Shaver’s Creek Birding Cup to benefit Musser Gap Greenway’s grassland habitat

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — This year’s Birding Cup from Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center will raise money for the restoration and management of 25 acres of grassland habitat at the Musser Gap Greenway.

The 2025 Birding Cup, Shaver’s Creek’s annual fundraiser, will take place from 7 p.m. May 2 to 7 p.m. May 3. Registration for the Birding Cup ends Sunday, April 27, and donations are accepted until June 30.

Birders of all skill levels can participate in the cup, with the goal of identifying as many species as possible in 24 hours. Anyone can join non-competitively as part of the global birding community, while local participants can compete to identify birds in seven central Pennsylvania counties. 

Donations from birders and those who support them will go toward the grassland habitat planting and restoration — a collaborative project between Shaver’s Creek, the Penn State Department of Landscape Architecture and the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center — that will take place at the southern end of the Penn State-owned land next to Rothrock State Forest.

The Musser Gap Greenway, which is managed by Shaver’s Creek, comprises 355 acres of forest and farmland in Centre County between downtown State College and the forest.

Grassland habitats were once more common in Pennsylvania but are now among the most endangered and altered habitats in the world, according to Musser Gap Greenway Conservation Director Mike Toolan.

“We’ve lost ecosystem services and biodiversity, and we’re seeing more and more threatened and declining species, some of which rely solely or in part on grassland habitats like our rough-legged hawks at Shaver’s Creek,” he said.

Toolan said cultivating grasslands would provide multiple benefits.

“The Greenway includes parts of Slab Cabin Run and its watershed and helps protect the local water supply and animal species,” he said. “It will rebuild that organic, nutrient-dense soil layer and improve our water quality, which is really important.”

The proceeds from the Birding Cup will go toward maintaining the long-term health of the grassland, which can be enjoyed by the public and utilized as a field laboratory for Penn State students. The new habitat will occupy a former cornfield, and the native plants will compete with the weeds that have taken hold, according to Toolan. He said some of the funds will be used for helping the native plants establish and target specific problem plants that are outperforming the grassland species.

The Musser Gap Greenway increases access to the area’s natural resources by creating a direct connection between downtown State College and Rothrock State Forest. The roughly mile-long Greenway Trail connects Whitehall Road Regional Park with the Musser Gap Trail trailhead south of Route 45.

Other benefits of planned projects at the Greenway include helping protect freshwater resources from pollution and erosion; providing pollinator support, wildlife habitat, soil building, carbon sequestration and water filtration and retention; creating a healthy working forest that students and researchers can use; and more accessible trails.

Learn more about the Musser Gap Greenway on the Shaver’s Creek website.

Support raised through the Birding Cup advances the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.