Rules & FAQ – Stonemaier Games

Rules & FAQ

The Wingspan rulebooks are available for download. You can also jump to any applicable rule category using Wingspan’s Rulepop or search for specific bird powers on Wingsearch. There is also a full rules video by Watch It Played and a great resource in the Wingsplain site. Here’s a helpful article about Wingspan setup and rules.

The European Expansion rulebook is here. Find the FAQ for that expansion on this page.

The Oceania Expansion rulebook is here and the additional Automa rulebook is here. Find the FAQ for that expansion on this page.

If you have rule questions, please post them in the comments on this page, create a thread on BoardGameGeek, or ask them in the Wingspan Facebook group.

The free scoring app for Wingspan is available on iOS and Android.

If you find any bugs in the digital version of Wingspan, please send them to support@monstercouch.com or the Wingspan Discord server, where they have a bug reporting channel (https://discord.gg/wingspan).

Rule Questions: Game Mechanisms

These “frequently asked questions” only contain answers to general questions. Be sure to also look at the Appendices for more detail on each bird and bonus card. A more advanced list of clarifications for each bird or power can be found here, compiled and maintained by Travis Willse.

When I gain food from the birdfeeder, do I choose all of the dice at once, or one by one?

Choose dice one at a time. This creates the potential for you to reroll in between dice selections.

What about when drawing multiple cards? Can I draw a card from the deck, look at it, and then decide where to continue drawing birds?

Yes, when drawing multiple cards, you can draw a card from the deck, look at it, and then decide to continue drawing from the deck or draw from the face-up cards.

Can I activate pink (“Once Between Turns”) powers after my final turn?

Yes, your pink power can activate once after your last turn.

Can you discard birds from your player mat?

No, once you play a bird, it’s permanent.

Can I choose to lay fewer eggs, gain fewer food, or draw fewer eggs?

Yes, you can always decline a benefit (though you can never decline a cost). This applies to the basic actions as well as bird powers. But remember, activating a particular bird power is optional, so you can avoid a cost associated with a bird power by skipping that power entirely.

When do we choose the first player? Before or after players choose cards and food?

The rules say the first player is chosen (randomly) after all players have chosen which bird cards, bonus card, and food to keep. But in more competitive environments (like digital adaptations or tournaments), it is an official variant to have the turn order determined before everyone chooses which cards and food to keep.

Rule Questions: Bird Powers and Bonus Cards

What are the birds with the grey triangles in the corners?

These birds are part of the Swift-Start Pack which is included in all current printings of Wingspan. This Swift-Start Pack helps new players learn how to play the game with the 10 bird cards marked with grey corners and 4 player guides. The birds can be shuffled into the deck to be used as regular cards and can quickly be recognized and pulled out of the deck to use with the player guides when teaching new players.

When a bird says that I can “repeat” another bird’s ability in the same habitat, how does that work?

You can choose any other “when activated” bird in that habitat and perform its power. The bird can be to the left or to the right of the “repeat” bird. The “repeat” bird does not copy the power for itself, but allows another bird to activate twice this turn. So if Bird A says, “Lay 1 egg on this bird,” and I activate a bird (Bird B) that repeats Bird A’s ability, I lay 1 egg on Bird A.

When activating “migrating” birds that can move from one habitat to another, does the action token move with them? Can they move even if they’re the only bird in the original habitat?

The action token stays in the original row, as that is the action you chose for this turn. And yes, they can move if they’re the only bird in the row. These birds can migrate as long as there is no other card to their right.

Can I reroll the dice in the birdfeeder if gaining food from a bird’s power? What about when there are qualifying terms such as “if available” or “if there is one?”

Yes. Regular reroll rules apply whenever you have the opportunity to gain food from the birdfeeder.

Rule Questions: Automa

Automa: Who goes first each round, you or the Automa?

For each of the 4 rounds, you always go first and the Automa always takes the last turn.

General Questions

What will future expansions for Wingspan cover?

As of now (February 2024), Wingspan and its 3 expansions have covered birds in North America, Europe, Oceania, and Asia. The remaining 3 expansions–in no particular order–will feature Antarctica, South America, and Africa. There is also the possibility of promo packs showcasing birds we missed from previously covered regions or extinct birds. Feel free to share any birds you’d like to see in Wingspan on this form!

How do I assemble the birdfeeder dice tower? The top doesn’t seem to fit.

These videos should help:

Is my copy of Wingspan a counterfeit?

Hopefully not, but it’s possible! All official copies of Wingspan have the Stonemaier Games logo at the upper right corner of the box; if it isn’t there, it’s a counterfeit game. Also be aware of “too good to be true” pricing from vendors; while you may find Wingspan at a discount from it $65 MSRP, if you see it sold for $30 or less, you’re likely looking at an illegal, unethical counterfeit.

What are the 4 plastic containers for? [update: More recent printings of Wingspan have eco-friendly trays instead of plastic containers.]

Two of the containers are for the food tokens; the other two are for eggs (see the diagram on the side of the box bottom). When playing Wingspan, you can use both the tops and bottoms of each container, creating 8 separate piles of tokens so players can reach them easily.

We offer more plastic containers for order on our webstore. As shown on the side of the box (the box bottom, not the top), 2 of the containers are for food and two are for eggs. That’s just for storage. When you take the tops off of the containers, you have a total of 8 trays in which you can sort components during the game.

These containers are being phased out of the game and replaced with pulp cardboard trays (for eco-friendliness).

Are there any promo packs?

There are so many amazing birds in the world, and our hope is to include as many as possible as we cover 1 continent per expansion (4 more to go). However, along the way we may consider making some small promo packs of birds and other winged creatures. If, how, and when we make these is entirely up to Elizabeth, but you’re welcome to share your preferences on this form.

What are the card sizes and quantities?

There are 212 cards in the game, each at the 57x87mm size.

Does the insert fit sleeved cards? Does it have room for expansions?

Yes, the insert fits sleeved cards (that’s a standard feature for all Game Trayz inserts). The one exception may be if you buy really thick, premium sleeves, as the height of all sleeved cards may be too tall. The tray will be full of sleeved bird cards, so expansion cards will need to be kept in plastic bags (they’ll still fit in the box).

Is it language independent?

No, quite the opposite: Wingspan is heavily language dependent.

Does Wingspan only include birds from North America?

Most of the birds found in the core game are predominantly found in North America. However, each expansion will feature a different region: We’re hoping to explore Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and Australia/NZ.

Why isn’t there any player interaction in Wingspan?

Wingspan actually has quite a bit of interaction: The dice you choose from the dice tower (and when you choose to reroll them), the bird cards you choose (if you take a face up card, you’re taking it away from your opponents), the end-of-round goals (when playing on the green side of the goal mat), and quite a few bird cards that result in other players gaining food, drawing cards, etc.

An easy test for player interaction is to ask yourself, “Could all actions be taken simultaneously, scaled to any player count?” If the answer is no, there’s at least some player interaction in the game.

What I think you’re asking for–and what most people seem to mean when they ask for “more player interaction”–is more *direct conflict*. That simply isn’t what Wingspan is about; it is, after all, a game about managing a bird sanctuary. :)

Will the game be released in other languages?

Yes! The game has been printed in many different languages, including but not limited to, these publishers: Feuerland (German), Matagot (French), Maldito (Spanish), 999 Games (Dutch), and Delta Vision (Hungarian).

Are there any unofficial Wingspan accessories or digital products?

Errata and Early Printings Info

A vast majority of these issues only exist in very old copies of Wingspan (the first two printings from 2019). If you purchase a new copy today, none of these are present.

How do I know which printing I have?

There’s not much reason to know the exact printing unless you have a very old copy of Wingspan. So this is not an exhaustive list, but look at the number to the left of the panda icon near the bar code on the bottom of your box (English printings only). If you have an English first or second printing, there is an update pack available if you fill out our replacement parts form.

This is what the first printing code is 1712-1764 and looks like this:

The second printing code is 1812-2078.
The third printing code is 19003.
The fourth printing code is 19014.
The fifth printing code is 19019.

You know you have the 7th printing or later (which include the swift-start pack in the box) if you see this at the upper right of the box bottom:

Is the percentage on the Omnivore Expert bonus card correct?

No, it should be 16%, not 10%.

Does “prairie” count as a term for the Cartographer bonus card?

Yes, it counts.

What does the Photographer score for 4-5 birds with colors in their names?

This is a typo. Instead of 2-3, it should say 4-5.

Should the Spotted Sandpiper be worth 5 points, not 4?

Yes, 5 is correct.

Is there a list of all bonus cards in the base game?

  • Omnivore Expert
  • Viticulturalist
  • Fishery Manager
  • Rodentologist
  • Bird Feeder
  • Food Web Expert
  • Visionary Leader
  • Ecologist
  • Historian
  • Forester
  • Prairie Manager
  • Wetland Scientist
  • Oologist
  • Breeding Manager
  • Wildlife Gardener
  • Nest Box Builder
  • Enclosure Builder
  • Platform Builder
  • Falconer
  • Bird Counter
  • Anatomist
  • Photographer
  • Cartographer
  • Large Bird Specialist
  • Passerine Specialist
  • Backyard Birder

1,875 Comments on “Rules & FAQ

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  1. I just unboxed the high-vis base game cards I purchased from this website. Super excited! But I have a criticism about waste in shipping. I believe I read about your company being more eco by reducing plastic wraps in boxed games. But I only ordered the base game cards, which one could hold in just 1 hand using that ziplock they came in. But the box it was shipped in was almost the size of the actual box of the game, and could probably fit 2 gameboxes stacked, that’s how deep it was. So the void was all filled with those air pocket plastic fillers. I think my parcel has enough plastic to negate the plastic you guys didn’t use for 20 people’s standard games. A+ on shipping as the cards didn’t even move, but I think you could have just wrapped the cards with cardboard and stuck the shipping label on that, heheh.

    1. I appreciate the feedback for us to share with our fulfillment center in your region! Can you please share a photo of the packaging and the order number so we can talk to the correct fulfillment center about this mistake? (We work with 4 different fulfillment centers.)

  2. If I played a card with a pink power stating that I can lay an egg when another player takes an ‘egg laying’ action, can I lay an egg when the other player activates a brown power that allowed them to ‘lay egg on any bird’. Is that considered an ‘egg laying’ action?

    1. Colleen: Thanks for your question. That’s an egg-laying power, but not the “lay an egg” action.

      Just so I can make sure I’m answering 100% accurately, can you let me know the name of the bird and/or the exact text (full text, verbatim) on the card? Thanks!

  3. Please help solve a friendly disagreement! When looking at the end of round goal tiles for example does the bird card icon refer to any bird card or to only those birds with the tuck bird or flocking power (bird card icon superimposed over a reversed bird card icon)? So as an example scoring total birds vs scoring only birds with the flocking power?

    1. Thanks Ruth! I’m looking at the goal tiles in Wingspan, and I don’t see any tucking icons among them–the icon I see just means “birds”. The only tile I see with the tucked icon is one that specifically says, “Birds with tucked cards”.

  4. When a card asks you to reset the bird feeder (like European honey buzzard), do you then reroll all 5 food dices regardless of if they are in the feeder or not, or do you only reroll the ones that arent allready in the bird feeder.

    Lets say there are 3 dices in the feeder and 2 are allready taken by players. The round ends and one player had the buzzard. Do you then reroll the 2 dices through the feeder down to the 3 allready there, or do you Pick up all 5 dices regardless of where they were and reroll all 5?

    1. Thanks for your question! You reroll all 5 dice (just like when all dice show the same face in the birdfeeder and you choose to reset the birdfeeder–those dice are included in the reset).

  5. When determining the number of birds with colour in their names for the bonus card can the colour be part of a name, ie. silvereye?

  6. When activating the “all players draw from the deck” action, I have always interpreted this to mean the deck specifically, and not the face up cards, however the rest of the people I play regularly with are certain the power includes the face up cards. The Wingspan app sides with me (though we’ve noticed a few rule details that differ between the board game and the app), and elsewhere in the rules it differentiates between the deck and face up cards. However, my friends all point out that the rules don’t differentiate anywhere, relative to that specific mechanic. I think this makes it too easy to grab a face up card you really want without having to use a turn to get it.

    Anyone got an official take on this?

  7. We have played our English version with Norwegian friends, but they struggled with the rules. Where can I find the rules in other languages?

  8. We have interpreted the “Ecologist” Bonus Card that states, the habitat with fewest birds scores 2 points per bird and ties count, to mean that ties count and we score 2 points for each bird in 2 or even 3 habitats if you are savvy enough to have ties in habitats. Does anyone have any input on this?

  9. The Eurasian Magpie says to choose a player and cache 1 food on the card for every action cube they played in their grasslands at the end of the round; how does that work when you’re playing against the automa? Or, thinking broader, how do any teal powers dependent on the amount of birds/cubes/etc. another player has (i.e. Carrion Crow) work with automa? Thanks! (really love this game!)

    1. Hi Hazel. In Wingspan, for teal powers you count how many Automa cubes are on the current end-of-round goal tile. That number equates whatever the teal power is asking you to compare. If you are playing Wingspan Asia, where Automa doesn’t place cubes on the tiles, you instead look at the Automa card and count the number of cube icons on the card, using that number to compare.
      Have fun,
      David

  10. When playing with Automa, end-of-round goals, if Automa has no cubes on the end-of-round goal card, and the Automa end-of-round goal is say 5 points, how many points does the Automa have?

    1. Hi Clarissa. You start with the base value, 5 in your example. Then, add any cubes, 0 in your example. So 5 + 0 = 5. I hope that clears it up for you. Have fun.

    1. You only ever pay eggs when you play cards. So when you play a bird into the 5th column, you pay 2 eggs. You do not pay egg costs on columns when activating any of the three rows.

      1. Does that mean if i have 5 cards in a row on gain food and i want to get more dice food, i don’t need to pay 2 eggs anymore? Or do i still have to pay 2 eggs to get food? Or did i play it the wrong way.

        1. You played it the wrong way. You only ever pay the egg costs at the top of the columns when playing a bird into those columns. That is the only time you pay those costs.

  11. Jamey, please help me solve this issue. Reroll at the end of round. Rulebook doesn’t say to do it so I don’t. But buddy says steam version rerolls them. So yay or nay to reroll at end of round?

    1. You do not refresh the dice tower at the end of the round (and I’m pretty sure the digital version does not do this).

  12. The northern harrier card in my version of Wing Span shows a ‘platform’ symbol for the type of nest. However, the northern
    harrier builds nests on the ground. Do you have a list of game
    errata accessible online?

  13. This is our favorite game and we play it up to 3 times every day for the past 13 months.
    Question: if I play a Great Indian Bustard and score a bonus card by caching wheat, it states to score the bonus card it again at the end of the game. If I play Red Crowned Crane, that states to cache food equal to a bonus card, then discard that bonus card to draw a new bonus card, can I still score the first bonus card at the end of the game?
    Thanks

    1. Thanks Ann! As long as you haven’t discarded a bonus card, you’ll score it at the end of the game.

      1. Jamey, the Great Indian Bustard card states: “…Also score it normally at game end.” Does this mean I can’t actually score it at game end if I discard that bonus card?

        1. That’s correct. The card is just clarifying that even though you score the card immediately, you still get to score it at end of game as normal (if you still have the card).

  14. Do pink powers reset at the start of a new round? For example in a three player game player A triggered players C pink powered bird. Then the round ended and player C was skipped in the turn order as they started the round. In the new round, Player A’s first turn triggered players C pink powered bird. Can player C user the power or do they need to wait until the end of their next turn?

    1. No, pink powers do not reset at the start of a new round. An individual player’s pink powers only reset each time they take a turn. So if turn order changes during a new round and player C has already triggered their pink power, their pink powers are not reset until after they take their turn during that round.

    1. Everyone must have a copy of Wingspan Digital to play it. However, on Board Game Arena, only 1 player needs an paid account, and anyone else with an unpaid account can join them for a game of Wingspan.

  15. Hello! The Galah card says to choose another player then they reset the bird feeder and gain a wheat, if there is one. Period. You tuck two cards from the deck. Is that two separate actions? Do you get to tuck the cards whether the other player gains the wheat or not? It’s a sensitive subject in our family so I was hoping to you could clear it up for us.

    1. Hello! Let’s take a look. Here’s the exact text on the Galah: “When activated: Choose 1 other player. They reset the birdfeeder and gain a wheat, if there is one. You tuck 2 bird cards from the deck behind this bird.”

      The second clause is not dependent on the first–it’s just order of operations. So even if the player doesn’t find a wheat, you still get to tuck 2 cards.

  16. Hey Jamey,

    Have you given any thought to the possibility of producing a comprehensive rule book for Wingspan, similar to the one that you made for Scythe? Now that there are several expansions out, it seems like it would be helpful to have the complete rule set consolidated in once place.

    1. Indeed, we considered that while creating Wingspan Asia…and we made it! The comprehensive rulebook is included in every copy of Wingspan Asia.

  17. This is a question from the Asia version of Wingspan. When playing a duet token on the map and the icon has a bonus of choosing a food, does the food get chosen from the birdfeeder or the supply?

    1. The only food selected from the birdfeeder in Wingspan are shown on the dice icon (like in the forest habitat) or if a card specifically says birdfeeder. Otherwise, gain food from the supply.

  18. We have a question about the Spotted Dove in the Asia version of Wingspan. The card reads ” If this bird has no birds to the right of it, you may movie it (only the card) to the player mat of the player on your right (you choose its habitat). If you do, draw three cards.” If you are only moving the card, what happens to any eggs that may be on the card? Do they get discarded or do you move them to another bird in the habitat?

    1. Great question! I wasn’t sure about the answer, so I looked it up on page 9 of the Wingspan Asia appendix, and here’s what it says: “Any cached food, eggs, or tucked cards
      are discarded when you move it.”

  19. If one person has the superb lyrebird, which allows “copy a brown power on one bird in the forest of the player to your right”, and the power of your neighbor in the forest is the northern mockingbird “repeat a brown power on a bird in this habitat, then does the lyrebird owner get to copy a power in their own habitat, or are they out of luck, since their neighbor has no brown powers to repeat?

    1. The copy powers act as if the copied text is printed on the text of your card, so you would then copy one of your brown power birds in your habitat. Thanks!

  20. Quick question : if I can discard bird card to gain additional food, can I discard bonus card instead of bird card?

    1. There are two types of card in Wingspan: bird and bonus cards. They are not the same card type and cannot be used interchangeably. If an ability asks you discard a bird card, a bird card it must be.

      1. Sorry for bothering. I have another question.
        If i tuck cards or discard cards(for bird ability or additioinal food. including when starting game) from my hand, should I reveal my tucked(or discarded) card to other players?

        Thanks :)

  21. Quick question: when playing online, why is it that the computer can take 2 food resources when there is no bird in the forest area?

  22. Do birds get activated if a new bird is placed in the same habitat, or only when collecting food, eggs, cards?

    1. When you play a bird, the only ability that is activated is that bird’s “when played” ability (if they have one). Otherwise, you’ll only activate “when activated” birds when you choose their row to use for your turn (e.g., gather food).

  23. Thanks in advance. At the end of your turn, If all the dice in the birdfeeder show the same food, do you automatically roll all five? Or does it only get re-rolled if the person about to gain food doesnt want wants available?

    1. “Or does it only get re-rolled if the person about to gain food doesnt want wants available?” That’s correct–it is only automatic if the birdfeeder is empty.

  24. Once eggs are laid and placed on bird cards, can they be relocated to other bird cards at any time later in the game?

  25. In Player 1 Swift Start “Turn 5 and Beyond”, it states that “You only have one card [remaining], so you may want to…”, but having followed the turn instructions, the player has zero cards left. Did we do something wrong, or is there an error?

    1. Thanks Thomas! You appear to be correct, but I’m having an extra set of eyes look at it to make sure.

    2. Thomas: We figured it out! In the swift start guides, Player 2 has a Canvasback that gives all players a card, which causes Player 1 to have a 3rd card after playing their two start cards.

  26. When playing wingspan flocking mode and two players in the same group want to gain food, can one person wait to see if they can reroll or vise versa?

    1. Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but if they’re in the same group, it should be the same as non-flock Wingspan: Unless stated otherwise on a card, the active player is the one choosing to reroll, not other players (unless the active player triggers a once between turns power).

  27. The black vulture card has a once between turns power that says “when another players (skull and cross bones) succeeds, gain one food supply from the birdfeeder.” How does a predator succeed?

    1. Thanks for playing Wingspan! Predator cards have an element of chance (e.g., look at the top card of the deck and tuck it if it’s a certain wingspan). If the predator finds what they’re looking for, that’s considered a success.

  28. Hello,

    Is there a simplified/traditional chinese version of the rulebook avaliable for download? On our English version of the rulebook it says we can find it on the website but the dropbox only has Spanish/Italian.. Please let me know thanks!

    David

    1. Thanks for asking about this. We mostly only have access to the English rules; our localization partners independently decide if they want to share those files. Feel free to check with Surfin Meeple!

    1. The wingspan length for flightless birds is anything you want it to be. See the note about this on page 3 of the Oceania rulebook.

  29. I’m new to this game, when starting the next round do you continue as you ended the last round or reset as per start of the game, can’t locate the answer in the rules. Thanks

    1. Thanks for playing Wingspan! At the end of the round, only follow the end-of-round steps. They’re noted on a tile you can put on the table and page 11 of the rules. After you complete those steps, start the next round (a player takes their turn).

      1. Hello, I’ve got a question regarding the “push your luck” brown powers introduced with Wingspan Asia and their interaction with pink powers that activate when another player’s hunt succeeds (i.e. Turkey Vulture).
        When does a hunt count as successful for the purpose of these pink powers? If I use the brown power of a bird like White-Throated Kingfisher, does Turkey Vulture activate after one successful roll or only after I have completed rolling and didn’t have to discard all stored food?

        1. Those conditional hunt powers activate after you’ve completed rolling and gained at least something from the hunt.

  30. Hi, after reading the basic rulebook and the Q&A about the rules of card drawing, I consider the drawing rules as “when drawing a card, you can only choose from the three cards already displayed, and after choosing the remaining cards, you have to discard them and take out the three cards on the top of the table again, whereas when drawing more than one card, you can check the corresponding number of cards in the library before choosing whether you want to take the three cards that have already been displayed or to keep the ones that you have drawn and you don’t have to change the cards on the top of the three displays”. Is this correct?

    1. Thanks for your question! That is not correct.

      When drawing a card, unless otherwise stated, choose 1 of the 3 face-up cards or the top card of the deck. At the end of your turn, refill any empty spaces on the card display with a card from the top of the deck.

      1. Hi, If need to draw more cards, thanks a bird power, but I just token the 3 face-up cards can I refill the empty spaces or I’ll lose the activated power?
        Thank you for answering!

        1. Whenever you draw a card, unless it specifically says you can only choose from the face-up cards, you can instead choose the top card of the deck. So if you’ve already selected the 3 face-up cards and you need to draw more, you would draw the top card of the deck (you still don’t refill face-up cards until the end of your turn).

  31. I just bought Wingspan, and have so far only unboxed it, punched, counted, and sorted components. I feel like I’m missing two trays?

    I’m confused about how to put things back in the box, particularly the food tokens and the eggs. The diagram on the side of the box indicates that I should put food and eggs in the bottom right corner with two containers for food and two for eggs. I assumed that I needed to fold the two trays in half and that they would then form the ovals seen in the diagram, but they aren’t folding over easily and with only two trays they won’t fill up enough space to help keep each other closed with compression.

    I also found mention here that there should be 8 storage spots, which again makes me think I’m missing two trays because right now with two trays I only have 4 storage depressions. It all seems so very well thought out with a diagram of how to put everything back, but my components don’t seem to match said diagram. I’ve tried looking up YouTube videos of people putting the game away but I’m only finding unboxings and how to plays. Please help!

