.