The World Wide Fund for Nature launched its 16th annual Big Bird Race yesterday with 17 local and two mainland teams taking part in the event on April 16 and 17.
They will dash around Hong Kong trying to spot as many birds as possible within 24 hours.
Last year's winners spotted 154 varieties.
A highlight of this year's competition will include the tracking of the rare black-faced spoonbill, which has just started to leave its winter habitat in Mai Po marshes, said Mai Po manager Lew Young.
The teams include representatives from a number of secondary schools, major companies, academics and researchers and a junior police contingent.
The event was launched yesterday by Miss Hong Kong runners-up Natalie Ng and Jessie Chiu and Miss International Goodwill Josephine Yan.