    1. Thanks for your question! The diagram is a little outdated, as we’ve since updated some of the components to make them more eco-friendly. I do not recommend folding the 2 trays–just keep the tokens in bags and pour them into the trays when setting up the game.

  32. Can cards tucked behind others be used when tallying points for end of round or for your bonus card at the end of the game?

    1. Tucked cards are essentially blank cards. Their only purpose is to score 1 point at the end of the game for the “tucked cards” scoring category.

  33. I have a question about choosing to activate pink powers when triggered between turns. In the digital version, pink powers that are triggered are activated (or not activated) from top to bottom row and from left to right within each row (contrary to brown powers, which are activated from right to left in the row). Thus, in the digital version, you don’t get to choose the order to activate pink powers when they are triggered by another player and if you skip it, you can’t come back to it until it is triggered again on another player’s turn.

    However, I didn’t see anything in the rules about this issue, so I had always played pink powers like teal powers which allows the player to choose the order of activation (such as if they had multiple pink powers that were triggered at the same time).

    This matters at times when 2 birds with pink powers both allow you to gain food from the birdfeeder when another player chooses to gain food. In my case, one pink power let me gain a fish and the other pink power let me gain an invertebrate and were both triggered at the same time. The order I chose to activate them mattered as the birdfeeder had a fish and rodent but no invertebrates. So, by activating the pink power of gaining the fish from the birdfeeder first, I was able to reroll the birdfeeder when activating the pink power of gaining the invertebrate.

    If I were to play by the way that the digital version, I wouldn’t have had that option as I would’ve been forced to choose based on bird location on my mat rather than based on strategy…which is especially interesting in a 2 player game where pink powers can be less likely to be triggered.

    Hopefully that made sense and someone can guide me for how I’m supposed to pick the order of activating triggered pink powers! :)

    1. Thanks, Kayla! You’re correct that if you have multiple pink powers that trigger at the same time, you choose the order in which to activate them. It’s possible that this caused some difficulty in the code for Wingspan Digital developer Monster Couch.

  34. Hi, could i have some clarification please and sorry if this has been asked before.

    Oceania expansion, Galah: when activated, choose another player they reset bird feeder and gain a grain if there is one. You tuck 2 cards from the deck behind this bird.

    My question is do i always tuck two cards or
    can i only tuck two cards if they successfully get grain?

    Thanks.

    1. Great question! You tuck 2 cards from the deck regardless of whether or not the other player you select is successful in gaining a grain.

    1. Seems like you can’t. Bottom of page 6 of the manual says “your player mat limits you to a maximum of 5 birds in each habitat.”
      I will change my question to
      Can the Automa go above 5 birds in a habitat for the purposes of an end of round objective like birds in the wetland? Of so, the Automa is going to end round 4 with 7 birds in the wetland… FYI I’m playing only with the base game.

    2. Bottom of page six of the manual answered my question! And page 4 of the Automa answered my next question! Thanks for writing great manuals!

  35. Hi! Would a player playing the rose-ringed parakeet (the power of which allows you to copy a neighbours when played power) be able to gain something from copying e.g. the eastern imperial eagle whose power is: ¨For each rat in this bird’s cost you may pay 1 card from you hand instead. If you do, tuck the paid card behind this bird.¨?

    The parakeet doesn’t eat any rats so wouldn’t it be useless to copy this ability?

    1. You’re correct that because the parakeet doesn’t eat rats, a copied version of that ability wouldn’t do anything.

  36. I have a question about bird cards with the word “may” in the original Wingspan game. Is “may” just telling you to do the particular action on the card or that you have the freedom to take another action? 

    For example, the Common Crackle said to tuck one from my hand if I do I MAY also lay an egg on this bird. 
    The obvious alternative would be that I don’t lay an egg on this bird (perhaps because it’s full), but does “may” mean I could choose to lay the egg on a different bird?

    Another example is the Steller’s Blue Jay. It says to gain a wheat from the bird feeder and that I MAY cache it on this bird. 
    Again, the obvious alternative is that there wasn’t a wheat in the birdfeeder and, therefore, I may not cache the wheat on the bird. However, since it says, “may” does that give me the freedom to keep the wheat for my supply if available in the birdfeeder?

    Lastly, the Pileated Woodpecker tells all players to lay an egg on a cavity nest and that I MAY lay an additional egg on a cavity nest bird. 
    The obvious alternative is that I may not lay an egg on another cavity nest, perhaps because they’re already full or because I don’t have one. However, since it says “may” could choose to I lay an egg on a bird with a different type of nest instead?

    To me, interpreting the “may” as an opportunity to perform an alternative action to what is explicitly written on the card seems inconsistent with the other brown power commands. It also feels like cheating and makes the game less challenging.

    I’d appreciate some clarity on the “may” cards as there are varying opinions in my playing circle. Sorry this is so long.
    Thanks.

    1. Thanks for your question. “May” indicates a binary option: You may do as instructed, or you may not do it at all. So, in order, you may lay an egg on this bird (or you may not lay an egg on this bird—you would typically only do this if egg capacity for the bird is full); you may cache the wheat (or you may keep it in your supply, as you’ve already gained it per the first clause); you may lay an egg on a cavity next bird (or lay no extra egg at all).

      1. I also elect not to lay an egg when the end of round goal is the number of birds without eggs on and im trying to get my count up.

  37. Does a gray lag goose double food cost goal, I have seen online it doesent but I see no where In the rules why it shouldn’t because it has nothing to do with eggs

    1. I’m guessing there is a goal that looks at the total cost of played birds? If so, the Greylag Goose counts as 6 food (not 3).

      For questions like this, please list the exact text on the bird (including the exact name of the bird as it’s spelled on the card) and the exact text on the goal tile so we can properly help.

      1. It says “This birds counts double towards end of round goals that it qualifies for” greylag goose, online people say this power doesent count towards the food cost end of round goal but i don’t see it conflicting with the rule book so I’m confused

        1. Hi Bruno! There was a small misunderstanding. The Greylag goose only counts double for end-round goals that count birds. So you can interpret the text of the bird’s power literally: “This *bird* counts double.” The end-round goal you’re talking about doesn’t count birds. I hope this info helps!

          1. Yes, when counting birds in a habitat for an end-round goal, if you have a bird that counts double, you could have 6.

  38. With the common tailorbird at game end you add eggs to contuous nest types. Do these extra eggs count toward the Round 4 End goals?

      1. Thanks. Tokens must be in the Duet game? We don’t play that. It says contiguous nests on the bird cards… and do stars count?
        Can you give me an example please?

        1. If you’re not playing Duet, do not include the Duet round-end goal tiles (they’re marked with red corners).

          If you’re talking a bird’s game-end (yellow) power, please let me know the name of the bird and the exact text on that bird.

          1. It is the common tailorbird.
            GAME END: Find a contiguous group of birds in your
            preserve that al have the same nest type. lay1 O
            on each of them.
            nests count as any nest type.

          2. Here’s what the Wingspan Asia appendix entry for the Common Tailorbird says (page 6, top entry under Egg-Laying Powers): ““Contiguous” is defined by being orthogonally adjacent. In other words: directly to the left, right, top, or bottom (not diagonal). The group may zig-zag across rows and columns, as long as each bird in the group is orthogonally adjacent to at least one other bird in the group.

  39. If you have to define a star nest in a game end card, does that also carryover to the bonus cards or can the star nest be two different nests?

  40. Some birds, such as the American Redstart, when activated say “Gain 1 [die] from the birdfeeder.”

    Does gaining the die count as gaining food — so that if all the dice in the birdfeeder have the same face, you can first reroll the dice?

    Also, some birds, such as the Great Crested Flycatcher, say “Gain 1 [food type] from the birdfeeder, if available.” We’ve presumed that if the food type is _not_ available, you’re not gaining food — and therefore even if all the dice show the same face, you can’t reroll so that that food type might become available. For example, “Gain 1 worm from the birdfeeder if available” in the face of a birdfeeder full of only grains means no reroll, and no food gained. Do we have that correct?

    1. Thanks for your question! When you gain a food die (or have a conditional power that wants to gain food), you are gaining food and are eligible to reset the birdfeeder (if all dice are showing the same face).

      1. I’m glad I asked. Thank you for responding.

        Not sure all companies behind wildly popular games would respond at all, let alone in three minutes!

      2. Found this clarified in the original Wingspan Appendix booklet — “When a bird power allows you to gain a type of food from the birdfeeder ‘if available,’ these reroll rules still apply. When activating a power that says ‘if available,’ if the dice in the tray are showing all the same face, you may reroll the dice and then complete the bird’s power.”

  41. We are in an argument about the rose-ringed parakeet power (A) when a player attempted to copy the ‘when played’ power of the stubble quail (OE). The stubble quail allows the player to discard 6 resources to place 6 eggs on the quail, but the rose-winged parakeet can only technically hold 2 eggs. Would the combo allow the parakeet to actually hold 6 eggs?

    1. Stubble quail (4 points, clutch nest, 6 egg capacity): when played, discard up to 6 wild resources. Lay 1 egg on this bird for each discarded food. (4 points, clutch nest, 6 egg capacity)

      Rose ringed parakeet (2 points, cavity nest, 2 egg capacity): when played, copy a when played ability on 1 of your neighbors birds

    2. Birds can only hold the amount of eggs as it is specified in this case 2, so the other four would be “discarded”.

        1. It does not work well for localization, as different birds have different names in various languages. Also, as recently announced, a number of birds will have their official names changed (removing human names).

      1. This is the only thing wrong with Wingspan. Some of the vague “named” birds. Its no ones fault but it bothers me. When played I say “Some Haole’s bird” or some white dudes bird, never their name.

  42. Can you use the nectar at the end of round 4 for the game end action, like placing another bird food costs? Or is the nectar discarded before game end bird actions?

    1. Great question! Check out the reference tile for order of operations: Nectar is discarded in step 2 at the end of the round, while game-end powers are used in step 6 (well after your nectar is gone).

  43. Hi!
    We were wondering about the “activate brown effects” part of the plauer boards (it says it in each area). When is this suppose to happen?
    Like, it says: “Grab food from the feeder” and then further down in that field it says “and activate all brown effects in this row” (we play with Oceania, and that text is beneath the used nectar spot in each area).
    So when does this “and then activate etc…” actually activate?
    //P

    1. For each card in that row with a brown power (“when activated”), you will activate those abilities from right to left.

  44. Should the Oceania expansion cards get mixed with the standard Wingspan bird deck, or do we have to buy something else before we can use the expansion? Will the game make sense with the different mixed cards? We love the original game but your expansion might be fun to add.

  45. I have a handful of questions:

    1. If two different players’ (A and B) “one between turns” power are activated by a third player (C), and that allows A and B to take from the bird feeder, how should we decide between A and B who gets to take from the feeder first?

    2. Let’s say one player did the Lay Eggs action (for example) and will then activate two birds, first one with a predator power, next one that allows them to take from the bird feeder. Let’s say there’s another player with “once between turns” that’s triggered by predator powers. If the first player’s predator activation succeeds, who goes to go to the bird feeder first: the first player who’s activating birds in their Lay Eggs row or the second player whose pink bird was triggered by the first activated predator bird?

    3.(a) If a player activated a bird that lets them cache wheat from bird feeder if available, and all cubes in the feeder are the same, can this player re-roll? (b) What if the option is to take instead of cache? (c) In case the answers to a and b are different, what if the power lets the player decide to take OR cache?

    1. 1. Go in turn order, starting with the player after the active player.

      2. It’s always better to say specifically which bird power you’re looking at. Sometimes wordings differ in important ways. But I see 3 pink powers reliant on the success of a predator power (Black Vulture, Black-Billed Magpie, and Turkey Vulture). All three of these pink powers are triggered and activated when the successful predator finishes its power and before the active player continues to their next bird. In your example, the pink power would go to the feeder first.

      3 (a) Yes. (b). Yes, you may reroll. Whenever you go to the birdfeeder to gain food for any reason (cacheing included) and the all the dice show the same face, you may reroll.

      1. Perfect, thanks so much Joe! I’m grateful for the fast response and the beautiful board game and iPhone game y’all have created!

  46. Question: It’s a 2 player game. One player (player 1) has the turkey vulture, the other player has 2 predator cards in his grasslands. Once (player 2) takes the action of laying eggs, he then gets to each predator card which says to look at a card in the deck, if under 100cm, tuck a card. My question is: If player 2 succeeds with both predator cards, does the player 1 (who has the turkey vulture) get to take a food for each predator card?

  47. Regarding the pink power of the “garrot d’Islande”(Bucephalus islandica). This bird lays an egg when another player plays the action of laying eggs. My question is: what if the other player lays an egg thank to a brown activation of a bird (like from the Sturnella neglecta)and not as a definite action? Can I benefit from this pink power an lay an egg myself?

  48. The Budgerigar has a brown power: WHEN ACTIVATED: Tuck the smallest bird in the tray behind this bird

    If there is a bird with a wingspan of * in the tray when you activate the Budgerigar, do you have to tuck that card, treating it as 1 cm, do you tuck the card with the lowest Wingspan of the remaining cards, treating it as arbitrarily large, or can you choose what wingspan to treat it as for this purpose and then tuck accordingly?

  49. Hi Jamey, I’m wondering whether this question should be reconsidered as it seems to me that the response either doesn’t properly address the issue or is potentially at odds with the rule book and general play within the game or leads to unintended consequences. In particular I note that an interpretation of what you’ve said here – as I understand is carried from here into the official online version of the game – is to allow certain birds to tuck from “the deck” even when that deck has already been completely used up by all the players. I undertook a bit of an exposition on the online wingspan discord server Oceania beta testing section if you want to see further discussion. To sum it up though the main issue is that that interpretation from this q&a comments page leads to the scenario that there are essentially two different types of “decks” (or meanings for “tuck from the deck”) at different stages of the game for cards like the European Goldfinch that tuck without seeing the card (“flocking ONCE BETWEEN TURNS: When another player tucks a card for any reason, tuck 1 card from the deck behind this bird.”). While there are cards remaining in the “deck” it takes from that deck and removes cards that could potentially be in play/available to players, but following your comment above, once that pile is all used up and reshuffled as the rule book says to do but then used up again till nothing is left, it then means the Goldfinch type power cards begin taking from an “imaginary deck” to tuck “counters”. This seems to be an unintended consequence and contrary to a simple reading of the rule book that would just simply be … if there are no cards left to reshuffle to make a new deck then there is simply no deck left and you cannot tuck from the deck, just like if there are no cards in your hand then you cannot tuck from your hand. To me it seems that there is really no issue at all, like any game there are numerous limitations in the game and this one is simply one of a limited resource that actually adds to the need for strategic consideration and use of finite resources. I’m hoping this can be reviewed and reconsidered or discussed further. Cheers anyway, thanks for the game and all your work!

    1. I think both answers are true. If you somehow run out of the entire deck of cards, you can shuffle the discard pile into a new deck. At the same time, tucked cards are, for all intents and purposes, counters. There’s nothing on the other side of a tucked card for any gameplay purpose.

      1. I think at least two outstanding issues remain following that:
        1a) What do you do after you have shuffled the discard pile in to a new deck, taken cards from and exhausted that new deck, and then reshuffled any new discarded cards into a new deck etc until there are none left and there is no longer any deck at all and all the cards are in player’s hands or on the board? I and others have encountered this scenario when undertaking very large tucks and it is an issue for how to code a digital version of the game.
        1b) In one sense, 1a) it is not even a necessary question at all and the current rule book already completely covers this scenario, as it seems the logical and simple answer is that what you do at that stage is precisely nothing at all, there is no need to respond other than to acknowledge that there are simply no cards left thus no deck and powers or tasks that depend on the deck can not be completed. But this is not the current solution implemented digitally, potentially because of the partial consideration of these cards as counters, when in fact they are more than that. i.e. it is only the practice of introducing “counters” to this question that makes this an issue at all.
        2a) The tucked cards once they are under the tucking card may be simply understood as counters at that stage (at least for the purposes of scoring at the end of the game). But importantly, it is the fact that they were not simply counters (tokens/non wingspan player card objects) before they were tucked that has a meaningful impact on the gameplay in two ways. Before they are tucked they are actual specific playing cards and importantly potential cards that players can draw in another draw and tuck or non-tucking way. Whether they were powerful cards of significance to a game or not, or beneficial to have removed or not to one player or another is another way that this process meaningfully effects the gameplay. Further, they act as cards to fill the tray (or not fill it if there are none) midround or even at the start of round 4 if this occurs earlier. Another meaningful impact on gameplay from considering them as counters relates to the relative weight of the powers on cards that can access them as “mere counters” versus those that can not, examples of the latter include cards that require you to draw, look at the card and tuck or not depending on its features or your decision to keep it. There could also be other ways.
        2b) If you consider the tucked cards as only counters then there are more issues to deal with, for example why is the card that says “tuck from the deck” not limited to tucking from the deck, for the cards that say “tuck from your hand” can we just use tokens from another hand equally as artificial as the source of the cards for the “tuck from deck” powers?, are there other cards whose plain English meaning is not to be interpreted or limited in this way?
        It is in cases of very large tucks where people run out of the deck, and then they say “hey can I have more cards to tuck?” and the answer is yes, use a counter. But if the other player says, “hey you tucked all the cards and now there are none to refill the tray”, what is the answer for them?

        It is simpler to just stay within the rule book, and like with our finite earth, when you run out, you run out. Luckily the game is still perfectly playable and there is no issue.

        1. Sure, if you have absolutely no remaining cards in the game (I’m surprised this is possible, but I believe that you have found a way), then there’s nothing to tuck, and you can’t tuck anything, at least in the analog game. In the digital game you can go either way (just like how in a digital game you can track the score as you play instead of waiting until the end of the game. The correct answers for a digital game aren’t always the same for the analog game).

          I’m not saying tucked cards are literally counters. I’m saying they’re “effectively” counters. You are correct that these are actual bird cards removed from the deck, preventing people from using what’s on the other side of those cards.

  50. I’m playing solo with the duet mode with all the expansions mixed together. I don’t remember which bird it was but it’s power was that the player with the lowest number of cards in the wetland habitat could draw a card. How do you resolve those types of cards in duet mode since you aren’t supposed to use the cubes on the round tiles?

    1. Hi Ralph. On p. 4 of the Asia Automa rulebook it has the Interactive Bird Powers section. Use the first one: ‘Check if another player has something’
      Have fun!

  51. I have a Eurasian Nuthatch and a Northern Mockingbird next to each other.

    I used the Mockingbird to repeat the Nuthatch’s power, so my Mockingbird has a seed cahced on it. Can I use this seed at any time like the Nuthatch says? Or does that not apply since it’s only copying the power when activating?

    1. It’s only copying the power when activated, so that seed just becomes a cached food (for 1 VP at end of game).

    1. For any “when activated” ability, it’s your choice to activate it or not activate it. If you don’t activate it, the bird doesn’t move.

  52. On the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird it states when activated: each player gains 1 food from the bird feeder, starting with the player of choice. Can you choose yourself as the player if you’re only playing with two people?

  53. On the Ruby-Throated Mockingbird card it states that each player gets one food dice of your choice, starting with the player of choice. Can you choose yourself as the player of choice if you’re playing with two people?

  54. My husband and I love playing this game together! We have a disagreement though! The greylag goose blue power was count this card as double towards end of round goal if it qualifies for the goal. If the end of round goal is most bird cards in hand at the end of the round, and the greylag goose was in hand, could you count that card as double in your hand?

    Thank you so much for hours and hours of fun!

  55. When I played card with the pinc power “Once Between Turnes:When another player tucks a card for any reason, …”, do it effect only in another players turns? or also in round end process?

  56. Hi, guys! First, thank you so much for the game! Our family has all the expansions, and we play Wingspan for more than a year almost every week! It’s pure pleasure!

    Suggestion made by my little son: they need to make an expansion “Extinct birds”! This would be epic! I agree)) Will u do it?

    Best!

    1. Thanks Dan! An extinct birds promo pack is our most requested non-standard Wingspan product, and I’m absolutely happy to publish it if Elizabeth designs it someday. :)

    2. Thank you.
      So, if I played the card as a last action of a round, the effect never activated? or effects at from start of next round till my turn?

        1. Huh. This is not how I’ve interpreted it in my games previously. I thought the “once between turns” language for pink powers spanned round ends/beginnings. So if another player took an action that triggered my pink power, even if it happened in a new round before I’d taken my first turn in that round, my power would activate, as long as it hadn’t been activated since my last turn of the previous round.

          It sounds like you’re saying that is not the case, though, and pink powers can only activate between my turns _within a single round_. That seems weird to me. So if I’ve taken my last turn in a round, and another player then plays _their_ last turn in that round, taking an action that satisfies my pink power condition, are you saying my power would not activate in that case?

          That seems like a serious limitation of pink powers. Does the online game work like that? I thought it worked the way I’ve previously believed the rule worked, where it activates before my first turn of a round or after my last tuen of a round, as long as it hasn’t activated already since my most recent turn.

          1. Yeah, I just double-checked the printed rule books, and I think they support my interpretation. In the base game rule book it talks about “once between turns”, but it doesn’t specify that the turns need to be within the same round. The European expansion rule book explicitly exempts between-round teal powers from triggering pink powers, but to my mind this supports my interpretation, since if the game worked the way I believe Jamey was implying, that explicit exemption wouldn’t be needed, since between-rounds teal powers would already be excluded by the only-between-turns-within-the-same-round limitation on pink powers.

            I’m pretty sure the online game works the way I’ve interpreted the rule. I know I’ve received pink power benefits when another player takes an action after my last turn at the end of round 4.

            I dunno. Maybe I’m misinterpreting what Jamey meant.

          2. Hi John! Jamey just misunderstood. While the original question was whether pink powers can be triggered during round-end (they can’t), the followup question wasn’t super clear.

            You are correct. Your pink powers can activate after your final turn. Theoretically, if you play a pink power bird for the final turn of the game (no other players after you), there would be no opportunity for it to activate. But if there are other players’ turns after yours, it can activate even if you don’t have any turns after that.

  57. A player chooses to activate their bird’s brown power which says “All players lay an egg”. Can the other players choose to accept or reject the egg or are they required to take the egg?

    1. First you choose to activate the ability, and if you do, you must lay an egg, and it’s a choice for the other players to follow.

    2. The House Wren power says “When played: Play a second bird in your grasslands or forest. Pay its normal cost” If you play the wren in the forest do you have a choice of placing the second bird in the grassland or does it need to go in the forest too? It seems to me the way it is worded you would have a choice.

      1. Great question. The key words here are “a second bird”; if you played the first bird (the House Wren) in the grasslands, the second bird must follow them to the grasslands.

    3. The blue power on the Eurasian Collared-Dove says: Discard up to 5 food from your supply. For each, tuck 1 card from the deck behind this bird.” Our question is if you are discarding nectar for this round end power, does it go back into the supply or on the bird card? Thanks

      1. Round-end powers happen first at the end of the round, so the nectar would go on the left side of your player mat (where it would remain until the end of the game).

  58. When drawing a bird card from the deck, is it revealed for all players to see or just to the player drawing the card?

  59. When playing the common blackbird during the duet phase in the Asia expansion: When played it states, “Place this bird sideways, so that it covers 2 forest spaces. Pay the lower egg cost.” Do you get to lay both duet tokens on the duet board?

    1. Sorry I just saw that this question was answered below! Sounds like it is just one duet token per bird card so only one. Thanks!

  60. The Carrion Crow bird power is:

    “ROUND END: Choose any 1 (including yourself). Cache 1 Rat from the supply on this bird for each Predator that player has.”

    Does this mean any Predator the player has picked up or only Predator birds that have been played?

    1. For this and other abilities that look at types of birds, they’re always referring to played birds, not birds in hand.

    1. If you have anything other than printing code 1712-1764 or 1812-2078, your copy does not have the early typos.

        1. We’ve gone through dozens of printings of Wingspan–only a few of the codes are printed above. Is there something about the component quality that makes you think your copy is counterfeit?

          1. I’ve never held a real copy so I don’t know what to look out for. I’ve just read online there are lots of counterfeit copies so now it’s got me worried as I bought this on Facebook marketplace.

            Can you confirm if that’s a real printing code please?

          2. Oh yes, it’s definitely a real printing code. In the future, if you ever want to be 100% sure that the product you’re buying is real–it sounds like this is important to you–I’d recommend buying directly from the publisher’s webstore.

          3. I’ve never held a real copy so I’m not sure what one looks like. I’ve recently read lots of stuff online about games getting copied including Wingspan so now I’m just a bit worried about the copy I’ve bought on Facebook Marketplace. Would you be able to confirm I’ve got a real print code please? Or if there’s anything else I should look for please? Thank you!

          4. Yes, I just confirmed that a few seconds after your previous comment. Most of the counterfeits we’ve seen do not have the Stonemaier Games logo on the front of the box (upper right corner). If you see that logo, you’re fine.

  61. When playing a bird card do you still go through the brown powers in your cards to the left or just after the other 3 actions?

    1. When you use your turn to play a bird, that’s the only thing you do. It’s only when you activate a habitat that you can activate the brown powers in one habitat (as well as the benefit printed in that habitat on the player mat).

  62. Still thinking of new questions after playing this game for three years.

    Bit of an odd one here, but the Hooded Merganser says “copy one predator power in this habitat.” Does this only copy brown powers? Is there any way for it copy an other power color?

    It seems like just brown but just checking.

    Thank you as always.

    1. We’re always happy to help with questions! :) Since you’re activating this as a brown power, it can only copy other brown powers (in this case, specifically a predator power).

  63. Does automa count egg icons from player grassland category or from birds played on player mat when taking eggs for its turn?

    1. Hi Kyle. When taking eggs on it’s turn, Automa only uses the icons on the Automa cards. If there are three egg icons on the Automa card, give Automa three eggs. Have fun?

  64. If playing Duet Mode and if a “place this bird sideways” card is played, would that allow the player to take 2 duet tokens?

  65. My opponent has played the Spangled Drongo in her Woodlands. I have played the Mistletoebird in my Woodlands. I take my turn and “Gain Food”, I take a cherry and a seed. I then activate my Mistletoebird and exchange my cherry for a nectar. Does my opponent use her Spangled Drongo pink “once between turns” power to also gain a nectar?

    1. Since you have those cards handy, can you share the exact text on them (especially the Spangled Drongo) to help facilitate the answer? Thanks!

      1. Spangled Drongo: Once between turns: When another player gains a nectar, gain 1 nectar from the supply.
        Mistletoebird: When activated: Gain 1 fruit from the supply, or discard 1 fruit to gain 1 nectar from the supply.

    1. Cetti’s Warbler is the bird that counts double towards qualifying end-of-round goals. It’s the card itself that qualifies, not the duet token–a single duet token is placed when you play Cetti’s Warbler, just like any bird.

  66. Hi! Sorry for perhaps a very easy answer. BIRDS in a row (Goal Tiles) means that you have to complete the row, or the player with most birds in a single row wins? If one player has 4 birds in the yellow habitat, and another has 2 birds in 2 different habitats, who gets first and second? Thanks!

    1. The player with the 4 birds would get first place as they have the most birds in a row(habitat) the player with two birds would get second. If the goal/card was asking for most birds for an specific location, let’s say forest area then the player with the 4 birds in the wetlands would get no points, and the player with 2 birds in the forest area would get the first place, as they have the most birds in the area requested. Hope it makes sense and didn’t complicate it more.

  67. Can a bird with a larger wingspan be tucked under a bird with a smaller wingspan (assuming there are no rules about this explicitly written on the card)?

  68. I tried searching the page but got no hits, so here goes. Apologies if redundant. The Oceania Data Analyst bonus cards explanation is explicit that same wingspans don’t break your run. The Asia Ranger cards description doesn’t have a similar line about birds of the same score. So, if you have Forest Ranger and your bird scores, in order, are 6,5,5,4,3, how would you score the bonus card?
    Thanks!

    1. Because there are no further explanations (like with the Data Analyst card), the Ranger bonus cards follow the strict definitions of ascending or descending. That means repeated values would not count for the series when measuring the outcome of Ranger bonus cards. With 6,5,5,4,3, you would only score your longest series that is ascending or descending, which would be 5,4,3.

  69. Does the nectar symbol found on birds from Oceania Expansion work on bonus cards like “Viticulturalist”, which state only berry symbols, no wilds. Nectar seems to me to be an exception to this. Am I wrong? Help @jameystegmaier

    1. Thanks for playing Wingspan, David! Cards like the Viticulturalist each show a very specific icon, and it is only that icon–berry in this case–that apply to the corresponding bonus card (no wilds or nectars).

  70. I dont understand this sentence from the Asia rulebook “you do not pay eggs when going to benefits from the three habitats “ from page. Is this a error?
    I never see it from the original game and the extensions. Thanks

    1. When placing a new bird in one of your habitats, you pay the egg cost at the top of the column where placing the new bird. When activating a habitat (by moving your cube from right to left in a row), you do not pay the egg costs at the top of the column.

      So the rulebook here is clearing up a frequent (incorrect) assumption that you must pay an egg cost to activate a habitat. That egg cost is only when playing a bird.

    1. I’m happy to help! Please share the full text on the card and which part of it isn’t making sense.

    2. Also, in case this is your question, the Great Cormorant has an entry on the Wingspan Asia FAQ (https://stonemaiergames.com/games/wingspan/wingspan-asia/):

      How do you get the first fish on the Great Cormorant?

      The Great Cormorant’s ability reads, “You may move 1 fish from this bird to your supply. Then, roll any 2 dice. If any are fish, cache 1 fish on this bird from the supply.” So how do you get the first fish on this bird? The first time you use the Cormorant, you ignore the first clause and skip right to rolling 2 dice (that clause doesn’t apply to you until you have a fish on the bird). After that, hopefully you’ll have a fish on the bird to consider moving to your supply; if not, continue to skip to rolling 2 dice when activated.

      1. Which 2 dice do you roll? 2 dice in the bird feeder? 2 outside? If from the bird feeder are they considered out until the bird feeder is refreshed?

        1. Whenever a card says “roll any 2 dice”, you choose where they come from, and they go out of the birdfeeder. If you need to reference this in the future, it’s at the top of page 4 in the Wingspan Asia appendix.

  71. When playing with the Oceania expansion, can the food exchange on the Green Heron card be for a nectar? Or anything but a nectar?

    1. Anything but nectar. :) [Update: I was wrong about this; the correct answer is that nectar is eligible for this specific “any food” power.]

      1. Hi Jamey, are you saying here we can’t use the Green Heron’s power to get nectar? I’ve always understood it as you can trade any food with the Green Heron into a nectar. And there are other threads here where people are asking about the interaction between Spangled Drongo and Green Heron that indicate to me that you can indeed use Green Heron to get nectar. Thanks as always!

        1. Brendan: Thanks for your question. The Green Heron’s “when activated” power says, “Trade 1 [any food] for any other type from the supply.” Looking through the nectar rules, it does appear that nectar is eligible to gain from bird powers with the “any food” icon–my previous answer is incorrect.

    1. Hi Rick. Based on the difficulty level you are playing, the bonus card shows your three values. For example, at Eagle difficulty: 5, 6, or 7 points. Take all birds from the display that are worth one of those values. FROM THOSE, Automa gets the one which is the LOWEST VALUE, and the others are discarded. If there was more than one with the same lowest value, give her either; it makes no difference which.
      Have fun,
      David

  72. Question on the Baya Weaver. Does it qualify as a color for the Photographer (color) bonus card which lists Bay as a color.

    1. Good question, but the photographer is looking for colors as words are colors as part of compound words. “Baya” is its own word, not a compound of “bay” and “a”.

  73. Hi,
    My question is about the french version and about the “anatomist” card : in french we have the “cochevis huppé” ( galerida cristata, maybe “crested lark” in english) can we count it with the anatomist card or not ? “huppé” is not “huppe” so does that count or not ? We’re several gamers not agreed about that…
    Thanks for your answer :)

    1. Thanks for your question! If it’s on the list (on the Anatomist card), it counts. If it’s not on the list, it doesn’t count. :)

  74. I tried to leave this comment before but I think it didn’t go through.

    Can a Rose-Winged Parakeet copy a Bonelli’s Eagle or Eastern Imperial Eagle? As in, if my opponent has Bonelli’s Eagle in play, can I play the Rose-Winged Parakeet using the alternate cost of tucking three cards?

    Alternately, if a Rose-Winged Parakeet copies a bird that draws or scores bonus cards, does the Parakeet count towards the Endangered Species bonus card that tallies how many bonus card birds you have?

    Thank you always for the responses and clarifications.

    1. In all cases, the Rose-Ringed Parakeet copies the power, exactly as it’s worded on the other bird, onto itself for the duration of that turn. At the end of the turn, it no longer has that power.

      So for Bonelli’s Eagle and Eastern Imperial Eagle, the power wouldn’t do any good because it’s looking for rodent costs and the Parakeet does not cost rodents.

      For the Endangered Species bonus card, the Parakeet no longer has the copied power after the end of the turn. So when scoring bonus cards at the end of the game, the Parakeet would not count for Endangered Species.

      1. This is a question about the Photographer bonus card (birds with colors in their names. We have a disagreement as to whether the bird cards Silvereye and Mistletoebird count towards this bonus card.

      2. Oops in my last question about the Sivereye and Mistletoebird, I meant to say the Anatomist Bonus card not Photographer

      3. Me again. I did have a question about the Photographer Bonus card after all. WE were wondering why if bronze and gold count as color words then why doesn’t Silver?

        1. The Oceania rulebook clears these up!
          Anatomist with Mistletoebird: “The “toe” in this bird’s name is etymologically
          unrelated to the anatomical part and so does not
          qualify this bird for the Anatomist bonus card.”
          Photographer: The Oceania rulebook updates the word list to include silver so the silvereye certainly counts!

        2. Here’s the rule on word-based bonus cards. If it’s on the list, it counts. If it’s not on the list, it doesn’t count. There are too many etymological debates to be had about what could or should count, so in practice, all the answers you need are on the list of qualifying words. Both “eye” and “toe” are on the list. Also, if you’ll reference the Photographer bonus card included in Wingspan Asia, all three of the words you mentioned are listed (“bronze,” “gold,” and “silver”).

  75. Regarding the Large Billed Crow, if you cache a nectar on the bird as your food choice, where do you put it? On the bird or in your nectar pile? Thanks!

  76. I think I have the 6th printing. Which means I don’t have the Swift Start cards. Should I get them? Are they different cards? I always assumed it was just a grouping for new players.

  77. Hi! about the first player selection as a variant rule of the original game, can you explain how this can be beneficial to a “more competitive environments (like digital adaptations or tournaments)”?

    IMO this variant just creates an asymmetry that gives full advantage to the first player and therefore it cause exactly the opposite effect, making in some conditions the game less competitive because the first player has easily edge on the others (expecially in a 2 player game!) just by knowing they have access to those game resouces (cards, food) first without any risk to lose them.

    (you can see people playing online and keeping specific food or specific cards just because they know some food or some cards will be for sure available for them on their first turn… expecially when you can perform your first action *without risks* in order to have it match bonus cards, end of the round goals, etc!)

    1. Exactly! That’s why we limit this variant to tournament/digital play, as it gives players more agency over the decisions they make during setup.

  78. Hi there! I have a question about Automa. We’re lucky enough to own the North America, European, Oceana, and Asia expansions. Wondering what elements from the various version(s) of Automa we have should used at this point?

    1. Hi Cathy. I hope I am understanding your question correctly. If you are just getting started with Automa, I would recommend you play using any combination of birds, but excluding those from from Oceania (because Nectar adds some extra rules). I would recommend you just use the 10 basic Automa cards; don’t add the special named Automa cards. Since you own both the base game and Asia, you have two decks of Automa cards, but they are identical. Have fun!

  79. Hello- We have a question about the Hermit Thrush bird power. “Players with fewest Forest birds gain one miscellaneous food from bird feeder”.

    Do “zero” birds in the Forest habitat count as fewest? Or do you need to have at least one played to qualify?

    1. For this bird, zero is included in the measure of “fewest.” So the player(s) with zero birds would gain the benefit.

  80. Hello! We are now playing the Oceania expansion. Would you please confirm if we do the End of Game card powers before or after scoring the Bonus Cards? Thank you in advance for your time.

    1. Here’s the order of operations (page 2 of the rulebook and on the reference tile included in Oceania):

      At the end of each round:
      1. Use “round end” bird powers, if playing with European Expansion.
      2. Discard any unused nectar (as described in next section).
      3. Score end-of-round goal.
      4. Remove all action cubes.
      5. Discard and replace all cards in the bird tray.
      6. If Round 4 is over, use game-end powers. Otherwise, pass first-player token clockwise.

      Game-end powers is the last step.

      1. Thank you for the quick response. The Bonus Card scoring is not mentioned in those steps, so would it be done after the Game-End Power cards are scored?

        1. Ah, I see what you’re saying. Yes, that’s scored during end-game scoring, after all end-of-round steps.

  81. Good afternoon, there was a dispute over the rules. Tell me how victory points are divided when goals are achieved. 4 players playing, 2 players ranked first, 1 player ranked second, 1 player ranked third? Thank you.

    1. The 2 tied first-place players add the first- and second-place points and divide by two and round down. The second-place player would get the third-place points.

      There’s a description and example of this on page 11 in the core game rulebook.

  82. Regarding the KEA, The card states to first draw one bonus card, and Then decide if you want to spend more food/foods to get extra bonus cards.

    My question is, Can you look at the first bonus card that you drew before deciding if you want more bonus cards?

    It has become a hot topic in our Wingspan group..:)

    1. Here’s how we say it in the appendix: “You first draw 1 bonus card, then decide how many additional cards you want to draw and discard the corresponding amount of food. This is a one-time decision. Among all the bonus cards drawn using this bird’s power, you keep only 1.”

      So yes, you look at the first card before deciding if you want to draw extras (at a cost).

      1. Hello there, just a quick question as I cannot find a straightforward answer.. For the “Photographer” bonus card, does the “Barrow’s Goldeneye” bird count?

  83. On cards that have powers “Gain 1 from the bird feeder, if available. You may cache it on this bird.” Does that mean I have the option of keeping it to use or do I HAVE to cache it?

      1. Thank you so much for saving my entire game, just was about to lose because of 2 rookies giving me an English grammar lesson which I just won with your reply!

  84. Black-Shouldered Kite says “WHEN ACTIVATED: Reset the birdfeeder and gain 1 mouse, if there is one. You may give it to another player; if you do, lay up to 3 eggs on this bird.” Does that mean 3 eggs at once or 1 egg 3 different times? The 3 egg limit is a little confusing.

    1. It’s essentially saying, “Lay 3 eggs on this bird if you can” (there might already be eggs on the bird that limit its remaining capacity).

  85. Hi. When you get food or cards or eggs, do you have to take the exact amount? Ex. You are laying eggs and are on 2 eggs, can I just take 1? It made a difference of the end goal of birds with 0 eggs.
    If I activate the card that says choose one player to lay an egg so I can tuck cards, do I have to pick a player that has room to do that or can I choose someone with no cards or no capacity?
    Lastly, if I reset the feeder to gain 1 of each food type and there are 2 dice showing nectar/wheat, can I take 1 wheat and 1 nectar or do I choose one? We are a little unsure with the dice that have 2 foods on one face, when to.reset the feeder (2 worms, 1 worm/wheat can I reset) or when people are gainig food (ie gain all the worms in the feeder, can they take the dice out that have 2 food on one face as well (ie worm/wheat) ?
    Thanks
    Really enjoy the game and how it plays out differently every time!

    1. Those core benefits are optional, so you could take less than 2 eggs, for example.

      You could choose any other player, even if they’re unable to lay an egg.

      If you have a power that lets you take 1 of each food type and there are 2 dice showing nectar/wheat, you could take 1 wheat and 1 nectar.

      If all dice in the birdfeeder show the same face and someone is about to gain food, they can reset the birdfeeder.

  86. During our game of Wingspan this afternoon, a question arose on the Emu card (from the Oceania expansion). The Emu’s Brown Power states: “When Activated: Gain all Seeds that are in the birdfeeder. Keep half (rounded up), then choose how to distribute the remainder among the other player(s).” When this power was “activated” by the player, there was only one Fish in the birdfeeder. Two interpretations were proposed: 1) Since all the dice in the birdfeeder had the same face (i.e., one Fish), all five dice should be re-rolled before determining the number of Seeds (if any); 2) Because nobody was definitely getting food, the dice should not be re-rolled (i.e., the Emu owner would therefore not get any Seed(s), since there was only a Fish in the birdfeeder). We played Interpretation #2. Is this correct or do you ALWAYS re-roll all the dice when there is only “one face on all the dice remaining in the birdfeeder”, even if it is not a certainty that someone is going to get food from the birdfeeder?

    1. Whenever you go to the birdfeeder to gain food, for any reason, you can reroll the dice if all the faces are the same. So yes, you can reroll the birdfeeder when the Emu is activated and there’s only a single die in the birdfeeder.

      1. Thank you, Joe. Looks like my wife and I were interpreting the rule (Page 7 of the Wingspan rulebook – Managing the Birdfeeder) correctly. Unfortunately, some people think their “house rules” apply when playing a game at their house. I guess we should be more selective when choosing our opponents and / or where we play games. Thanks again.

  87. Hello! My partner and I are big fans of the game and we currently have the base game and Wingspan: Europe expansion in bulgarian. Does your team intend to issue Oceania and/or Asia in bulgarian in the near future? Thank you in advance!

    1. Thanks for your question! Please ask the Bulgarian publisher, as that’s their information to share. :)

  88. Can you play a bird that says “WHEN PLAYED: Discard a bird from your (habitat) and put this bird in it’s place…”, on top of a bird you just played that says “WHEN PLAYED: Play an additional bird in the bird’s habitat. Pay its normal cost.”?

  89. If you are out of egg slots, can you still ‘lay eggs’ to take advantage of the brown powers in your prairie?

    1. Eggs are not required to take any actions other than “play a bird”. A common mistake in Wingspan is thinking that the egg costs at the top of some columns correlates to taking actions, but that’s not the case. Those egg costs are only paid when playing a bird in those columns. So for your question, you can indeed still take the lay egg option even if you have no eggs, just as you can take the gain food action and the draw cards action.

      1. I might not have been clear! If you have no room on your birds to lay any more eggs, can you still run your prairie engine, without actually laying any eggs (because you have no birds who have room left on them). Thanks!

  90. This may have been asked previously, will there be a new card tray with lid in any of the expansions after the Asia expansion?

    1. I think it’s likely that one of the three remaining expansions will include another card tray with a lid.

  91. What’s the frequency that each of the food types are consumed? In other words, what percentage of the time would an invertebrate be consumed as opposed to seed, fruit, fish, and rodent?

    1. There is an answer to that question, but I definitely don’t know it. Feel free to count and let us know! :)

      1. Okay, I did it! After counting food costs on all bird cards in the core pack, here are my results:

        Total required food costs (including wilds): 317
        Total required plus optional (“or”) food costs (including wilds): 386

        Required plus optional (“or”) percentages of occurrence:
        Invertebrate: 33.68%
        Seed: 26.42%
        Fruit: 11.14%
        Fish: 10.10%
        Rodent: 9.07%
        Wild: 9.59%

        Worth noting are each food types’ percentages after considering the wild requirement as each food type. (This increases the sum of their probabilities above 100% since we’re considering wilds multiple times.)
        Invertebrate: 43%
        Seed: 36%
        Fruit: 21%
        Fish: 20%
        Rodent: 19%

  92. How does the scoring for the end of round goal “3 eggs in habitat” work? I play the board game and digital version and I still can’t work it out

    1. The “sets of eggs” end-round goal is explained like this in the Appendix (pg 3): “One set of eggs consists of 1 egg in the wetland row, 1 egg in the grassland row, and 1 egg in the forest row. Count the number of sets. For this goal you’re only counting th eggs in each habitat. It does not matter on which birds or columns the eggs are placed.”

      It goes on to give this example: “Natalia has 3 eggs in her forest, 2 eggs in her grassland, and 4 eggs in her wetland habitats. For this end-of-round goal, Natalia has 2 sets of eggs.”

      I think some people get hung up on trying to place their eggs on certain birds or columns, but notice the example doesn’t mention birds or columns and it has enough information to count sets. You simply need to count the number of eggs in each habitat and then count the sets (the number of times you have 1 egg in each habitat). There’s also a shortcut! After you’ve counted the number of eggs in each habitat, the habitat with the fewest number of eggs equals the number of sets you have.

  93. When you gain the last die from the feeder, do you immediately re-roll all five dice, or do the dice remain out of the feeder until someone takes a gain food action?

  94. Second question. If you have the great Indian bustard and the red-crowned crane, Bustard says to score when your bonus cards when played also score it normally at game end. Crane says score one of your bonus cards when played discard that bonus card and draw one new one. So if you play the Bustard first, score you bonus card, then you play a red crown crane and discard that bonus card; Do you still score that bonus card at the end of the game because of the great Indian bastard power. Note that is the only bonus card you had..

    1. No, you can’t score a bonus card that you’ve discarded, so the Bustard’s final statement no longer applies.

  95. In wingspan Asia, the common Taylor bird says contiguous. Does contiguous include all birds at angles and horizontal and vertical to that bird? Does it follow through for all of the same nest type? If I have a ground nest bird in the forest and column one and in the forest and column two and in the grassland and column 3 and the water and column 4 do I add two eggs or four eggs?

    1. Here’s how the Common Tailorbird’s appendix entry defines it (diagonals aren’t orthogonally adjacent):
      “Contiguous” is defined by being orthogonally adjacent. In other words: directly to the left, right, top, or bottom (not diagonal). The group may zig-zag across rows and columns, as long as each bird in the group is orthogonally adjacent to at least one other bird in the group.

  96. Hi!

    Question about the Little Egret and other birds that have a power like “all other players draw a card and keep it if… {condition}” (For Little Egret it’s that the card can live in the wetlands), using the Automa’s Hoard variant.

    Does Automa gain 2 tokens from this card because it “draws”, or {0,1} tokens dependent on whether the condition is met?

    So is the card equivalent to
    (A) “Each player, in order, reveals the top card of the deck. If the top card is {condition}, they draw it. Otherwise, discard it.” In this case, Automa gets 0 hoard tokens;

    (B) “All players draw a card. Each player reveals the card they drew. If {condition} is not met, they discard it.” In this case, Automa nets 1 hoard token (+2 for drawing, -1 for discarding); or

    (C) “All players draw a card and keeps it if…” In this case, Automa nets 2 hoard token (+2 for drawing, but since “not keeping” isn’t “discarding”, the discard loss of Hoard tokens isn’t triggered.

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Pasquale. For Automa’s Hoard, Automa ALWAYS meets whatever condition is necessary to gain from the power. Therefore, for Automa it reads, “Automa draws a card and keeps it.” There is no ‘if’.
      I hope that helps. Have fun!
      David

  97. Can’t believe I’m still asking rules questions three years later, and I checked to make sure this hasn’t been answered yet, but here we go:

    I have two water birds next to each other: a Common Grackle and Wilson’s Storm Petrel. Can I tuck one of the cards I drew from Wilson’s Storm Petrel under the Grackle, effectively saving myself one card instead of discarding it? Like if I draw three cards off the Storm Petrel, can I keep one, tuck one under the Grackle, then only have to discard one? Or if I draw two, can I just tuck one under the Grackle and keep the other from the Storm Petrel?

    Thank you.

    1. Thanks Brendan! I’ll look up those birds to see what they do. The Wilson’s Storm Petrel says, “Draw 1 card for each empty card slot in this row. At the end of your turn, keep 1 and discard the rest.”

      The key is that you get to end the turn with at least 1 card from those that you drew. So in the situations you described, you wouldn’t need to discard anything.

    2. If there is a the bird that says copy a brown power of the player to your left. Then the brown power says as long as it is to the right of all other birds if may move, this bird has all 3 habits on it. But the bird that says copy a brown power can only live in 1 habitat. Is that bird able to move to any habitat?

      1. When you copy a power, it’s as if the text is on the bird that’s doing the copying. So if your bird doesn’t meet the condition, it wouldn’t be able to move.

  98. For Wingspan’s Rulepop some setup information is missing when the Oceania Expansion (OE) is selected. On page 1 of the OE rulebook under Setup step 3 part d it says that after selecting 5 cards/food from the starting 5 cards and 5 standard food that players get 1 nectar, “then, all players gain 1 nectar.”
    The getting nectar part is missing and should probably be added at the end of the second step for player setup in the Wingspan Rulepop.

    1. Thanks Wes! Rulepop is independent of us, and they have a “feedback” link at the bottom of their page. Can you submit this feedback there?

  99. The bonus cards Endangered species states you get 3 points for each bird that sclres for another bonus card.

    Does this work with Visionary leader where you get points for 8+ birds in your hand?

    I.e. if I have both and 8 cards i hand ill get 8×3 for Endangered? Or will it not work as these cards are not in play? If they do count can you do more than 8 cards?

    1. Good question! Endangered Species intent (like any other card that refers to bird cards, unless otherwise stated) is to only look at birds you’ve played, not birds in hand.

  100. If I put the southern cassowary down and decide to use it’s when played power (When Played: discard a bird from your forest habitat and put this bird in its place (do not pay an egg cost). If you do, lay 4 eggs on this bird and gain to berries from the supply), does cached food transfer or not?

  101. In the Asian game can you explain the meaning of the Red Wattled Lapwing power. Also there is another bird that says take a fish off the card and use it to gain something. Sorry I can’t remember what bird but I can’t figure out how you get a fish on that card in the first place. We just love this game and play it often. In fact we have a friend come over and we play it all day almost weekly. Best game ever!

    1. The Red Wattled Lapwing allows a player to clear out the bird tray (perhaps to see new options) while possibly getting an additional benefit. If any of the cards discarded are predators (indicated by the skull and crossbones symbol), then lay one egg on the Red Wattled Lapwing.

      The Great Cormorant says: “You may move 1 fish from this bird to your supply. Then, roll any 2 die. If any are fish, cache 1 fish on this bird from the supply.” The first sentence can be skipped if you don’t have a fish already cached on this bird. It’s most likely you’ll only ever have a fish cached on this bird on subsequent activations, because you can cache a fish with the second sentence. So later activations will give you an opportunity to utilize the first sentence.

      I’m glad you’re enjoying the game!

  102. Hi! For the duet mode of Asia, can you clear up what contiguous means for the end of round goal? Should it be duet tokens in a single mass (but not necessarily a line, kind of a blob) or in a snake/line like Longest Road in Catan?

    1. Absolutely! Contiguous just means one continuous connection. This actually applies to both a snake, line, and blob–the key is just that each token is touching at least 1 other token.

  103. Hi, the rules linked me here where I could find rules and guides in “dozens” of languages, but I’ve only found 3 so far besides English. In particular I was looking for a Chinese translation for a friend. He’s learning English but some Mandarin to compare it with would be a great help. Any idea where I might find it? I know there was a Chinese printing of the game.

    1. Bradley: Sorry for that misleading note in the rulebook. Our localization partners prefer to control their translated files, so look on the Surfin’ Meeple website to see if they provide the rules in Chinese.

  104. If I have a card that says, birds that eat a certain type of food, such as the rodentologist ,viticulturalist,bird feeder, or fishery manager, Does the wild food symbol count for these cards? What does it mean when they say this bird may also eat other kinds of food? Thank You. Pat

    1. Hello there! For those card you need to have birds, that have that specific symbol in their diet. So the wild food does not count. What it menas when it days it can eat any other food, it means that if you are looking for wheat and the bird also eats worms, it still counts as it has a sweat symbol in it’s diet. Hope that helps

  105. Question about Great Indian Bustard(GIB) with Visionary leader bonus card.
    GIB – when played, score 1 of your bonus cards now by caching 1 wheat from the supply on this bird for each point. Also score it normally at game end.
    Visionary Leader – bird cards in hand at end of game; 5-7 birds: 4pts, 8plus birds – 7pts.

    How I read this and please tell me if I’m wrong and how to score correctly; but assuming if this was my bonus card and I had currently 6 birds in my hand (not counting GIB played) I would be able to cache 4 wheat on this bird. If I had 9 birds in hand; I would cache 7 wheat. Then at very end of game those pts would go on cache food.
    And at the very end of the game if I still had that many cards (5-6) in hand it would be 4pts added in bonus Column or 7pts (if 8plus)

    Sorry for the long example but would love to know if I did this correctly
    Love the game and keep up the amazing games and customer support Jamie!!

    1. Thanks for your question, Matthew!

      Using your example, you would cache 4 wheat now (effectively 4 points, scored as cached food at end of game), and at the end of the game you would score the Visionary Leader as a bonus cards based on cards in hand at end of game (4 points).

      1. Thank you for the quick reply Jamey (and my apologies for the incorrect spelling of your name :( ) as always best customer service I’ve ever had. Sounds like I did score it right. It was someone else who had a question about it on FB and that’s how I broke it down (and someone differed than me) :)

  106. How many birds can you play in one turn normally? If you place a bird card in the second colum, can you then place a bird in thr first colum as the token moves left

    1. If you use your turn to take the “play a bird” action, by default your entire turn is playing exactly one bird, and that bird must be placed in the leftmost available slot in a row. The purpose of the token on a “play a bird” turn is to help you remember to pay the egg cost noted at the top of the column (if any).

      1. Sorry so just to clarify unless you get bird card that states play another bird. You can only play one bird card on your board per turn?

        1. Definitely, a specific bird power like that is the exception to the rule of playing a bird. If you play a bird that says you can then play another bird, you can certainly do so. But each bird must still be played in the leftmost available slot in a row.

          I’d recommend watching this section of the Watch It Played video about playing birds: https://youtu.be/lgDgcLI2B0U?t=188

  107. Just wondering about re-rolling dice in the bird feeder.

    Can I re-roll dice if they are all the same, but all the dice are worm/wheat dice (or all berries/nectar)?

    The rules state these dice are unique.

  108. “Tuck a card from your hand, if you do, lay an egg on this bird”

    If its egg capacity is at max, can I still tuck a card but not lay the egg?

    This question has been addressed decisively in forums, but the official rules remain open to interpretation. Can we have an official ruling please?

    1. Yes, you can still tuck a card in that situation (you just can’t lay an egg if the capacity is full).

  109. I received wingspan for my birthday in late October, and since then my wife and I have played 200+ games. That said, I received the EE pack for Christmas.

    In the EE, you can “spend” cached food on cards when you activate some brown powers. In the original, you can discard foods to tuck cards.

    The EE rules state that you can’t count those cached food in your supply “even though they can be used to play more birds”.

    Does that mean “spending” is limited to playing more birds, or can they be spent to to tuck birds?

    Thank you!

    1. You’re correct that cached food is not in your supply. You can only spend food from your supply unless using a specific power that states otherwise.

  110. Hi, My family and I are really enjoying this game…thanks so much! Quick question. At end of round bonus-can a player place 2nd, 3rd, or 4th without actually hitting minimum requirement? Ex ( 3 player game and End of round bonus is: # played bird cubes. Player 1 has 3 cubes, player 2 and 3 don’t place any cubes…does player 2 and 3 actually qualify for 2/3 place because they haven’t laid at least one cube or do they just receive 0 points?) hope that makes sense. .thanks!

    1. Thanks Clayton! You must have at least 1 to qualify, so in the example you gave, those players would get 0 points.

  111. Hi, i have just added oceania to european and the base and i would like clarification/ confirmation on korimako which can only live in woodland so is only activated on a get food action.

    When activated: discard any number of rats to gain that many nectar from the supply.

    Im assuming that this is rats from the birdfeeder rather than any you have in your personal supply but the wording isnt quite as specific as with other birds and there is no further detail in the rule book.

    Thanks

    1. Fraser: Thanks for your question. The Korimako reads, “When activated: Discard any number of rats to gain that many nectar from the supply.”

      You must pay the rats from your own supply. The term “discard” is used in reference to paying food from your supply throughout the rulebook.

  112. When gaining food with two or more die, and there are two feed types in the feeder, can you pick up one and reroll the die in the feeder with the same face before picking your second food type?

  113. Question:
    Some of the birds in the Asia expansion (Great Cormorant, Forest Owlet, Desert Wheatear, etc) have powers that allow you to roll dice and choose 1 or 2. Should those dice come out of the bird feeder? Should those dice go back into the bird feeder, or be placed out of play until the bird feeder is replenished?

    1. It depends on the exact wording of the card. If they say “any dice,” you can choose where the dice come from. Either way, the dice you roll stay out of the birdfeeder.

  114. Is the Duet Mode in the new Asian expansion meant to only be played with the Asian expansion cards, and not something that can be incorporated into a game that includes the base game and the previous expansions?

    The score pad for the Asian expansion doesn’t have a section for nectar, and of course the older score pads don’t have a section for Duet.

    If you’re not meant to play Duet with all Wingspan expansions included, but wanted to try to incorporate it, how would the end of round goals work? It seems like all of the end of round goals from previous expansions/base game would be excluded due to the nature of the Duet mat.

    Should the old end of round goal mat be used in tandem with the Duet mat, or would it be better to only use the Duet mat but shuffle all end of round goal tiles together, so that the goals are a mixture of Duet and non-Duet?

    1. Jonathan: You can play the Duet mode with any bird and bonus cards, but not end-of-round goals (the Duet mode has its own goal tiles). You do not use regular end-of-round goals in Duet mode.

      1. Thanks for the response, Jamey! How about the scoring for nectar if the Oceania expansion cards are included when playing Duet? Do we just need to make room for nectar on the Asian expansion score sheet, or do we use the play mat with no nectar and not accrue/tally a nectar score at the end of the game?

          1. We have several questions about the Duet mode Asian game. 1) When placing a marker on the duet map that has a food bonus, do you take food from the birdfeeder or from the supply?
            2) If the bird being played on the duet mode has a wild food symbol, can you choose a place on the duet map with a food symbol of the wild food played. For example, if I played a berry to play the Golden Pheasant can I choose to play my token on a cherry spot on the duet map?
            3) Can played birds with a star nest be played on any nest type on the Duet map?
            Thank you for your attention to these questions. We love the new twists to the game.

          2. Karmen: Thanks for your questions!

            1) When placing a marker on the duet map that has a food bonus, do you take food from the birdfeeder or from the supply?

            –It’s the same icon as on your player mat (a food die), so you take it from the birdfeeder.

            2) If the bird being played on the duet mode has a wild food symbol, can you choose a place on the duet map with a food symbol of the wild food played. For example, if I played a berry to play the Golden Pheasant can I choose to play my token on a cherry spot on the duet map?

            –What matters is the actual food you pay (in relation to the space you claim on the duet map).

            3) Can played birds with a star nest be played on any nest type on the Duet map?

            –Yes. :)

  115. Hi, I just got my new and beautiful Wingspan game for Christmas, and I can’t wait to play it :) On the backside of my rulebook it says that if you want rules in another language, they can be downloaded in dozen of languages on this webpage (stonemaiergames.com/games/wingspan/rules), but I can only find the English rulebook, which I already have. Can you help?

    1. Thanks Pia! Sorry about that confusion. For rules in another language, please refer to the localization partner who prints the game in that language. Which language are you looking for?

      1. Hi Jamey, thank you for replying so fast :) I am danish. I wanted the game on purpose in English since I am mostly playing with international friends :) I just saw on the backside of the rulebook that it should be possible to download the rulebook in different languages. Even that I understan English it is sometimes easier to “chew” rules in your own language, so I just got happy to see this. I know that the game comes in a Danish version as well, so I was thinking that the Danish rules should be available.

        1. Thanks Pia! The Danish version is published by Asmodee Nordics, so if you contact them, they will hopefully share a link to the Danish PDF.

  116. We have played 3 games so far with the Asian Expansion cards and components added to the Wingspan game plus previous two expansions. Since we are now somewhat familiar with the new Asian expansion cards, our next step is to try the Duet Mode of play. After reading the Rule Book (which is always a good idea before playing a game) for the Duet rules, we request two clarifications:

    1) On Page 10 for the Duet Mode Gameplay rules, it states, “Some birds in other expansions allow you to play a bird on top of another bird. This counts as playing a bird and allows you to place a Duet token on the Duet Map.” In almost every case, playing the original bird on that space would have resulted in removing the Duet token and placing it on the Duet Map. The only exception we can think of is moving a bird to that space via a Brown Power (e.g., Song Sparrow – WHEN ACTIVATED: If this bird is to the right of all other birds in its habitat, you may move it to another habitat), which does not remove the Duet token from that habitat. The question is, if a bird is played on top of another bird that had originally resulted in the Duet token being removed, are there any limitations as to where on my Player Mat I may remove a Duet token for the bird placed atop the originally played bird?

    2) On Page 14, EUROPE:, the rule identifies 3 birds “have the power that they count double toward end-of-round goals.” Therefore, after playing one of these birds, I may place 2 Duet tokens on the Duet Map. Are there any limitations as to where on my Player Mat I may remove the second Duet token? I’m assuming I must remove the token from the same Habitat onto which I played the bird card (e.g., Eurasian Green Woodpecker played in the Forest).

    I tried to be brief and concise with my scenarios but may have not succeeded. Thank you for any information you can provide.

    1. The key here is that the duet tokens are only on your mat as a reminder (see the bullet point starting with “Remember” on page 10). In that way, there are no limitations as to where you remove the Duet token from your player mat, as the tokens are on your player mat only as a reminder.

      1. Thank you for the clarification. However, it seems that removing a Duet token from anywhere on your Player Mat (no matter where you play a bird) could lead to confusion when placing the token on the Duet Map (i.e., in the correct habitat).

        1. Perhaps. Though, again, the focus isn’t on where the token was on your player mat–the focus is on where you played the bird, which hopefully should be fresh on your mind, having just happened. :)

          1. One reason I asked for clarifications was in anticipation of teaching the Duet Mode of play to an elderly relative with short term memory issues. Therefore, in order to make the experience pleasant (and less confusing) for her, I plan to explain that she should remove the Duet token from her Player Mat where she played the bird. This will help her “focus / remember” which habitat her played bird was in. I will also explain that there are exceptions to removing Duet tokens from her Player Mat, but not to worry unless an exception occurs during our game. 🙂🙂

  117. What happens if I have the European Roller in play and decide to play the Montagu’s Harrier by playing it on top of the Roller? Is the Harrier placed sideways like the Roller was?

    1. Here’s how we explain it in the European FAQ:

      How do I play a bird on top of a sideways bird?

      Some birds like the European Roller allow you to place the card sideways on your player mat, filling two spots. If you then play a bird like the Common Buzzard on top of a sideways bird, the Common Buzzard would also be placed sideways, completely covering the sideways bird.

  118. Hi,
    Quick question: in the Asia duet mode, do duet tokens placed in the lower left part of the map (next to the end of round goals) count towards the end of round goal ‘total (duet tokens) on map’. Thanks!

  119. If you have a Superb Lyrebird in the rightmost slot of your Forest, could you use it to copy the brown power of a migratory bird (for example, the Chimney Swift) to move it to Grasslands/Wetlands?

  120. In the duet game, can you confirm which spaces on the map count towards the “on edge of map” round goal? We are debating if the indented ones (e.g. rat in grasslands) count as the edge or not. Thanks!

  121. On the Forest Ranger card in the Asia expansion, are repeating cards of the same score counted as in sequence? Example: 1-2-2-3-5 as my bird points in that row. Is this a sequence of 5 or 3?

  122. The Asia Expansion version of the Anatomist card went from 7 points down to to 6 points. The bird percentage remained the same, so I was wondering if this is an error, or did the point total just go down? Thanks for the AE, loving the new birds and Duet Mode (which we just tried today!).

    1. It’s something we didn’t intend, but it happened, and we’re saying that’s the official version of the card now.

  123. Jamey,
    Can you please give clarification on using the Blue Grosbeak card? It reads: “When activated: If this bird is to the right of all other birds in its habitat, move it to another habitat”. It’s power is to move from habitat to habitat. Can you you use it a second time? If so, how? Once you play a card to the right of it, it renders its powers useless. How do you activate it again?

    1. Martina: This type of bird can move around each time you choose its row and activate the bird (if, as you noted, there’s no bird to the right of it). Players typically use this to improve the row they want to activate next. For example, if this bird is in the wetlands and on your next turn you want to gain food from the birdfeeder, you might activate it and move the bird to the forest. Then on your next turn you might activate the bird again to move it to one of the other habitats to use soon afterwards.

      1. Can i just comment that we found this power very useful on the original board and with the european expansion but since having moved to the oceania boards, while this power still has a place, the change in design has meant that this power has become less important than previously.

  124. Can end of round (teal) powers that provide a benefit be just partially accepted?
    (I know you can not decline the cost part.)

    There’s a card that says “In a habitat with no eggs, lay one egg on each bird.”
    If I have a habitat with four birds, none of which have any eggs, this power would let me play four eggs, one on each bird. But could I opt to just take less, say two, instead of four?

    I know there’s a general rule that says you can always turn down a benefit, but does that also mean you may turn down just part of a benefit? Or is that an “all or nothing” choice?

    You may ask, Why would you want to do that? Because the end of round goal is “birds with no eggs”, and taking all four under the teal power would knock you out of first place.

    1. Bill: Generally benefits are all-or-nothing (i.e., if you choose to use the ability, you must use it in full).

  125. Happy Christmas! We’ve just unboxed Wingspan and have the following basic question: We understand that during the 4 rounds, each player takes 1 of 4 options: (1) play a bird, (2) gain food and activate forest bird powers, (3) lay eggs and activate grassland bird powers, and (4) draw bird cards and activate wetland bird powers. Our question: Does each player have to proceed through the options sequentially; i.e. 1 through 4 in order? Or could a player in Round 1 go straight to Option 2 (gain food), for example, even if that player has not yet taken Option 1 (play a bird)? Thank you very much for clarifying this!

    1. Thanks Barbara! Just to clarify, each player takes 1 turn at a time, during which they choose any one of those four options. A “round” of the game consists of a number of turns (i.e., the first round is 8 turns per player, the second round is 7 turns per player, etc).

      I would recommend watching this video to get a feel for how the game plays: https://youtu.be/lgDgcLI2B0U

    2. For the card Red-Crowned Crane:
      When played : score 1 of your bonus cards now by caching 1 [rainbow symbol] from the supply on this bird for each point. Discard that bonus card and draw 1 new one.
      How does this work with the bonus card Winter Feeder:
      Food remaining in your supply at game end.
      4 to 6 food: 4points
      7+ food: 7 points.
      Having problems with the fact that Winter Feeder says “at end of game”.

    1. Can you explain the situation in which you’d have no options on your turn in Wingspan? On your turn, you always have the option to gain food, lay eggs, or draw bird cards, and none of those actions have a cost.

  126. Hi! I noticed in the Asia rules it says something about “if you play more than 15 birds.” Can you play more than 15?

    1. Nicole: Thanks for asking! It’s very rare that you can do this–by default, it isn’t possible. But there are a few birds you can play on top of other birds, which still brings your total at any given time to 15 (but overall they could have you eclipse 15 for the game).

  127. Red-bellied Woodpecker

    WHEN ACTIVATED: Gain 1 from the birdfeeder (if available). You may cache it on this card.”

    My opponent says the word “May” means that you are free to add it to your food supply OR cache it on the card.

  128. In duet mode, one of the end of round bonuses is “duet mode tokens on pairs of matching symbols”

    If I have duet tokens on 3 separate invertebrate symbols, does that count as 1 pair? Or can I count it as 3 separate pairs?

    Also in duet mode, if you play a duet token and get an egg, can you put the egg on any bird? Or only the bird you played?

    1. If I have duet tokens on 3 separate invertebrate symbols, does that count as 1 pair? Or can I count it as 3 separate pairs?

      –That’s 1 pair.

      Also in duet mode, if you play a duet token and get an egg, can you put the egg on any bird? Or only the bird you played?

      –Any bird. :)

  129. (Wingspan Asia)

    The Spoon-Billed Sandpiper says, “WHEN PLAYED: draw 2 new bonus cards and keep 1. Other players may discard any 2 resources ( food, egg, or card) to do the same.”

    Is cached food an eligible resource to discard?

  130. Question about the plumbeous redstart – does the other player have to show me their card to prove it has a worm or grain in the cost? Or can they keep the bird a secret?

      1. Plumbeous Redstart:

        Draw 1 card from the deck and add it to your hand. All other players draw 1 card from the deck and add it to their hand if the bird has a worm or wheat in its food cost.

  131. how does nectar work when playing a duet token on the duet map? is it like a star nest and you can play it on any food? didn’t see anything really stating otherwise

    1. It may not be located where you expect, but here’s how nectar is explained on page 14 under “Interactions with other expansions”:

      “If you spend nectar as a wild, you may treat it as the food you spent it as. If you spent it as nectar (for a bird that requires a nectar), you may treat it as any food on the Duet map.”

  132. I have a question about the birds in Wingspan Asia with “choose any X dice” powers. For example, the Great Cormorant has this brown power:

    “You may move 1 fish from this bird to your supply. Then, roll any 2 dice. If any are fish, cache 1 fish on this bird from the supply”

    My question is, if you choose to remove any of the dice from the birdfeeder, what happens after you complete your turn? Do the dice return to the feeder, showing the same face? Are they rerolled into the birdfeeder? Or removed altogether?

    1. Thanks Caroline! Dice removed from the birdfeeder remain out of the birdfeeder until the birdfeeder is refreshed.

      1. Just to add to this, if I may: I can, in this case, use either dices that are outside the bird feeder /or/ in the bird feeder (and /if/ I choose dices in the bird feeder, remove them after rolling them), correct? Thank you for taking the time to reply to all the questions!

  133. Question about the Plumbeous Restart. If I activate the card, do the other players get to draw cards if the card I drew had a worm or wheat in the cost, or do they keep the cards they drew if they have a worm or wheat in its cost. The wording is distinct from the Little Egret wording.

      1. Plumbeous Redstart:

        Draw 1 card from the deck and add it to your hand. All other players draw 1 card from the deck and add it to their hand if the bird has a worm or wheat in its food cost.

        Little Egret:

        Draw 1 card from the deck and add it to your hand. All other players draw 1 card from the deck and keep it if it can live in water.

    1. With the great cormorant, when activated “You may move one fish from this bird to your supply. Then roll any 2 dice. If any are fish, cache 1 fish on this bird from the supply.”

      How do you get the first fish on this card?

      1. You get the first fish by using the Cormorant the first time. The second time, you (hopefully) have the fish.

  134. two quick questions pertaining to the new duet map.
    1. correct me if I’m wrong, but cards like bonelli’s eagle, where you can tuck cards as food cost, u will not be able to take up that food space on the map because u did not use a corresponding food token to play the bird right?
    2. if I use a duet token on a space on the map that nets a food reward, is it a food from the feeder or any food that u want? just kinda confused because it shows a die symbol and assumed the feeder.
    thank u : )

    1. Thanks for your questions! You are correct that you must actually spend the food to claim that food’s duet token.

      The die icon universally means to remove a die from the birdfeeder and claim a food shown on its face.

    2. What if i use 1 rodent and two tucked cards to play boneli eagle. Can i put te yinyang token on top of rodent symbols?

  135. I’ve been playing for a while with all bonus cards (so far only base game and EE), but I’ve recently learned that a few have been updated or retired and I have a few questions.

    1. Which cards have been retired and/or updated?
    2. Historian: what’s the issue?
    3. Anatomist, Cartographer, Photographer (and possible others): where can I find the updates?

    1. Still waiting for my copy of Asia expansion, but the following are the “issues” with the retired or changed cards as I understand them.

      In the Asia expansion, there are no birds included that would satisfy the apostrophe-s Historian card. That changes the percentages, and is why it is recommended to leave Historian out when playing with Asia. Otherwise, I don’t see any problem with it, and we might opt to leave it in since Asia only adds 90 cards.

      New versions of the Anatomist, Cartographer, and Photographer are included in Asia to replace the old version. These cards had gotten kind of unwieldy because if you were playing with Base + Europe + Oceania, you sometimes had to look in the book to see whether your bird matched one of these cards. Presumably the new versions in Asia have all of the related words from all of the existing expansions.

      1. As a follow-up to this, we have now played 4 or 5 games of Wingspan since adding Asia to our base + EE + OE set. We opted to leave the Historian card in the bonus card deck, and players have chosen to keep the Historian card and have scored with it at least twice in those 4 or 5 games.

        So, I would say that as long as you are aware that Asia changes the percentages on the Historian card, there is no reason you need to remove it if you are using all of the expansions to date. If you were mixing all of the Asia cards with fewer other cards, dropping the card makes more sense.

        I really love having the updated Photographer, Cartographer, and Anatomist cards, because it is much easier than referring to the book for the expanded list of terms. Thank you SM! I hope that SM will continue to provide updated cards in the rest of the expansions, where needed.

    2. Hi Gilia! Looks like Scott answered you questions. But I’ll just reiterate. The only updated cards are Anatomist, Cartographer, and Photographer. This is because they each have new words on them. Every other card in Wingspan Asia is 100% new.

      Here’s what we say in the Wingspan Asia FAQ about the Historian bonus card:
      https://stonemaiergames.com/games/wingspan/wingspan-asia/
      “What’s up with the Historian bonus card and no birds with the names of people in their names?

      If you mix this expansion with the base game, you’ll probably want to leave out the base game’s Historian card: There are no birds named after people in this expansion.

      There is a growing movement to change English common bird names that are based on people’s names—the birds that would qualify for the Historian card. The collectors, explorers, funders, and friends memorialized in birds’ common names are almost always North Americans and Europeans, no matter where the birds are from. Worse, some of those people had unsavory histories in addition to (or as part of) their ornithological exploits. As I was putting this expansion together, I wasn’t excited about many of my options for birds named after people. I decided not to force them to be included just to make the distribution of cards work for the Historian card. —Elizabeth Hargrave.”

  136. need a clarification. previously here it is posted above that:

    —Can I choose to lay fewer eggs, gain fewer food, or draw fewer eggs?

    Yes, you can always decline a benefit (though you can never decline a cost). This applies to the basic actions as well as bird powers. But remember, activating a particular bird power is optional, so you can avoid a cost associated with a bird power by skipping that power entirely.—-

    My question is regarding the ‘non-active’ players. We have seen previously that a player may choose to take/refuse a food die from a brown power hummingbird. Can the non-active player refuse to take any ‘benefit’ from another’s brown activation; such as a card or food from supply?
    It’s more noticed in 2p games in very niche situations….

    1. Hi Robert! If you provide a specific bird or situation it’s much easier to give you a definitive answer (sometimes key details can be overlooked in general explanations). But yes, in general, any player can decline a benefit.

      1. Can a player decline a benefit chosen for them by another player? This happened last night. I had a Brolga (Choose a player. That player lays an egg and you draw two [CARD]”.)

        We were competing for a round end goal of “Most birds with No Eggs”. My son and I each had ten birds with no eggs, so I activated my Brolga to draw cards and gave him the egg. He said “I wondered if you were going to do that.” This was the last action before the end of the round, so he had no time to spend the egg.

        By my reading of the rules, he had no choice but to accept the egg. This was not due to a Pink or Brown power of his own that he could choose whether to activate. In my view of the rules, he could no more decline the egg than he could decline to have a food stolen by a food-thief bird.

        1. It’s not a common situation, so I understand your confusion. But they can decline the benefit. It doesn’t matter if it was their power or someone else’s power, the benefit is a choice. Do note, if they decline the power you still draw two cards. Also, declining a food stolen is not declining a benefit, so that’s not a similar situation (and so the player being stolen from doesn’t have a choice).

  137. In Asia Expansion, appendix says “No power allows you to lay more eggs on a bird than it’s limited allows.” Then immediately below it, for 2 birds it says you can go over the egg limit. Which is it?

    1. It’s both. The first sentence is referring to powers in general–it’s saying that egg limits are universal. The exception is if if a power *specifically* states that you can exceed an egg limit.

  138. We have had a dilemma when playing! At the end of the game, we ran out of eggs. Is the ruling that once eggs are finished that no more to take(we would’ve given hypothetical eggs otherwise)?

    1. As Jamey said, eggs are not limited. Neither are food tokens, which we have sometimes run out of. If you are running out of eggs, I would ask whether you are obeying the egg limit per bird. The egg limit per bird makes it less likely that you will run out of egg tokens. (Of course, we loved the base game so much that we bought the European expansion almost immediately, and we also love the speckled eggs. We have stored away some of the colors we don’t love as much.)

      Our solution for “not enough food tokens” is glass beads (flat on one side) that we use to represent 5 food stored on a bird. We also use these to represent 5 nectar played in a row. The only times we run low on food are spent nectar and a few birds that can cache a LOT of food on themselves. We are looking forward to the arrival of Asia with a few more food tokens.

  139. We are completely addicted to Wingspan. There is a debate that comes up each time we play – If the last play of a round is to draw birds should we replace the missing birds in the tray from the deck and then discard the 3 birds as per round end/new round actions? We haven’t been able to find clarification on this in the rule books. We have been refilling and then discarding which works until someone’s favourite bird ends up being trashed! 😂

    1. I’m glad you’re having fun with it! :) You should always refill the bird tray at the end of each turn (though if someone’s favorite bird appears in the refill, only to be immediately discarded due to the new round, I think a friendly way to play is to keep it on the bird tray).

  140. Hello, please, does the count of the different elements concerned by the end of round objective include only the elements laid during the round that has just ended or also those of the previous rounds? For example: round 3: number of eggs laid in the forest. Are all the eggs in the forest on the board counted even if they were laid in rounds 1 and 2 ?
    Thanks.

    1. Sandra: They’re looking at the accumulation of everything that’s happened so far in the game–you don’t need to remember when the eggs were laid.

      1. Thanks a lot.
        2 more questions please.

        1) the power of birds “draw 2 cards. If you do, discard 1 card from your hand at the end of your turn.” Does “from your hand” mean that the discarded card cannot come from the 2 drawn?

        2) The bird card “American Oystercatcher – Haematopus palliatus” says: “Draw as many cards as the player + 1. Starting with you, then clockwise, each player chooses one of these cards and takes it in their hand. Keep the remaining card.”
        Are the cards exposed and chosen face down, or is this a strategic choice face up?

        1. 1. Whenever you draw cards, they enter your hand. So the 2 cards you’ve drawn are among those eligible to discard.

          2. By default “draw a card” refers to your choice of the bird tray or the deck. It’s only when you’re instructed specifically to the bird tray or the deck that you don’t have a choice.

          1. Thank you for your quick answers.
            Sorry, I didn’t understand the answer to the second question: …. cards face up or face down when choosing from the cards drawn.
            We have only played one game so far. The game was delivered yesterday (in France) but we already like it! Sorry if there are mistakes in my text, I use an online translator.
            Have a nice day and thank you for your availability for us.

          2. Whenever you draw a bird card, you may choose from either the 3 face up cards or the top card of the deck.

  141. We just received our Asia copy today, can’t wait to play with my wife! While unboxing and getting all the previous game pieces sorted out to fit into the nesting box we came across a ~5×8 inch cardboard cutout with similar markings to the bird feeder. Where does this piece fit into the mix?

    1. That’s the bird feeder for Wingspan Asia (same function, just flat instead of tall so we could keep the box small).

      1. Thanks for the quick reply. Sounds like your team thought of everything. While you’re checking messages, any idea when or if the first swift start pack will be available for purchase again? I couldn’t find it when i ordered the nesting box. Our base copy didn’t have it and it’s killing us knowing there’s birds out there that we can’t play.

        1. Most copies of Wingspan have the swift-start cards, but if you definitely don’t have the cards (they have little markings on opposite corners), you can fill out the replacement parts form with an offer to buy them. We don’t list them on our webstore because they confuse people into accidentally buying them when they already have them.

  142. End of Round Goals: please clarify the sets of 3 eggs, one in the wetland row, one in grassland and one on forest. Does a set have to be in the same column? Can you have two sets in one column if all three cards have two eggs each?

    1. No they don’t have to be in the same column. As the goal indicates you must have the required eggs on birds, in each of the areas (forest, grassland, wetlands) the column has no implication on this goal.

    1. No, it doesn’t include the player mats, enough food, the dice, the dice tower, the goal mat, and other components necessary to play. If you have the core game, you can play at lower player counts with only the European birds if you’d like, though.

  143. EURASIAN KESTREL – ASIA EXPANSION
    Brown Predator Power: WHEN ACTIVATED: Roll any 3 [Food Dice]. If you roll at least 1 [Rat], cache 1 [Rat] on this bird.

    QUESTION: If there are no Food Dice on the table, do you select 3 Food Dice from the Bird Feeder to roll? And, when finished, leave them on the table?

    The Eurasian Kestrel Predator Power is worded differently than those in previous expansions; if there were no Food Dice on the table (outside the Bird Feeder Dice Tower), the power could not be activiated.

    Thank you for your help. :o)

    1. Candace: Whenever you see “any” dice, you get to choose where those dice come from. The dice you roll are placed on the table.

  144. When activating the Hermit Thrush Card, can the player with that card prevent the player with the fewest forest cards from gaining a food, or does the player with the fewest forest cards get the food automatically.

      1. Hermit Thrush – standard game.
        Brown Power – WHEN ACTIVATED: Player(s) with the fewest Forest Birds get 1 food die from the bird feeder.

        If this is on my board and I gather food, can I choose NOT to activate this – i.e. prevent the player with the fewest forest birds to not get a food die.

        1. I see, thank you! Yes, it’s always your choice to activate or not activate an ability. If you do choose to activate an ability, though, the entire ability activates (i.e., you can’t pick and choose the part of the ability you like and ignore the part you dislike, which sometimes matters).

  145. Is it permissible to play up to four ‘play an additional bird…” cards in the same habitat in a single turn?

  146. Will future expansions be sold at a reduced rate without the box for those that have purchased the nesting box and are not interested in wasting an additional box?
    Trying to justify the cost of the nesting box and wondering if I can count on future savings in next editions (maybe even a components-only Asia expansion?) being sold with and without the box.

    1. Here’s a recent blog post on this topic: https://stonemaiergames.com/it-isnt-too-late/

      It is possible–we really have not decided–that we will align the first printing of a future expansion (the earliest next expansion would be 2024) with a printing of the Nesting Box. The primary savings would be one instead of two shipping fees.

  147. Regarding drawing food on a 2 food space that allows discarding a bird card to get an extra food…..bird feeder contains 1 rat and 2 worms. I need 3 rats……can I take one rat, discard a bird card, then re-set the bird feeder to try getting 2 additional rats? The rules seem to say that I cannot re-set when discarding bird cards for extra food. Another reference says anytime when taking food, if the dies are the same face, I can re-set before taking additional food. This is almost a daily challenge at our house. Love Wingspan, over 200 games played, but this is the most common problem ruling we have.

    1. “bird feeder contains 1 rat and 2 worms. I need 3 rats……can I take one rat, discard a bird card, then re-set the bird feeder to try getting 2 additional rats?”

      Yes, whenever you’re gaining food, if the dice in the birdfeeder all show the same face, you can reset it.

  148. Hello. Wingspan core game have versions in many languages including baltic languages (Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian). Do you planing release expansions in baltic languages as well? And the main concern for having different language games is about language dependent bonus cards.

    1. Julius: We only publish English-language products, but we’re always open to new localization partners with publishing experience. Most of our localization partners use alternative bonus cards for those that refer to specific words in bird names.

    1. It all depends to your birds. If you have birds that have end of game powers and round end powers then they get completed before the end game scoring.

      1. I have a bird with a game end power that says you can cache up to 8 wheat on this card at game end. If I have nectar, (since it’s a super food and can be used for other foods), can I cash my nectar on this card instead of wheat?

        1. Jim: I have two different answers for you. The first answer is that in general, you cannot cache nectar as if it were other food, as the rules say “when bird powers refer to a specific food type, nectar is not a wild food.” However, the second answer is that at the end of the game, the order of operations is that you discard nectar *before* end-game powers, so in your specific situation, you wouldn’t have any nectar available to cache.

          1. Jamey: Oceania Rulebook v9, page 2 states:
            “WHEN BIRD POWERS REFER TO A SPECIFIC FOOD TYPE, NECTAR IS NOT A WILD FOOD. If a bird’s power looks for mince in the birdfeeder, for example, do not also count the nectar there.”

            It does specifically say that you can use nectar to pay an “any food” cost on birds. It seems pretty clear that nectar is NOT wild when being used to pay for a bird power cost that requires a specific food. So, you could cache nectar if the ability applies to “any food”, but not if it applies specifically to wheat.

            Good catch on the order of operations at the end of the game.

          2. Thanks Scott! I’ll look into this, because the rulebook also says at the bottom of page 2, “Do not discard the nectar on your “spent nectar” spaces or cached on your birds,” indicating that you can cache nectar on bird cards. But you’re probably right, and I’ll confirm soon. :)

          3. Scott: I have confirmation that you are correct–nectar cannot replace another specific food for a bird power.

  149. I want to play wingspan automa, but don’t want to become better at playing the wingspan game than my partner. Should I not play solo games then?

    1. Gosh, that is a tough one. Gaining experience though repeated plays (solo or multiplayer) can put you at an advantage at any game. That said, I doubt that a few solo plays will give you a substantive advantage.
      Have fun,
      David

  150. I have the Tyrannus tyrannus bird. If another player plays a bird that can live in ANY habitat, but chooses not to place it in the forrest, do i still get to take a food?
    I.e is my bonus determined on the forrest icon on the other players bird card, or by the habitat he chooses?

      1. Unless there is a new upgrade, I’ve never seen a Tyrannosaurus Bird in any of the current versions availableto the public.

          1. Thank you Ralph – I found this in my research on the bird: The eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) is a large tyrant flycatcher native to the Americas. I had not noticed bird in my cards. Perhaps one I’ve never played.

    1. Claus, you have the Eastern Kingbird, I believe. You get a worm (invertebrate) only if the other player plays the bird in their Forest.

  151. I apologize if this has question been answered but I cannot find anywhere. When an action states “When activated: roll all dice not in bird feeder.” Then you are able to cache whatever food icon it pictures from supply if there are any in the bird feeder.
    The question that came up was if there are no dice outside of the bird feeder to roll (bird feeder has all 5 die in it) are you able to take the food item from the supply if there is whatever icon shown on your card available in the bird feeder without a re-roll?
    Love the game!

    1. Megan: I might be confusing your question, but if there are no dice outside the birdfeeder and you activate this power, you would roll 0 dice and thus there are 0 food icons to choose from.

  152. Two of us were playing with the Oceania expansion and we each played a bird with the “copy a brown power on one bird in the forest of the player to your right/left”. I had no other birds with brown powers in my forest. My opponent had one other bird with a brown power in his forest. He insists that he could then copy his own other brown power. I say he can’t. Who is right?

  153. Hello. I have a question about how an Oceania brown power works vs. the automa, specifically the black-shouldered kite.
    The text reads: reset the birdfeeder and gain 1 rodent token, if there is one. You may give it to another player; if you do, lay up to 3 eggs on this bird.
    Since the automa does not benefit from bird powers are you able to discard the token and lay the eggs or does this not work since you didn’t actually give the token to another player?

    1. Hi Michael. If you are not using the Automa’s Hoard variant, you may discard the token, instead of giving it to Automa and lay up to 3 eggs.
      Have fun,
      David

  154. Hello, Wingspan creators.

    Thank you again for making a wonderful game. We cannot wait for the Asia expansion.

    Did you ever find in playtesting that the player who goes first gains too much of an advantage due to card selection? After playing 200 or so games it feels a bit like the first player has a significant upside in getting to pick from three face-up bird cards before anyone else, and there’s nothing to balance this for the subsequent players.

    It’s mitigated a bit by rotating who goes first per round, but we’ve found that getting to pick from those three face-up ones is so much better in the first round vs the later ones.

    This isn’t totally a rules question, I’m just wondering what the people who make the game and other players have found in this regard.

    1. Brendan: Because of the rotating first player and the randomness of the cards, we’ve never found that to be a balance issue.

  155. I am a Stonemaier Champion. I wish to buy four copies of Wingspan Asia when it is available for preorder. My understanding is that I may buy two copies of Wingspan Asia in early November for preorder. When may I buy two more copies of the game (for Christmas gifts)?

      1. Oh thank you. I guess I misunderstood the preorders. Hopefully I can preorder 4 Wingspan Asia games. Amazingly quick answer to my question!

  156. Is there a way to request new birds? I was pretty upset to not see the Bearded Reedling in the European Expansion… I’m a birder in Dundee UK and it’s such a cute and special bird in a very endangered habitat. It would be so special to have them remembered in this way while they’re still here.

  157. When the rose breasted grosbeak is activated and there are no wheat or fruit in the birdfeeder to gain but there is only one food type, do I get to re-roll the dice?

    1. I don’t have that card in front of me (feel free to help me out by typing the text here), but as a global rule, if all dice in the birdfeeder are showing the same face and you’re gaining food, you can refill the birdfeeder.

      1. The text says “gain one wheat or fruit from the birdfeeder, if there is one”.
        While the rules say that when there is only one type of food showing and you are gaining food for any reason you may reroll, it seems that since there is no wheat or fruit showing then you are NOT gaining food therefore not eligible to reroll.

        1. Thanks for sharing the text! You’re right, in that case the “if there is one” text means that you’re looking at the available dice as they are–you don’t have the option to reroll.
          Edit: Correction. You can always reroll when you’re going to the birdfeed to get food and there is only one face showing.

          1. Thank you! And for further clarification, if the bird feeder is empty when I activate the card in question (rose-breasted grosbeak) would I then reroll?

          2. Yes, whenever the birdfeeder is empty, you reroll it right away (you don’t wait until someone needs to gain food to refill an empty birdfeeder).

          3. This is counter to how we have been playing since Day 1 we got it (before any expansions), and how the Digital version counts this. The digital version could have a bug, but the r23 of the official rules say the following:

            If the dice in the tray all show the same face (including if there is only one die) and you are about to gain food from the birdfeeder for any reason, you may first throw all 5 dice back into the birdfeeder.

            Emphasis in the rules is on “for any reason”.

            Then, in the Appendix r17, under “Bird Power / Food Gaining Powers” the birdfeeder, it says:

            REROLLING THE BIRDFEEDER: Whenever you take food from the birdfeeder for any reson, if the dice in the tray all show the same face (including if there is only one die), you may first throw all 5 dice back into the birdfeeder and then gain food.

            “IF AVAILABLE”: When a bird power allows you to gain a type of food from the birdfeeder “if available”, these reroll rules still apply. When activating a power that says “if available”, if the dice in the tray are all showing the same face, you may reroll the dice and then complete the bird’s power.

            THAT’S IT! Found it! That “IF AVAILABLE” section clearly spells it out. I am pretty sure that is definitive. Can you please review and reconsider your answer Jamey?

            Also, the misspelling of “reason” as “reson” is in the digital file Appendix r17.

          4. You are correct, Scott. We’ve edited Jamey’s comment above. You can always reroll when you’re going to the birdfeeder to gain food and the birdfeeder is showing only one face. This includes birds that are looking for a specific food and say “if available.”

  158. Request for rules clarification of the House Wren.

    The card:
    The House Wren can live in either the yellow or green habitat.

    “When played: Play a second bird in your or . Pay its normal cost.”

    Question:
    If the House Wren is played in the YELLOW habitat, can the second bird be played in the GREEN habitat?

    If this would not be allowed, I would have expected the card to say “When played: Play a second bird in the same habitat. Pay its normal cost.”.

    Board Game Arena has implemented this card as requiring the second bird to be played in the same habitat and rejected a bug report about this behavior claiming this is the intended behavior of the card.

    1. Thanks for clarifying this. We always assumed the second card could have been played in either habitat.

    2. For some reason my previous comment got corrupted. The card states:
      “When played: Play a second bird in your YELLOW HABITAT or GREEN HABITAT. Pay its normal cost.”

    3. Alexander: Thanks for your question. Because the card is referring to a “second” bird,” it’s looking at the first bird (and thus needs to follow the same habitat as the first bird).

      1. Thanks for clarifying, and thanks for your quick reply Jamey! Certainly did not expect a response already this weekend :)

        I really appreciate how you continue to keep in touch with the board gaming community, through means like these and your youtube channel etc. Keep up the great work!

  159. Wingspan question if you have played 2 common starlings do you tuck 5 cards under each when you spend 5 food or do you need to spend 10 to put 5 cards under each

    1. I think there’s only 1 common starling in the entire game, right? What does the exact text on a common startling card say?

  160. For the Snow Bunting (when another player tucks a card for any reason, tuck 1 card from your hand behind this bird, then draw 1 card at the end of their turn), is tucking a card a benefit I can decline, but still being able to draw 1 card at the end of their turn, or is it a cost I must pay?

    It seems different, for example, from a bird like Mute Swan (Choose 1-3 birds in your “wetland”. Tuck 1 card from your hand
    behind each. If you do, draw 1 card).

  161. Does the “Eurasian Green Woodpecker” count double when evaluating the End of Round “Filled Columns” token that came with the European Expansion? Example: If I have 4 filled columns including this dbl bird, does it then count as 5 filled columns?

    1. No, the Eurasian Green Woodpecker (and other birds like it) only count double for goals that count birds (if it qualifies). This bird does not allow you to count an extra column.

  162. I wish you would make official card sleeves as I’m struggling to find any that fit just right. Also a machine that will shuffle even sleeved cards. Things are already crazy with 2 expansions.

  163. When using a water bird (Grey Heron) that you can play sideways, does it count as two for end of round ‘cards in the wetlands?

    1. I don’t have that card in front of me (please type out the text when asking questions), but that sounds like a conditional hunting ability, so you would not tuck two cards if the hunt is unsuccessful.

      1. The card says, choose 1 other player. They reset the bird feeder and gain a seed if there is one. You tuck two from the deck.

        1. Thanks Sarah! In that case, your benefit isn’t dependent on the other player, so you gain the tuck 2 no matter what.

  164. Can you take nectar when using the common raven or chihuahuan raven’s powers? Discard one egg for two nectar? Just seems like a disproportionate advantage to an already hard to beat card.

    1. Here’s what we say about that on page 2 of the Oceania rulebook:

      “The [any food] symbol always includes nectar. If you find that this rule makes the Chihuahuan Raven and Common Raven in the base game too powerful, remove those two birds from the deck while playing with the Oceania Expansion.”

    2. Jamey provided the correct, by the book answer and the game designer’s suggestion for overcoming the perceived problem.

      Since we like the Ravens, we came up with an alternate HOUSE rule. We simply limit the Ravens to no more than one nectar per activation. The result is that the Ravens are less powerful than some of the new top tier cards like the Galah or the bird that spends nectar to gain 2 food from the birdfeeder.

  165. Is anybody having trouble with wingspan shutting off when trying to take action on another persons card at end of round, since the new update three days ago

      1. A question came up regarding the bird card Masked Lapwing. It has a white power that says “Reroll the dice in the birdhouse and take one food from supply for each food on the die”. On the nectar dice, do you have to choose between a nectar and the other food or do you get to choose both?

        1. You get each different food type that appears on the dice you roll (max 1 of each type). So if a die shows two types of food, you get both of them as long as you aren’t repeating the same food types you’ve already received via this ability.

  166. I have a round end power that says discard up to 5 found to tuck that many cards. If I use nectar for the food I’m discarding, can I keep them in my nectar spot on my board or are they truly discarded to the general supply?

  167. Thank you again to everyone involved in the making of this game—my family played it throughout the pandemic and I still play with my partner three or four times a week. We can’t wait for the new expansion.

    There is still one rules question lingering for me after playing the game hundreds of times. The text on the Kea says you draw one bonus card when it comes into play and then that you can spend additional food to look through more and pick one to keep. The way it’s written, with a period after “Draw one bonus card” has made me think that I can draw that one bonus card, look at it, and decide based on whether I like it if I want to discard additional food to look for X more cards.

    Is that correct? When I play the Kea can I look at the first bonus card it draws before deciding whether to discard food to its power to look through more? And then when I discard food do I have to decide how much I want to discard all at once or can I go food by food?

    Thank you for your help and always being attentive on here to the many rules questions that pop up.

    1. Thanks Brendan! I always struggle to remember this too, but fortunately Elizabeth explains it well in the Oceania appendix (which is handy in case you ever forget this answer! :) ):

      “You first draw 1 bonus card, then decide how many additional cards you want to draw and discard the corresponding amount of food. This is a one-time decision. Among all the bonus cards drawn using this bird’s power, you keep only 1.”

  168. I have a question about the Behaviorist bonus card; it says “For Each Column that contains a bird with 3 different colors.” Are the columns exactly matched? As in columns with rows
    Row 1: Brown, Teal, White
    Row 2: Brown, Teal, White
    Row 3: Brown, Teal, White

    So this would score 0 and not 9, despite each row having 3 different sets of colors and you can’t draw doodle lines to make matching sets of colors. If this does score 0 points would you consider this to be one of the more difficult to achieve bonus cards?

    1. A column is a straight stack of card slots. Your example would score 0. I think Elizabeth did a great job of balancing all bonus cards in terms of difficulty and value, including this card.

        1. We play with Oceania plus European expansions, so we have Brown, Teal, White, Pink, and Yellow to work with. With both expansions, we find that it is fairly easy to achieve 6 points, medium to achieve 9, hard to achieve 12, and possible to achieve 15 points. That makes it at least a “top half” bonus card. To get 12 or more, you need to get it early and focus on this card over other things. I will agree with Jamey that the cards are pretty well balanced, but some are stronger than others. For example, this card is way stronger than Food Web Expert and Breeding Manager.

        2. Thank you Jamie for your response and clarifying the scoring of that card. I have reflected on your statement that you believe the bonus cards are balanced and completely disagree though. On a simplistic level, for most bonus cards you are being asked if a bird eats mice or a bird with a wingspan of less than 50cm or whatever. This is one condition and the probability is a given quantity (18% for a mice eater and 36% for a wingspan bird) For this bonus card, not only is the probability low (roughly 20% for either a pink+teal card) you need to satisfy the following conditions; card playing progression (since you can’t stop playing birds in the hope that you draw appropriate cards) and a habitat condition (since playing a teal card in the plains and a brown card in the forest doesn’t help you unless you have/plan a white/pink card in the water). The above combined with the fact that if you draw this late, through another bird card’s bonus, it is a question of: do I have it already or not? This leads me to believe the card should be worded as sets of colors per column instead of exact columns. Note I have not played the expansion with yellow cards which I suppose makes it easier but it really is a question of probabilities and for me it seems far smaller than most other bonus cards.

  169. If I have played the turkey vulture and the black vulture on my board and since they are triggered off of the same action, would I collect 2 food? Or just 1?

    1. The turkey vulture collects one food, and then the black vulture collects one food. (Or, you can do them in the other order if like, since they are both your birds.)

      However, if you have one of the birds, and I have the other, and the action is triggered on someone else’s turn, we take activate our birds clockwise from the active player. (Sometimes the order matters a lot.)

  170. Jamey, thank you for taking the time to answer so many of our questions. Wingspan has held it’s place in our top spot for many years, and we’ve only encountered this problem (out problem, not your’s) once or twice. I promise that I looked through as many FAQ’s as I could before I posted.

    This question is this: Yesterday evening I accidentally placed a bird with a Wetlands symbol in the Prairie. It was an illegal move, but nobody caught it, including myself. An honest mistake, that if you catch quickly enough, can be walked back and resolved, provided it hasn’t cascaded into several full rounds.

    On this occasion, I didn’t catch the error until after I had placed the bird the turn earlier, and had subsequently taken the lay eggs action on the next turn, thus setting off this erroneous bird’s power and and the full machine behind it, and yet another round passed until the mistake was realized. It involved too much time and too many actions to effectively resolve diplomatically.

    What is the protocol and penalty for placing this illegal card and realizing it much too late?

    Thanks for your time.

    1. Adam: Thanks for asking about this. In casual play, I wouldn’t actually change anything–I’d just continue to play on, and if you feel really bad about it, you could reduce the number of points that bird gives you (or let each opponent play one bird in a habitat of their choosing).

      We don’t have Wingspan tournaments, but if this happened during a tournament (or any format where players are taking it really seriously), I would probably have you return the bird card to your hand. You wouldn’t undo anything else, but you also wouldn’t regain the resources you spent to play the bird as a penalty. Then play would continue.

      1. I really appreciate the response! This is approximately how we handled it. Thank you and Ms. Hargrave again, for a truly unique and balanced game!

      2. Depending on the seriousness of the tournament, this would likely be a minimum penalty, the maximum being disqualification (loss) of that game. If it were a consistent pattern of behavior “accidental” or not, it should result in disqualification from the tournament.

        I can see a scenario where an early “accidentally wrong” placement of a key bird could arguably swing the game such that even removal of the bird would be insufficient to remove the full benefit that the player making the error received.

        I state that based on the mechanics of the game where birds that do something unusual for their habitat are more valued than birds that do something normal for their habitat. In some cases this allows strategies where certain habitats are essentially ignored from an action standpoint.

        I was initially going to support the idea of “serious Wingspan tournaments”, but the honest truth is that as much as I love the game there is too big a random element in the game for serious tournament players to want to play Wingspan in a tournament setting.

  171. For the Blue power on Greylag Goose (This bird counts double for the end of round goal), does this double the food cost if the goal is food cost of Fruit and seeds? Does it count double for the goals of beak facing right or left?

    1. Yes for both examples. :)

      EDIT: Sorry! I was mistaken. The Greylag Goose does not count double for food costs, but it does count double for beaks (birds) facing a certain direction.

      In general, if the goal is counting birds, then the bird counts double. If it’s counting food cost, or eggs, or anything else, then it doesn’t count double.

          1. Thank you for clarifying about the food cost and rt/lt facing birds. My question had to do more with the end round goal of having the most birds on the mat at the end of the round (total bird cards) Does it also count as two birds for this round end goal? You’re right it is a confusing bird.

        1. Yes, any goal counting birds will count this bird twice. This means for “total birds” the Greylag Goose would count as two birds.

      1. Thanks for the correction!

        It’s a confusing goal, and I knew it didn’t double eggs, but you had me questioning my understanding on the food costs.

        Good call on the beaks. That’s been our house rule for a while that we read it as “bird CARDS with beaks pointing Right/Left”. There are a couple of bird cards with parent & child birds on them, and I think one baby is facing the same direction as the parent, and one is facing opposite.

  172. If you lay eggs and another person has a lay egg card once between turns does their lay an egg now count as a laying egg action where you can lay egg if you have egg laying power card

    1. No, to trigger that action, you need to take the “lay eggs” action printed on the player mat. So only one person per turn can actually trigger that action.

  173. For “birds in one row”, if you have two rows of five, do you count them as two?

  174. For the birds that have this power: “When another player takes the ‘lay eggs’ action, this bird lays 1 egg on another bird with a [ ] nest.” … I know it states you can only do this action once between turns, but what if you’ve played multiple birds with this power. Can you do it once between turns for each card?

    1. ‘…but what if you’ve played multiple birds with this power. Can you do it once between turns for each card?’ YES

  175. I have a question, maybe a silly one! Regarding bonus cards. For example, if you get the photographer bonus card that gives you 6 points for 6+ birds, does this mean 6 points in total for more that 6 birds, or 6 points for each bird when you have 6 or more birds?

    1. It means, “If you have 6 or more birds that meet this requirement, gain a total of 6 points.”

  176. Can you please clarify When using the yellow game end card: Play a bird. Pay its normal food cost with a 1 egg discount. (Grey-Headed Mannikin) do you need to return any nectar from your personal supply before activating this card? We seem to disagree about this.

    1. Thanks for your question (and the card text)! On the reference tile included in Oceania, we list the order of operations for the end of each round, including the following round. It the discarding of nectar in step 2, with end-game powers in round 6. So you would indeed return nectar before activating that card.

  177. Hi!

    If you have the parrot crossbill and you activate its power, what are rules if there is only 1 die left in the birdfeeder. Can I reroll or do I have to take the last die in the bird feeder?

    1. I don’t have that card in front of me (please always type the text of the card in full to accompany questions), but in general, the rule is always that if you would gain food and all dice in the birdfeeder show the same face, you may refill the birdfeeder by rolling all dice.

      1. Sorry for not adding the description, it’s the following description:

        When Activated: Remove any 1 die from the birdfeeder, then gain 1 grain from the supply.
        You gain a grain no matter what food die you removed from the birdfeeder.

        1. Thanks! You’re right that it’s a tricky situation given that you’re not gaining food directly from the die you select. I would still rule it the same, though (that you can first refill the birdfeeder), as you are gaining food as a result.

  178. nectar made the original playing mats for wingspan useless. are there any options for recycling them? does stonemaier games have any sort of program? is there any purpose or advantage to saving them? it feels wasteful to through them in a bin–they’re so nice. but also feels silly to have them laying around if they have no functional use.

    1. Here’s our answer to this in the Oceania FAQ (short answer: They’re definitely not useless, and please keep them!)

      “Are the original player mats now useless?

      Far from it–please keep your original mats! The Oceania mats are simply different, that’s all. Whenever you play Wingspan with just the core game and/or the European expansion (or future expansions), you can use either the original player mats or the Oceania mats. The original mats have considerably less iconology on them, making them more welcoming for new players. Also, whenever we create a new expansion, we must operate under the assumption that a significant number of people who buy it will only have the core game. So while new expansions will hopefully function with the Oceania playmats, they’ll be designed primarily for the original player mats.”

  179. The achievements in the online game do not always register as completed when I know they have been. Do I have to play automata only to get them to register?
    I like to play with one an opponent, not usually in the automa opponent game.

    I have seen this listed as a problem for several other people as well.

  180. For the Common Swift card that reads: “ROUND END: Discard up to 5 worms from your supply. For each tuck 1 card from the deck behind this card.” Would I be able to give up 2 x cherries or 2 x of any same food to = 1 worm?

    1. Thanks for your question, Monica. You can only do the 2-for-1 conversion when paying the costs to play bird cards; since this is not an instance of playing a bird, you cannot do that conversion and must use worms.

  181. Hi!
    I have a quick rules clarification question. If I have, what we have affectionately named a “shifty bird”, like the song sparrow, does it shift, if it is in the first column, although it is the left-most column?
    Thank you!

    1. I don’t have the exact text in front of me (feel free to type it here), but for migrating birds like this, page 12 of the appendix says that they can move from any column, so that includes the first column (as long as there are no birds to the right of them in their row).

  182. Played the Lazuli Bunting whose brown power is: All players lay one egg on any bowl nest. You may lay one egg on one additional bowl nest.
    My husbands nests were all full so he could not accept the egg. He said that then I (who played the bird) could not lay the eggs on my nests. Because all players cannot lay the eggs so if he can’t neither can I.

    1. Judy: I’m sure your husband is right about some things, but that isn’t the case here. :) If you activate a power, even if the full benefit isn’t possible, the power can be activated, and as much of it as possible is implemented.

  183. Do wild symbols in the birds food requirement count towards the “birds that eat X” bonus cards?

    1. Thanks for asking! Those bonus cards all specify that you need to see that specific food icon in the cost, so no, wild symbols do not count.

  184. Question about photographer bonus card.
    Does snow bunting count? It’s said snowy in the bonus card.

        1. Zachari, are you asking how many cards and food tokens can you keep at end of turn? There’s no limit to the number of cards and food tokens you have.

  185. I suppose bonus cards get discarded face down, but what about bird cards? This came up when Australian Ibis was activated.

      1. Thank you Jamey! Wingspan has helped me a lot in a difficult period of my life! Keep up making/ publishing great games!

  186. I have a set that has the artwork for Cassin’s Sparrow on Cassin’s Finch. Are there ways to get this replaced?

    Despite what I’ve read, I have not found any other errors. Thanks!

    1. Hi Jay! Can you send me an email? I can work out a replacement, but I’m surprised you would have found such an old card and getting a few more details will be helpful. My email is joe@stonemaiergames.com. Thanks!

  187. If I have a Spangled Drongo, and an opponent has a Green Heron, do I get a nectar every time they use its power to exchange a regular food for a nectar?

    1. I don’t have those cards in front of me, but I’d like to help. Can you type the exact text on each of those cards?

      1. Spangled Drongo : When another player gains nectar,gain 1 nectar from supply.
        Green Heron : Trade 1 any food for any other food from supply.

        1. Thanks Edwin! The answer is mostly “yes,” though I think the Spangled Drongo is a “once between turns” ability, so Kareen wouldn’t gain a nectar *every* time, just once between turns if the Green Heron’s player uses that ability to gain nectar.

          1. I would have said “no” because it is not a food gaining action as it does not say “gain” on the heron. As a trade, it is not a net gain of food. Can you confirm?

          2. They’re still gaining a nectar. It isn’t a net positive gain, but it’s still a gain. :)

  188. Withe the great horned owl, it’s ability is to look at a card from the deck and if it’s a certain size you tuck It behind it. My question is, can you choose a bird from the tray or does it need to be a face down card from the draw pile?

      1. I don’t think that is correct since in the Wingspan Appendix is the following text:
        Card-Drawing Powers
        IN GENERAL: Draw cards into your hand as described on the card. Just as with the Draw Cards action (Option 4 in the rulebook), you may draw from the deck or the face-up cards.

        1. Taed: It’s correct. The Great Horned Owl says, “Look at a bird card from the deck.” Because it specifies the deck, you must use the deck, not a face-up card. This is different than, for example, the Forster’s Tern, which says, “Draw 1 bird card.” It does not specify where that card comes from, so you can choose from the face-up cards or the top card of the deck.

  189. Question: should the three birds in the bird tray be changed at the end of each round? Or, are you stuck with the first three that are placed at the beginning of the game? Love this game!

    1. Thanks Judy! Those bird cards are typically gained and replaced throughout each round via the “draw cards” action. At the end of each round, you will refresh all cards in the tray (remove them and replace them with cards from the top of the deck). As a helpful reminder, this is noted on the tile with the end-of-round steps.

  190. When combining both the European and Oceana expansions, when exercising a blue power at the end of a round, do the remaining nectar in your supply spoil before you can exercise the blue powers? Or, since blue powers are performed prior to scoring end of round goals, are you allowed to use nectar to “play another card” or turn in food to tuck cards before the spoil.

    1. Bruce: Here’s the order of operations (step 1 is the most relevant to your question–your nectar is still available to spend then):

      1. Use “round end” bird powers, if playing with European Expansion.
      2. Discard any unused nectar (as described in next section).
      3. Score end-of-round goal.
      4. Remove all action cubes.
      5. Discard and replace all cards in the bird tray.
      6. If Round 4 is over, use game-end powers. Otherwise, pass first-player token clockwise.

    1. Sorry, John, but you cannot do that. Once an egg is on a bird, it remains on that bird unless you spend it or if an ability says otherwise.

  191. some of the pink power cards say “once between turns” I’m wondering what that means. Since the first round has 8 turns for each player, second round has 7, third round 6, and found 4 has 5 turns. This means each player has 26 turns for the entire game. Does that mean that a pink power could theorectically be used a total of 26 times by a player during a complete game?

    1. I’d recommend checking out page 10 for a full explanation of how this ability works, but yes, theoretically that’s possible (but highly unlikely).

      “These powers may be triggered on opponents’ turns. You can only use a pink power
      once between each of your own turns (if an opponent triggers it). We recommend telling other players what the power is, and what activates it. Players should help each other notice when a bird with a pink power should be activated.”

    1. Food cached on the European Nuthatch and Coal Tit counts as being in your supply for purposes of spending food. Does that answer your question? Let me know if you have a specific interaction you’d like more clarity on.

      1. Specifically one of the bird powers states you can tuck a card from the deck if the player to your right has a grain in their supply. The player to my right had a grain cached that could be played at any time. I concluded this was a grain in their supply in this instance.

        1. No, the cached food on the Nutchatch or Coal Tit only counts as in their supply for purposes of spending. It does not count as in their supply for other reasons. The cached food on these birds can be spent at any time as if they were in their supply, but the food is not actually in their supply (it’s still cached food).

  192. Hi, I’m sure i previously read a official ruling on this but it was recently questioned in our game group and I can’t find what I thought I’d read.
    If I have a pink power that is triggered off of another person succeeding in a skull power, is the pink power considered ‘triggered’ whether the first skull power activated that players turn succeeds or not? So if player 1 has the power to gain something after another players skull action succeeds and both players 2 and 3 have such an action (such as checking the wingspan of a card from the deck), if player 2 activates the bird and draws a card that does not fulfil the skull requirement is the pink power considered triggered for this ‘once between turn’ so it would not trigger if player 3 activated their skull power and it succeeded?

    1. Ian: Indeed, the pink power is triggered even if the predator power isn’t successful (unless the pink power specifically says that predator power must be successful).

      1. That last point is the critical one then and is probably the point I missed last time.
        On a follow up, if I may, if the pink power says after another player takes the gain food action, you get a specific resource from the bird feeder if available:
        1. If there is no resource of that type, is the pink power considered as triggered and the player must wait until after their next turn
        2. If after the players turn there isn’t the specific resource but all the dice are showing the same result, can you reset the bird feeder in the hope you get the specific resource?

  193. Hi, we have an interesting question about the Western Meadowlark.

    The card says: “All players lay 1 egg on any [ground nest] bird. You may lay 1 egg on 1 additional [ground nest] bird”

    The appendix states:
    “This power allows you to lay an egg on 1 or 2 birds with a
    specific nest symbol (or a star).”

    Here does “additional” mean “other”? The appendix says the eggs may be laid on 2 birds, but can they both be laid on 1?

  194. With the royal spoonbill, one of the bullets under “Brfore drawing a face-up card …you may refill the tray” When would you have empty spaces on the tray? We always refill an empty space when the card is taken from the tray. Are we doing that incorrectly?

    1. That card is saying that you could discard all cards on the tray and refill it. Normally you only replace empty card slots at the end of your turn (and normally you only completely refresh the card tray at the end of each round).

      1. HI, Jamey, maybe you or me is misreading the question:
        “We always refill an empty space when the card is taken from the tray”

        This seems wrong to me :)

        1. You’re right–I was focused on that specific bird. I’ve corrected my comment in regards to the general rule.

      2. Okay now I’m confused. There was another question and the discussion group about drawing the replacing empty card slots. I thought the answer was that you replace the card as you selected them so if you selected them one at a time you could replace it after you selected it. So just declarify, the rule is you don’t refill the card slots until the end of your turn. Not after you’ve selected a card.

        1. Bonnie: I checked the rulebook to make sure I wasn’t remembering incorrectly, and I found the rule at the bottom of page 9:

          “As you draw face-up cards, they are not immediately refilled. Instead, wait until the end of your turn before refilling empty spaces on the bird tray.”

          1. Wow exclamation Good catch! Darn, we have them playing wrong. I’ve enjoyed the ability to glance at another card prior to selecting my last. Thanks to both of you!

  195. Hi Jamey, on the Brozed Cowbird card, there are no nest category nor number of laying eggs printed. Can you inform me the correct answers to these lacking info? Thanks

    1. Gabriela: That particular bird does not make nests, so it has no nest type, nor can it hold eggs.

  196. We have a few questions.
    1. When playing a card sideways, do you get to count the eggs twice, food count twice, or if it qualifies for an end of round goal twice?
    2. If there are only dice with the wheat/grubs can you reset the birdfeeder or do you have to choose a wheat or grub?

    1. 1. It’s still just one bird, it only counts once. :)
      2. If you want to gain food and all dice show the exact same face (whether it’s 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 die), you can reset the birdfeeder.

  197. We are baffled…please settle a bet. Some birds have the little 🕊 dove symbol on them. There is also a end of round goal with the same symbol with eggs. Here’s the question…..does the dove 🕊 symbol with eggs ONLY mean those cards with that symbol on them. OR does it mean all birds, any birds?

    1. That icon refers to birds you’ve played on your mat. So that goal icon means, “Bird cards on which there’s at least 1 egg token.”

      There’s a similar icon on some birds, but it’s a different icon referring to “tucking” abilities.

  198. 1. When you tuck birds on hand under a card, are all birds on hand, regardless of the habitat, available for tucking?
    For example, can I tuck a wetland bird under a forest bird card?

    2. I saw in the Q&A above that players can reroll the dice when the opportunity to gain food from the birdfeeder comes, but the rule book says to roll the dice only when all 5 dice have the same side facing up so I’m a bit confused.
    For example, if I’m gaining food by placing my action token on an empty forest box (e.g. second column, first row on player mat), can I reroll the dice in the birdfeeder if I don’t see the food I want in the sides facing up?

    1. Thanks Louisa!

      1. Yes, for tucking, it’s just a piece of cardboard–it’s as if there’s nothing printed on it.

      2. The question above was about a very specific bird’s ability. Though the way you stated it isn’t correct either. At any time when gaining food, you can refresh the birdfeeder if all dice in the birdfeeder show the same face. That could be 1 die, 2 dice, 3 dice, etc.

  199. Hi there! Oh God wingspan is awesome!
    I’ve played only a couple of games, but I’ve already purchased the European expansion :)
    I have a question that came up when playing with it, since we are playing with a translated version, maybe the wording is not the same, but the Parus Major allowed to re-fill the birdfeeder and get a resource out of it, our debate was if this could be done when all dice were in the birdfeeder or could only be used if some die had been taken already.
    Thanks for the clarifications!

    1. Thanks Pau! For that bird’s ability, it can be used even if all dice are in the birdfeeder.

  200. Jamey, congratulations for this wonderful gameboard! My husband and I have this doubt: while getting one of the cards that have the benefit of rolling all dice not in birdfeeder, what happens with the rest of the dice after one takes the benefit? Do we roll them again in the birdfeeder or do we continue playing with the rest of the dice until they are gone from the table? Thanks a lot for your answer!

    1. Thanks Gabriela! The dice you roll for those effects stay outside of the birdfeeder (until you later would refill the birdfeeder as normal).

      1. Thanks for your prompt answer! We started playing Wingspan yesterday for our first time and are eager to play it again tonight. Afterwards we will start playing Scythe which I also got for my husband’s birthday. (Viticulture and Tuscany were his last year’s present) =)

  201. Hi there!
    I have 5 specific questions concerning gameplay that I would like to see verified:

    1 – When taking food (say I can get 3 foods and there are 2 foods on the birdfeeder – a rat and a slug): Do I get both the rat and slug and then rotate again? Or can I get just a slug and rotate again?

    2 – When using a brown power (‘Anna’s Hummingbird’ for example) with the same 2 dice left and with 3 players. Does one player stay without food or is there a new roll for him/her? Also in case there is only 1 die left when activating the power, can we reset the birdfeeder?

    3 – In a ‘between turns’ power card (like the ‘Turkey Vulture’) if the birdfeeder is empty, do we rotate again or skip the power?

    4 – In a bonus card, ‘Birds that eat berries’, do omnivorous birds (like the ravens) count too?

    5 – For ‘when played’ cards (such as the ‘Bobolink’) when the action is for laying eggs, do we include the just played card (in this case the ‘Bobolink’)?

    We played hundreds of times and gave our own answers to these, but would be nice to know how the designers reply!

    1. Thanks, Franciso!

      1. At any time when gaining food, you can refresh the birdfeeder if all dice in the birdfeeder show the same face. So in this example, you could just gain the slug, then refresh the birdfeeder before choosing the next food.

      2. Same answer as above. If there’s only 1 die in the birdfeeder, all dice show the same face, so the birdfeeder can be refreshed.

      3. Same answer as above–at any time when gaining food.

      4. No, the card is specifically looking for the berry icon.

      5. Yes, include the newly played card.

  202. I’ve been waiting for this big box idea before I even bought the original base game. It has begun! When you offer up this next campaign are you going to make available everything that has been made available thus far? If not specifically, what will you not be offering?

    1. James: Yes, but in no way different than we currently do. That is, we have a bunch of Wingspan products on our webstore, and they’ll continue to be on our webstore, including when we start accepting orders for the Nesting Box. So you could order those items now in the same way you can order those items in 6 months (there’s no need to wait if you’d like to play some of the other expansions now).

  203. Hi, I am Bojidar. When I choose the play bird but there is no space on the row what happens?

    1. I think you asked this elsewhere today, and I answered there: If there isn’t a slot for a card, you can’t play it.

  204. On the player mat for drawing cards where it says exchange egg for card, can u exchange multiple eggs for multiple cards or is taht 1 for 1 only?

  205. I was playing a game where we ran out of cards to tuck / draw. Are we just out of luck for any birds that needed tucking to get the points for tucked cards?

      1. Rulepop says: “If the face-down deck is ever emptied during the game, reshuffle all discarded bird cards to form a new deck.” Agree?

        Therefore, I would suggest that reshuffling the deck is the appropriate answer for tuck/draw powers. But, I agree counters would be the answer for end of game or end of last round powers where tucked cards are really only counters.

        1. If there are discarded cards (which there should be), I agree. I was interpreting the question as if there were no cards remaining at all.

  206. On some birds, such as the Northern Mockingbird and the Grey Catbird, the text says to “repeat a brown power on one other bird in this habitat”. Does that repeated power have to be on a bird that is to the left of the bird in question?

  207. The double-breasted cormorant has the following ability: discard a fish to tuck 2 cards from the deck behind this bird. Question: can someone use two of another resource as a substitute for the fish, or does it have to be an actual fish?

    1. It must be a fish. The only time you can covert food 2:1 is to pay the cost of playing a bird.

  208. Can I use a more than one pink power on another player’s turn if I have multiple birds with pink powers on my player mat? How about if I have 2 of the same pink powers on my mat. Do I only use 1 once between turns?

    1. You can use multiple pink powers as long as they’re all triggered. Each one can only be used once between turns, but you aren’t limited to only triggering a single pink power. And if you have multiple of the same pink power (triggered by the same action by your opponent), they can all be activated by the same single trigger.

  209. 2 questions… if bird says to reset bird feeder and the reset roll is all the same side(ie yahtzee) can you role again before taking rest of action on bird?for example reset birdfeeder and take rat and then reset is all fish can you reset again or just 0 rats.
    Q2 pink power says tuck card and draw card at end of their turn. Do you refill the bird tray at the end of their turn before this action occurs? So the person with pink power would get full tray and deck to choose from or just what is left in tray and deck to choose from.

    1. Yes, you can always reset the birdfeeder when all dice in it show the same face.

      You always wait to reset the bird tray until your turn is completely over. Typically those types of pink powers have other players drawing from the top of the deck, not the tray (the card should specify that).

  210. I have some questions on the Hooded Merganser. The bird card says: When Activated, Repeat 1 skull (i.e. hunting and fishing) power in this habitat. According to the Appendix, there are a total of three different skull powers. It seems that you would have to have the appendix booklet handy when playing so you would know what the various skull powers are for you to choose from. Unless you have memorized the 3 skull powers. Is my understanding correct?

    1. Not quite, but I appreciate the question. There are birds that have the predator (skull) icon printed on their cards. It is those cards (and only those cards) that are eligible for this power, no memorization necessary. :)

      1. Sorry but I am not understanding your response. If I have just activated the hooded merganser, I would either have to possess a predator card in my hand or on the board to know what its power is. So if it’s in my hand, can I then take advantage of its power? If it’s on the board I assume I could use its power. What if it’s in the same row as the hooded merganser, and I can activate it when I cascade back in which case I would not need the hooded merganser card to activate it. In that case would I activate this power twice in the same turn ( Once due to having activated the hooded merganser, and the second time by activating the predator card via cascading to it). Hope I am making myself clear. Would you possibly describe a scenario, on how activating the hooded merganser would play out? Thanks.

        1. So, the Hooded Merganser looks for birds you’ve already played in its habitat–you’re looking only at other birds with the predator icon on your player mat (not in your hand or elsewhere).

          This is the case for all bird powers. If they refer some characteristic of other birds, unless they specifically say otherwise (like a card that looks at the top card of the deck), the only applicable birds are those currently on your player mat.

          Here’s an example for the Hooded Merganser: Say you have the Golden Eagle on either side of the Hooded Merganser on your player mat (it doesn’t matter which side, but we’ll say on the right for this example). You activate the Golden Eagle’s ability, looking at the top card of the deck and either tucking or discarding it. You then move your player token to activate the Hooded Merganser and select the Golden Eagle’s ability (because it has the predator icon); by doing so, you then again look at the top card of the deck and either tuck it or discard it. You end your turn by moving your player token to the left).

  211. End of round goal rats + fish does that mean birds that have that food cost in their cost to play or just birds that can eat rats or can eat fish?

    1. The tile I see says, “rats or fish (in food cost of your birds)”. So you add up all rat and fish icons in the cost of each bird on your player mat.

      1. The tile we have says Rat + Fish in food cost of your birds. Thus we were wondering does this mean only birds that eat both of these foods or can this include birds that eat rats and other foods or fish and other foods or rats, fish and other foods. The plus symbol gives us the impression that it would be only birds that eat solely rats + fish and nothing else.

        1. You’re just looking at each individual icon, not combinations of icons. Count each rat icon and add that number to the total number of fish icons (hence the +), and that’s your total for this goal.

  212. I have a question about the brown power of the common loon; when activated, I understand the player/s with the fewest birds get/s to draw a card, and my husband says zero birds qualifies as the fewest birds. My assumption, however, is the player with the fewest played birds in the wetland gets to draw cards. Can zero birds be the fewest birds?

  213. Hello! Is there a master list of bird names for Wingspan (the base game and two expansions – European and Oceania)? How many bird cards are there total to date? Thank you for your help. :o)

  214. In the Oceania expansion, what is “Then activate any brown power in this row” under “Spent nectar” for? Does this mean the play who spent a nectar can use another brown power in that habitat? Thanks!

    1. If you notice, the original playermats also say that. They’re just saying “Gain Food(Eggs/Cards)… Then activate any brown powers in this row.” The nectar collection spot isn’t part of that statement and you don’t activate brown powers when you collect nectar.

  215. Sorry I misstated my previous question. It was from memory when it occurred early in the game we were playing. The bird is a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. When this card is activated, can the one who activates it start with themself as their player of choice, or is the activater required to choose their food last while dictating the order in which the other players get to choose from the birdfeeder.?

    1. “The player of your choice” includes all players. The player activating the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird can choose themselves.

      1. Thank you for your response. I have more questions. There are spaces on the game board for 5 birds in each row. To the right of the last bird space on the edge of the board it shows 3 food tokens, 4 eggs, and 3 cards, and also the ability to get an extra token in each of those rows. Are those spots playable? Obviously, another bird can can not fit there, but can you play an action cube there to gain food, lay eggs, or draw cards? My other question is What bird card has the highest points, meaning the card with the most feather points?

          1. Thanks so much for your responses. From your answer, it seems that you can continue to gain food, lay eggs, or draw bird cards even if the pertinent row already has 5 bird cards?

          2. That’s correct! You’ll gain the leftmost uncovered benefit of the habitat when it’s activated. That means if you have all 5 bird slots filled in a habitat, you gain the icons to the right of the 5th bird.

  216. I have a question. One card said something to the effect that you can pick 3 bird cards and give one to each player starting with the player of your choice. Can the player of your choice be yourself or is the intent that you get the last card left and you simply choose the order in which the other players receive cards? (katyjohn@hotmail.com)

    1. I’m not sure which bird you’re referencing. Can you tell me the name of the bird? I can’t find a bird that says exactly what you’re describing, so I’m worried about answering your question without knowing the full context.

  217. My wife and i are having great fun playing this but we have steered clear of the pink in between goes cards because as there are only two of us, after one finished, the next plays. Would you treat the microsecond between as a suitable in-between turns or is the between goes best for three or more players?

    1. I’m not sure what you mean. Pink powers activate on other players’ turns (never on your own turn). So in a 2-player game, if your opponent completes an action that triggers your pink power, you follow the pink power’s instructions. Since that pink power can only be activated once between turns, it can’t be activated again until after your next turn.

      1. But as there are only two of us playing. My turn is immediately after hers so while my pink card could be triggered from something my wife has done, after she has completed, its my turn again.

        1. Unless the pink power says otherwise, activate the pink power as soon as possible, immediately after it’s triggered. Don’t wait for your turn. If it specifically says to take the action at the end of their turn, then do it at the end of their turn (it’s still their turn during the “end” of that turn).

          1. Ok, thanks for both answers. I suppose i like watching what she is doing throughout her turn.
            ;o)

  218. WHEN ACTIVATED: Discard 1 [specific food] to tuck 2 from the deck behind this bird. If this bird is in the water row and has been activated because im taking cards, can i tuck 2 from the birds i have selected or even some from my hand if the picked ones are better or do i just take two and tuck them immediately without looking at them?

    Thanks

    1. Hi joey , in this case can i discard nectar instead of the specific food? If i can, soes the nectar goes to the discard or to the spent nectar?

      1. (edited) You cannot. See the rulebook note on nectar here: “When bird powers refer to a specific food type, nectar is NOT a wild food.”

        1. Really? Mind blown. I was convinced you were wrong. I am still not sure.

          Wingspan Oceana Expansion rulebook, page 2:
          When bird powers refer to a specific food type, nectar is NOT a wild food. If a bird’s power looks for mice in the birdfeeder, for example, do not also count the nectar there.

          We were reading this to also apply to the Canada Goose, for example, where you can discard a wheat to tuck two cards. Note that this is supported by the previous section which says:

          When paying food to play a bird, use an “ANY FOOD” bird power, or upgrade an action, nectar is a wild food.

          On the next page, it says again:
          When spending nectar to play birds, use an “ANY FOOD” bird power, or upgrade an action, put it into the “spent nectar” space for that habitat.

          Nothing in any of those sections appears to contradict the more clear “When bird powers refer to a specific food type, nectar is NOT a wild food.”

          1. Scott: You’re right, and I was wrong. This is the key line: “When bird powers refer to a specific food type, nectar is NOT a wild food.”

  219. Thank you for this awesome game.
    I cannot find the Rule book in Danish translation, even though a Danish translated edition has been published.
    – Could you make the danish translation of the rulebook available for download?
    Kind regards
    Peter

  220. Gould Finch let’s you play another bird at game end. But I am told to discard all nectar before game end powers. That means no nectar eating birs can be played at game end. Is this correct?

    1. You won’t have any nectar at that point in the game, but you could still use the two-for-one exchange when playing a bird with the Gould Finch’s power. So you could pay two other foods in exchange for paying one nectar in the bird’s food cost.

  221. The question has to do with the pink powers, once between turns action. Let’s say I have three players; players A, B, C. Player A went first for the Round, and just finished the last play of the round (not the end of game). So both players B and C in their last turn of the round trigger the pink power for player A. So player A gets to take the pink action once between turns once. Now it is the end of the round, not the game, and the token rotates to player B. Now player B once again and player C both take the action that triggers the pink once between turns card of player A. Can player A take the pink action, i.e. does the end of round reset, so now it is still in between players A turn OR because player A did not actually have a turn from the end of round, player A can not take the pink in between action after 4 successive moves from Player B and C that would have triggered the pink action of A.

    1. Pink powers reset on the next turn for the owner of that pink power. They do not reset at the end of the round. In your example, player A’s pink powers are not available to trigger until their next turn.

  222. When playing a bird and spending 2 food tokens as if they are any one food token are you limited to 2 for 1? Can you do 4 for 2 or 6 for 3?

    1. When playing a bird, you can discard any number of tokens at the 2 for 1 ratio to help pay the cost for the bird.

  223. Another food question for confirmation. Eg american white pelican. When activated discard a fish…
    I am assuming this activation only works if i can discard a fish. If i dont have a fish, i am assuming i cannot discard for example a berry and a slug as a substitute. Substitutes only work when playing a bird.

    1. That’s correct. You must discard a fish if you choose to activate that bird. Substitutions only work when playing a bird.

      1. If 2 different food items are left in the birdfeeder and I’m doing the Gain food action (2 items), can i pick one item from the birdfeeder and than reshuffle all dices? or i must take the remaining two

  224. Rodentologist bonus card. Do you count birds that have a round rainbow symbol (for all/any food) or must at least one symbol on the card be of a rodent? Thanks.

  225. hi, does the black vulture card gains food as soon as the other player succeeds hunting or do you wait at the end of the other player’s turn to gain a food from the birdfeeder?

  226. can you use a pink power from a bird card that you have in your hand or does it have to be from a bird card on your aviary board?

      1. Thank you for the answer about the pink power applying only to played birds. I do not think this restriction was mentioned in the rules.

        1. It’s in the rules that you can only use powers of played birds–it’s a global rule, not specific to that type of power. :)

  227. If I choose to start with 2 cards (connected to each other meaning that one has the property “When played you can play a second card”) you will need the food for both birds and an egg to pay the second card. But since I do not have a card on the board yet…is it possible to buy eggs first, without to lay the egg down on another bird? If not, if feels like a big flaw.

    1. It is not possible to lay eggs if you don’t have birds to lay them on. I would say that it’s a puzzle to solve, not a flaw in the game design itself. You’ve made a choice to start with those two cards. So you could also choose to start with another bird that you can play first and lay eggs on, or you could gain a card with an early turn and play that card first. Also, just because you have an ability to play a second bird doesn’t mean that second bird needs to be the other card in your starting hand–those double-play birds are all about finding the right time to play two birds at once. The situation you described is not the right time to do so.

  228. Some brown powers say if a grain is in the feeder you may cache it on this card, while other similar brown powers leave the word “may” out. If the brown power includes the word “may”, does that mean you can keep the food item and not cash it on the card? Also, if the invertebrate/grain face is up in the feeder. can it be considered a grain in this instance?

    1. “If the brown power includes the word “may”, does that mean you can keep the food item and not cash it on the card?”

      Yes, that’s correct. :)

      “if the invertebrate/grain face is up in the feeder. can it be considered a grain in this instance?”

      Yes, it is a grain.

  229. Lincoln sparrow: does there need to be a bird at the lift side of this one to use the brown power or can it also be the only one in its row?

  230. We’re using our new Oceania expansion and have a question about end-game powers. For birds like the Spotless Crake, which indicate adding eggs to a certain bird or habitat at the end of game, are you limited by the number of eggs a bird can hold? For example, if the Spotless Crake lets me add eggs to my wetlands birds, but they each hold and have 2 eggs, does that nullify the Spotless Crake end-game bonus? Or can you exceed the card limit since it’s an end-game bonus?

  231. Have a question about bird power for hummingbirds (Anna’s and Ruby-throated). Card says “when activated, each player gains one food from the birdfeeder, starting with the player of your choice”. The rule says that the hummingbird’s owner decides which person gains the first food. Does this mean the owner takes a food too? If so, can the owner decide to take the first food for him/her self?

    1. Nancy: Thanks for your question. Indeed, “each player” includes the person who played the hummingbird, and they could choose themselves first.

      1. Need help settling an argument. Player A already has a snow bunting bird that says between turns, if for any reason a player tucks a card, she may tuck a card. On her turn, she plays a bird in the grass. Next up, player B had a in between turns, if for any reason a player plays a bird in the grass she can tuck a card. , so she does. Now player A says she can use her pink power and tuck a card. Can she? Or is it still her turn?

  232. We are loving Wingspan! Question about a bird placed sideways and the “birds in column” end of round goal. If we have 2 birds in the each column spaces (4 in total) does that count as 2 columns? Thanks!

  233. Greetings, Is nectar limited to the 69 issued with the game by rule? What I guess I’m asking is, when all 69 nectar have been “played”, or stored on the left side of the board, is that it? or do you place a “counter” and replace the nectar in the supply system? Seems like the limit would be part of the strategy. We have run out of nectar several times when Raven’s, Bluethroats, et.al. are in play.

    1. Hi Theodore! Just like all food tokens, nectar is not component-limited. If you run out, use a substitute. I like your idea of replacing the saved nectar on player mats with a different type of food.

  234. Wingspan. There are two people with pink powers: “when someone uses the gain food action, gain an invertebrate at the end of their turn, if there is one”. But there is only one invertebrate left. How do we decide who gets it?

    1. In this situation, the pink powers would activate in turn order, starting clockwise from the active player.

  235. When a card says “Play a second bird in your habitat. Pay it’s normal cost”.

    If I have multiple cards of that type can I

    A) Play three birds in one turn if they all have the same ability.

    or

    B) Is it only one additional bird for that turn.

  236. Loggerhead shrike allows me to cache a rat when another player takes the “gain food” action. Does this apply when the grey shrikethrush gets rat from its power?

    1. No, it only applies when another player takes the gain food action (when they activate the forest habitat).

  237. Korinako says discard any number of rats to gain that many wild from the supply. Does that mean discard the rats in the bird feeder or from your own supply?

  238. Hi, after a recent game I have a question on the “budgerigar” card. It has a brown “When activated” effect: Put the bird with the smallest wingspan under this bird.

    One of our players played this as his first bird, which seemed over the course of the game a bit overpowered (or just lucky). This prompted me to check the Appendix and to my surprise the effect there is described as “When played”. This seems true in the English version as well as in the Dutch version (which we played). Is this a typo in the Appenices or an error on the Budgerigar (Grasparkiet in Dutch).

    1. Correction: It has a brown “When activated” effect: Put the bird with the smallest wingspan from the bird tray under this bird.

    2. Thanks for sharing the text with your question, Michiel! Budgerigar (in Oceania) is a “when activated” bird. So it may be a typo in the appendix, but the bird is definitely a “when activated” bird.

  239. Hello, I realized that some percentages of the bonus card in the main game are not correct. For example, birds eating only invertebrates are 19/180, such as 10,55% and not 9% as written. Also for raptors The numbers are not correct. Am I wrong?

    1. It’s possible that with the promo packs and expansions, the percentages may shift slightly. In the core game they’re correct as far as we know. Like, included in the core game there is a 10-card swift-start promo pack, so the percentages are actually out of 170 cards, not 180.

  240. If when activated says look at a card from the deck if less than a certain wingspan tuck it behind this bird, can you look at the face up cards as part of the deck or does it have to be drawn from the deck?

  241. When an activation says lay an egg on any bird with a ground nest symbol, does a star symbol count as a ground nest symbol in this instance?

  242. End of round question: We don‘t get how to apply the Total birds. Do get the points for each bird? Who gets these points? (Round 3 f.e. 8 points for birds total).
    And another end of round question: When playing the blue side, we all got way more than 5 points each round, which made counting the points a bit pointless. Did we do something wrong?

    1. Can you type out the exact text of the card you’re referring to?

      What were the goal tiles you had in this game?

  243. Hi Jamey,

    Quick question.

    Situation: I have a Drongo in play and opponent uses Green Heron power to TRADE fish for Nectar.

    Is this trade considered them gaining nectar for the powers of the Drongo, or is trading different?

    Cheers Darren

    1. I don’t have those cards in front of me, but from what you said here, it doesn’t count for the Drongo’s ability

    2. Jamey’s correct that it doesn’t sound like it counts, but it does! Elizabeth has ruled that “trading” for a nectar counts as “gaining” a nectar. So the Drongo would activate. Happy gaming!

  244. Hi. I would like some clarification on the instructions in the automa booklet. Page 4. Second paragraph of ‘scoring end-of-round goals’. The last sentence and the ‘note’ are confusing to me. It says ‘the Automa’s quantity must be greater than 0 to score points for the goal’. But if you are using the green goal scoring card, Automa will either be in first or second place so will always score goal points every round. True?
    And the note says ‘Automa cannot exceed 5 birds for the ‘birds in a specific habitat row’’. Does that mean the total of base value plus cubes on goal tile cannot exceed 5 for that goal?

    1. Hi Barb. As with the multiplayer rules, for the green side of the goal mat, you must have at least one of the targeted item to participate in scoring for the round. So, if you don’t have any of whatever the goal is, you don’t place and get 0 points.
      What the rule is saying is, the same holds true for Automa. If Automa’s base value plus cubes <= 0, she won't place and gets 0 points.

      For your second question, because the player cannot play more than 5 birds to a habitat, we didn't feel it was fair for Automa to be able to get more than that using our system of base value plus cubes. So, the rule is telling you that if her base plus cubes is greater than 5, she only has 5.

      Hope that helps. Have fun, David

    2. Hi Barb. As with the multiplayer rules, for the green side of the goal mat, you must have at least one of the targeted item to participate in scoring for the round. So, if you don’t have any of whatever the goal is, you don’t place and get 0 points.
      What the rule is saying is, the same holds true for Automa. If Automa’s base value plus cubes <= 0, she won't place and gets 0 points.

      For your second question, because the player cannot play more than 5 birds to a habitat, we didn't feel it was fair for Automa to be able to get more than that using our system of base value plus cubes. So, the rule is telling you that if her base plus cubes is greater than 5, she only has 5.

      Hope that helps. Have fun, David

  245. Could you recommend one of these how-to videos for an utter beginner to games? I just can’t figure this game out and I really want to play. I’m used to games like Monopoly. I don’t understand how others in the comments got this game for Christmas (like I did) and sat down and played it the same day with their families! I’ve tried watching a couple of the videos but they go too fast, don’t explain along the way and don’t zoom in on the cards. Thank you!

  246. In the end of round goals, when there is the bird symbol and, say wetland. To count towards that goal, the bird has to also have that symbol on their card (and be in the wet lands) correct?

    The end of round goal isn’t asking for as many birds in the wetlands as you can get, it wants them to have that same bird symbol, right? Birds with another symbol or no symbol will not count, right?

    1. The “birds in wetland” end-of-round goal is looking for the number of played birds in your wetland. If a bird has a wetland symbol (and another symbol) but it’s played outside of the wetland, it doesn’t count for the “birds in wetland” goal.

    2. I know it has been a week, but to further clarify: All birds will have 1 or more of the symbols indicating where they can live (forest, graasslaands, and/or wetlands).
      Only birds with the wetland symbol can be played in the wetlands.
      And for this goal, we are only counting birds played in the wetlands.
      So, if a bird has 2 or 3 symbols showing where they can live, only the ones actually in the wetlands (which all will have the wetlands symbol) will count.

  247. Hello.

    My family and I love the game so much, but ran across an issue with the rules that caused quite a stir. Let me set the conditions and then ask the question.

    a. Player B ends his turn. At the time his turn ends, there are two dice in the Birdfeeder.

    b. Player C starts her turn. She has only one card played in the Gain Food row at this time. She decides to discard a bird card in order to gain and extra food, meaning she will be collecting two food tokens.

    Does Player C have to take the two food tokens matching the icons on the two dice in the Birdfeeder, or can Player C select one of them and then decide to re-roll all 5 dice?

    Many thanks in advance.

    – Ralph

    1. The forest “gain food” action allows players to take food from the feeder one at a time. So Player C can take one food then check for a reroll opportunity before taking the second food.

  248. Thank you for a lovely game and expansion! We are learning the ins and outs of the European expansion. Question: after you have played a bird that when played is played sideways (ex. Long Tailed Tit), how does the Predator that when played can be played on top of another bird (ex. Red Kite) mechanism work? Please include information about how the card placement changes if an additional card has been played to the right in the same habitat. Thanks and I hope this question makes sense!

    1. I always have to look this up myself. :) There’s a note on our European expansion FAQ about this:

      “Some birds like the European Roller allow you to place the card sideways on your player mat, filling two spots. If you then play a bird like the Common Buzzard on top of a sideways bird, the Common Buzzard would also be placed sideways, completely covering the sideways bird.”

      This applies whether there is or isn’t a card to the right of it.

  249. The Montagu’s Harrier can be played “on top of another bird on your player mat”. Can it be played on top of another bird in a habitat other than grassland?

  250. With the Brown-Headed Cowbird or another bird with the same power may you lay eggs in other players bird nests on their preserves? And if so do those eggs count as your eggs or their eggs for scoring or resource using purposes?

  251. In the Australian expansion, when you roll the die and the nectar/fruit or nectar/seed face comes up, is there ever any reason not to take the nectar instead of the other food, other than close to the end of a round where you risk forfeiting the nectar? Taking nectar from the supply seems almost too easy.

  252. Bonus card question:
    Fishery manager card says, “Birds that eat 🐟.”
    Then, at the bottom it says, “Any bird with a 🐟 symbol.”
    With those two in mind, does a bird that only has a “wild” symbol count? It eats fish, but the card does not have a fish symbol.

  253. I have a bird that says to repeat the brown power of an opponent on my left (in the same habitat) and my opponent (on the left) has a bird with the brown power to repeat the brown power of an opponent to the right (which would be me).
    Can I choose to use that opponent’s brown power to repeat the brown power of one of MY birds?

  254. Can I spend nectar on abilities like the Sandhill Crane’s that ask me to spend a specific type of food, like a seed? Or does it have to be a seed?

  255. If I have “Gain 1 nectar from the birdfeeder if there is one”, and there is only 1 die left in the birdfeeder may I re-roll?

  256. If someone had the spangled drongo and the player to his left had pesquet’s parrot, would the player with the drongo get a nectar everytime the player with the pesquet’s parrot got a nectar? (Even though it would be because of that persons personal stash that he got to gain 1)

      1. I have a similar question. I had the Spangled Drongo “Once between turns when another player gains a nectar, gain 1 nectar from the supply”. The other player had a bird with the power “When activated, if the player to your left has a nectar in their personal supply, gain 1 nectar from the general supply” …
        Does this mean that if I have a nectar then he “gains” 1 from the supply and because he “gains” 1, then I also get one from the supply?
        Or does it only mean that I get one if he “gains” one by using the “gain food” action on his turn?

        1. “Does this mean that if I have a nectar then he “gains” 1 from the supply and because he “gains” 1, then I also get one from the supply?” That is correct!

  257. Regarding the Turkey Vulture power: Once between turns: When another player’s (skull & crossbones) succeeds, gain 1 dice from the birdfeeder. Does that mean that: 1. Turkey Vulture is a (skull & crossbones) bird, also, since the symbol is in a little different spot, and what does the term “succeeds” mean?

    1. Thanks for typing out the power for your question–that’s always very helpful! :)

      Turkey Vulture is not a predator bird type, and “succeeds” means that when another predator’s ability results in that player gaining a benefit. For example, if a predator card says, “Reveal the top card of the deck. If its wingspan is less than 100cm, tuck it.” A “success” for such an ability would be if the card that player reveals is indeed less than 100cm, giving them the benefit of tucking it.

    1. No, the Black-Billed Magpie is not a predator bird. It triggers off successful predator actions, but it’s not a predator itself. A predator power is indicated by having the predator symbol before the power text (not within the power text).

  258. If all 3 habitats have 4 birds, how many points do I get for the bonus card “award 2 points per bird with the fewest habitat? Is it 24?

  259. I’m slightly confused about the bird powers. Once you have used the bird powers, can you continue to use them or can you only use them once in the round or whole game?

  260. I didn’t see it listed specifically in the appendix. For the Viticulturist, it says any bird that has the fruit symbol. Does that also include those that have the wild symbol as well?

  261. HI Jamey,

    You probably answered this when saying a player must accept a rat when given as part of the “roll for rats, if there is one give it to another player and lay 3 eggs on this bird”. Does the same apply to giving nectar to another player when invoking a brown power. I would assume it does and they must take it.

    Second question. Say I had a blue power that allows me to lay an egg on each bird in a row where none have eggs at the end of a round. If i have 5 birds in that row, can I choose to only lay four eggs knowing I will only use four eggs in the following round and want that row empty again?

    Cheers,
    Darren

    1. Yes, you are correct–they must accept it.

      If you choose to use a power like that, you must use the full power. So you would need to lay 5 eggs.

  262. Re American Oyster Catcher

    Question, after playing and drawing # of players plus one bird cards … are they selected face down , or does everyone get to see their powers as they are selected? …. i.e. passed face up.

  263. Between rounds, do we leave the food as it is in the birdhouse, or roll all the food for the beginning of the next round.

  264. playing automa, round 4, the automa action reads (End of the Round. For goal scoring, the Automa has base value from end-of-round scoring card plus any cues on goal tile. Flip current round tracker card so next round is visible. [isn’t the current road tracker card already pointing Round 4- if I rotate it, it shows Round 3. If I flip it one way, it shows round 1- what do I do??] Remove noted card from Automa deck and reshuffle. [what noted card??] Place end-of-round goal scoring card for next round [isn’t this already round 4?] beside goal tile. ….. thank you, I am confused!

    1. Hi Mark! There’s a lot going on with this question. Usually in a situation like this, when I’m learning a game (or a solo mode), I’ll watch a video to get some context. Here’s a good video walking through the solo rules:
      https://youtu.be/da_WraL8n2M

      Let me know if that clears up your confusion. :)

    2. Hey Mark. After End of the Round scoring in Round 4, the game is over. You ignore most of what you wrote here at that point. You probably missed the final sentence on the left side of of the last page of the Automa rules that say, “If you just completed scoring Round 4, skip to Game-End Scoring.” I hope that clears things up for you.
      Cheers,
      David

  265. Hi,

    I’m a bit confused about how to obtain more birds when running low on bird cards.

    Scenario: i’m only into my 3rd turn, but I have placed all my birds on the mat. Now I want to get more birds, but I don’t have any birds with the wetland habitat, so how do I get another bird? Am I done for the entire round until I get more birds at the next round?

    Thanks,

    1. Charles: You can actually use any of your turns to gain more bird cards by choosing the wetland habitat. You don’t automatically get any birds at the beginning of a new round.

      I’d recommend watching this video to help (I’ve timestamped it for information about gaining birds, but watching the entire video may be useful for you): https://youtu.be/lgDgcLI2B0U?t=623

  266. Dear Wingspan,

    My wife and I have just purchased the European Expansion, which is great, but we have two, hopefully, quick questions on the EE cards.

    1) With respect to the teal Round End power, does the Round End power apply only within the round in which the bird with this power is played, or does it apply in every remaining round after the bird is played? That is, if the bird is played in Round 2, does the Round End power apply at the end of Rounds 2, 3 and 4, or only at the end of Round 2?

    2) With the Hunting and Fishing Power on the Montagu’s Harrier, which allows it to be played on top of another bird on your player mat, the only listed habitat on the card is grassland. Does this mean that it can only be played on top of another grassland bird, or any bird in any habitat? The other three birds with this power all have all three habitats listed on their respective cards.

    As mentioned above, the EE is great. We also have the OE extension on order.

    Regards

    David Sheehan

    1. Thanks! The round-end powers trigger at the end of every round (so up to 4 times per game, depending on the round in which you played the bird).

      Montagu’s Harrier can only be played in the grassland.

  267. My set arrived with none of the bonus cards but with more than 170 bird cards. I bought mine on Amazon in India. Is there any way I can get the cards shipped or even a pdf I can have printed out?

    1. I’m sorry about that! If you fill out our replacement parts form, we can ship you your missing cards. It sounds like you’re just missing the bonus cards deck. For security reasons, we don’t release PDFs of our cards. I also ask that you provide a picture of the front cover of your game box and a picture of some components when you fill out your replacement parts request so we can confirm the authenticity of your copy. Thank you!

  268. Power: “The player with the fewest/least birds in … gains …”. I.e.: the player(s) have to have at least one bird!? If a player hasn’t got any birds in the habitat, he has none an not the fewest/least. A friend understood it the way, that the one with none has the fewest/least. Actually it’s more a logical or linguitic question, but it arose while playing. :-)

  269. Bird powers: do you have to activate all powers or is it possible to choose which powers you activate und which ones you don’t? I.o.w.: is it an all or nothing decision? I think it’s plausibel to say, you can choose to activate all or none or only the ones you want to use. Similar to real birds, where there is no imperative to activate an ability or power.

      1. Thanks! The question arose because the german rulework says something like “activate all/every brown ability in the row”. This is less accurate than the english rulework, which says to “activate any…” and even specifies that “Each power is optional”.

  270. Question regarding star (wild) nest
    When the bonus round comes can the same star nest be used to resolve two different types of nest (effectively using the card/nest) twice ?

    1. For clarification I meant at end of game
      When we resolve the bonus card
      We have two bonus cards each with a different type of nest
      Does the star nest count towards both objective cards

    1. Yes, it’s in the Wingspan Oceania FAQ: “If you don’t play with nectar, you can play with either version of the player mats, the original food dice, and any birds (except the 17 birds in Oceania that have nectar in their costs/abilities).”

  271. Can you explain how to interpret the goal tile 3 eggs in any habitat? Is this sets of 3 eggs in any habitat or each habitat must have a card with 3 eggs on it? Or is there a place to find the interpretation of each of the goal tiles? Thanks!

    1. Randolyn: Thanks for your question. The tiles are often explained in the appendix. I don’t have a visual on the tile (if you post in the Wingspan Facebook group, you can post photos), but if it says “3 eggs in any habitat,” those eggs can be anywhere in the habitat.

  272. We have been looking at the caching feature of one of the birds, specifically The Clark’s Nutcracker, and I believe there are more examples, but it says “Gain 1 (food source) from the bird feeder (if available). You may cache it on this card.” Does this mean you have the choice to keep the food in your inventory if you don’t choose to cache the food? Or does it mean you must cache the food if you choose to activate the bird’s action?

    1. Right, when it’s phrased that way, you gain the food to your personal supply, or you may instead cache it on the bird.

  273. We observed from the deck of player cards that 10 of those cards have small grey marks, one on the top right & one on the bottom left of the cards. What does that mean? Also, I don’t what/where or how to play an “Automubon” Society Card & how, if played, is that scored on the end-of-game tally sheet.

    1. Those are the swift-start cards–they are used to help teach the game using the corresponding guides included with the game (and then they can just be shuffled in with the other cards).

      Automubon is the solo mode–you can ignore it if you’re playing with other people.

  274. I’m looking at your other comments on star nests, so star nests count for all objectives? End of round goals, bonus cards, bird powers, anything and everything?!?

    1. Like even when it says specifically birds in ground nest, or eggs in ground nests. Star nest always count for all objectives involving nests?

  275. We have a lot of debates about the birds powers:

    1. Players with the fewest… What do you do if there’s a tie? Both draw or both not draw?

    2. Brown pelican. When played gain 3 fish but it costs 2 fish. Can you play it, get the 3 and use 2 right then to feed your bird (leaving you with 1 fish). Or do you have to wait till you save 2 fish to play (leaving you with the 3)

    3. Hunting and Fishing powers. Roll all dice not in bird feeder. Does that mean only these dice being re-rolled count? Or do all the dice already down count? So if a rat is already showing before you roll those outside the feeder, you know you will get one. We got in a similar argument on this power, the cards starts by saying: Roll all dice not in the bird feeder. I couldn’t reroll cause all 5 were already down and players argued that meant I couldn’t activate this power because I couldn’t reroll which was the first instruction. I argued it just meant reroll so you have a fair chance with all 5 die. I didn’t have to reroll anything, a rat was showing so I get one right?

    Also, can you hold on to eggs even if you don’t have a spot to play them or do you have to have a bird card down with capacity to play them? Like if you drew 3 eggs and only had a spot on bird cards for 2, can you hold one?

    I like this game but there are a few things open for interpretation when you first start playing and the rule book doesn’t specify. It gets a little exhausting debating a lot of the rules we get competitive so everyone wants to be right.

    1. 1. The cards like this say “players(s) with the fewest.” The “(s)” denotes that multiple people could have the fewest. They would all gain the benefit.

      2. No, you can’t get a “When Played” power before it’s played. You have to pay 2 fish to play the bird, and then activate its “When Played” power, which then gains you 3 fish from the supply.

      3. “Roll all dice not in the birdfeeder” always happens outside of the birdfeeder. Don’t roll these dice back into the birdfeeder. Knowing this will hopefully make this power less confusing. The dice inside the birdfeeder are not considered, only the dice you roll outside of the birdfeeder. And yes, if there are no dice outside the birdfeeder, this power has no dice to roll and can’t gain anything.

      4. No, eggs must be placed onto a nest with available space for those eggs. You can’t hold eggs to the side of your playermat.

      I’m always here to answer questions, but it may also help to take a look at a video like the following, just to give you some added context to what’s in the rulebook:
      https://youtu.be/lgDgcLI2B0U

      There’s also a great Wingspan Facebook Group if you’d like quicker answers:
      https://www.facebook.com/groups/wingspanboardgame

    1. There are some “predatory” bird powers (it’s a specific icon shown to the left of bird abilities) that involve an element of chance, like “Look at the top card of the deck. Tuck it if it’s less than 100 cm.” That ability “succeeds” if the bird revealed has a wingspan of less than 100 cm.

  276. What do I do if I have filled all the bird slots in a habitat but I want to play another bird in this habitat? Can I do that?

      1. If you’ve filled the 5 bird habitats and are using that final action column, do you have to give up eggs? (There is no egg cost above this column)

        1. There is no egg cost to activate the three habitats! The eggs above the columns are only noted for when you play a bird in the column, or in other words, when you lay down a new bird from your hand onto your player mat. That’s when you pay the egg costs shown above the columns.

  277. I have a question about the bird that “counts double” for end of round goals. Let’s say the goal is “birds with eggs”. Does that bird then count as 2 if it has eggs on it?

    1. Yes, that bird counts double if the end-round goal is counting birds. So “cup nest birds with eggs” is good. In that situation the bird would count as 2 instead of 1 (assuming it had any number of eggs on it and it has a cup nest). But if the end-round goal is counting eggs (or anything other than birds), like “eggs in wetlands,” then the bird’s power would not affect the end-round goal because it’s not counting birds, it’s counting eggs.

      1. Does it count double for end rounds goal : Bird cards in hand? For example if I have eurasian green woodpecker in my hand, does it count two cards?

        1. Unplayed birds do not have an ability, so if this card is in your hand, it does not count double toward the “cards in hand” end-of-round goal.

  278. Hi, my question is about how many times a specific card can be activated. When i play a bird card, let’s say in the third column of the grasslands on the board ( first column being the description of action and the title of grasslands) my understanding is that my action cube moves left onto the card next to it after I finish paying etc for the card I played. As the action cube moves left I can activate that next cards power if I choose to. My turn ends when I have moved all the way to the left. So, when I then play a bird in the NEXT column of that same row, the 4th column, do i then move my action cube to the left on EACH bird card again and activate each power again? Or does the action cube only move one column to the left, activate that specific card next to the card I just played, and then I am done with my turn? Thank you!

    1. Thanks Dana! When you play a bird, you place the action cube in the upper left corner of your player mat, and your turn ends afterwards. Playing a bird is its own action with no other activations. It’s only when you’re activating one of the three habitats that you move the token from right to left, triggering “when activated” abilities.

  279. How do you resolve this situation: If first column is filled, and you have no eggs to play how do you continue?

    1. There may be a misunderstanding here. You only pay eggs to play birds onto certain spaces of your player mat. You don’t pay eggs to activate one of the three basic habitats. So you can always activate the grasslands habitat and lay eggs without having to pay any eggs. I hope that helps!

      1. Please give us further clarification. What is the purpose/function of the eggs above the 3 habitats. If all three habitats contain birds and you use your egg to play a bird in the 2nd column, do you keep the egg or lose it?

        1. The eggs above the columns tell you how many eggs it costs to “Play a Bird” into those columns. In other words, how many eggs you need to discard (in addition to the required food) to take a bird from your hand and lay it down onto your player mat. If you haven’t watched it yet, check out this video for more detailed explanations of how to play Wingspan: https://youtu.be/lgDgcLI2B0

          But I also don’t mind answering questions here. :)

    1. It is possible if you use some spare cubes and a neoprene playmat for the 6th player. I wouldn’t recommend it, though–it’ll result in a pretty long game with downtime between turns.

  280. Hi, I was wondering what you would do if you run out of bird cards in your hand. Can you take more from the deck?

    1. Hi Lara! If you don’t have any cards, you’ll most likely activate your Wetlands to draw more cards.

  281. Hi… i have a gain food question: if I choose the food collection action,and place my action cube say on the left most space which has a graphic of only one die, but in the dice tray there are 2 worms showing, does the 1 die mean I choose only 1 worm, or does the die represent one type of food? meaning I can select both the worms and therefore collect 2 worms from the stash ?

    Thank you kindly!

    1. If your action only shows 1 die, then you will collect only 1 food. You’re selecting a die, not a type of food.

  282. Hi, When all five habitat spots are filled, can you still take the action that is in the margin on the right hand side? For example, all of the five spots in the grassland are filled with bird cards but I need eggs. Can I use my turn to get five eggs or can I only get one egg at a time, exchanging one food for one egg during my turn?

    1. Definitely! That’s what those icons are on the far right of the board (visible even if you’ve filled in a habitat with cards). :)

    2. Awesome. That means I can use that turn to get a total of six eggs: Five plus the option of trading a food for one bonus egg.

  283. Hello, we play wingspan every week (it’s quite a serious game in this house haha) and the latest contention was regarding the bird power “person with the fewest bids in the forest habitat gets a “. Would this count players with no birds in the forest? The person with no birds said it did, but the other players said much as with the round ends, you have to have at least one bird to be included. Which one of us is right?

    Also, a couple more questions:

    1. can you use nectar to buy eggs or are they solely to be used as wildcard food/to buy more cards?

    2. can you choose/use nectar wherever there is a 5 colour food wheel?

    3. Following on from point 2, some cards say tray and some say deck. We had been playing that unless the card explictly says tray, we must take from the deck, is this correct?

    p.s. it’s a superb game and I can’t wait for the 3rd expansion.

    1. A person with 0 birds in their wetlands would have the fewest birds. I understand the debate, but that’s the official answer.

      1. The extra actions on the player mats show a “pinwheel” any-food icon. This icon always includes nectar.
      2. See above.
      3. If it doesn’t say “tray” or “deck” specifically, you have the option of both.

      Hopefully that answers your questions! :)

    2. Question regarding star (wild) nest
      When the bonus round comes can the same star nest be used to resolve two different types of nest (effectively using the card/nest) twice ?

  284. Good Day. In the Digital version of Wingspan, how many completed games can be stored in the Preserve Archive. Thanks

  285. If a bird power says “place an egg an all birds with a bowl nest” would this include a bird with a star nest? Or is it specific to ONLY the birds with that best?

  286. How many times do I reroll the dice when they are all the some? I am asking because when there is only 1 you could technically keep rerolling it until what you want comes up. Does the reroll happen only once?

    1. You reroll all dice whenever you reroll. So, say there are 3 identical dice in the birdfeeder and 2 outside of the birdfeeder. If you decide to reroll, you must reroll all 5 dice.

  287. Hello I was reviewing the cards in the Oceana Expansion and noticed on the Wedge Tailed Eagle the condition set to tuck the card using predatory power seems reversed it says bird must have wingspan >65cm I checked all my other predators from base and European expansion and the condition was always < X cm
    Is this a misprint or a change in hunting habit?
    Thank you for producing such a beautiful and fun game

    1. >65cm is correct! As the flavor text of the Wedge-tailed Eagle states, “These eagles can take large prey, including possums, kangaroos, and wallabies.”

  288. i have 2 bonus cards: birds with “ground” nests and birds with “platform” nests. can star nest birds i have payed count towards both of the bonus cards, or must i pick which nest (“ground” or “platform”) they will represent? i was always under the impression that each bird could only count for one nest, but someone i recently played with disagrees.

    1. Yes, bird cards can count for multiple bonus cards, which means a single star nest can count towards multiple bonus cards looking for nests.

  289. Some birds have the brown power stating that: WHEN ACTIVATED: tuck a card from your hand behind this bird. If you do, draw 1 card. Can that card be drawn from the face-up cards on the bird tray, or just from the deck?

  290. Some bird cards say “may cache (food) on this card”. Others direct you to cache the food on that card. What is the difference?

    1. The ones that say “may” say something to the effect of “Gain 1 food. You may cache it on this bird.” That means you could either keep the food in your supply to be spent later or cache the food on the bird for points later (remember, you can’t spend food once it’s cached). The birds that don’t say “may” don’t give you a choice; you must cache the food on the bird.

  291. Just tried playing with 5 new players for the first time. I realized there are only 4 new player guides and the corresponding 10 bird cards. Am I missing a player guide and bird cards or is it assumed the fifth player would be a skilled player?

    1. Thanks Jaime! You have the correct number of guides. There are 4 guides instead of 5 because one person needs to know all of the rules of the game (not necessarily skilled at playing yet, though).

  292. Stuck with no eggs, and first column is filled up, so I can’t lay eggs to get any eggs to use to play a bird (or do anything anywhere!)

    Does this mean you need to lay lots of eggs without playing a card in that row before filling up lay egg column 1?

    1. Hi Jeff! You may be under the mistaken impression that you need to pay eggs to take actions. The egg cost (shown above the columns) is only for playing birds in that column. In other words, only for laying new birds onto your player mat. It never costs eggs to activate a basic action. Does that help?

  293. Hello,

    I have a question about the birdfeeder.

    I was playing Wingspan and used my cube to gain food. Because I had developed my habitat, I was entitled to gain three food.

    QUESTION ONE: As there was only a single die in the feeder, I re-rolled. However all 5 dice came back with the same face: there were all rats.

    Am I entitled to immediately re-roll my re-roll? Or do I have to accept the 5 rats? Or do I only re-roll after taking a dice?

    QUESTION TWO: If gain 3 food as an action and there are only two unique dice in the birdfeeder… what do I do? Do I take the two and re-roll for the third? Or re-roll before taking any dice?

    1. Question One: Wow! That’s rare. But yes, you can reroll if all the faces are the same, even twice in a row.

      Question Two: Take each of your 3 food individually. So with two dice in the feeder (assuming they’re different and can’t reroll), you can take one food, then decide if you want to reroll the final die (there’s only one face showing in the birdfeeder) or take the final die. If you choose to take the last die, you reroll all of the dice. Whenever the birdfeeder is empty, you always reroll the dice immediately, so in your situation, you can then take your third die from a fresh reroll. In other words, you can always take all the food you’re allowed to (all 3 food).

  294. Hello. If a bird’s power has already been activated, is it activated again when a subsequent bird is played in that row? Or is each bird’s power activated only once?

    1. George: Every time you activate a row of cards (e.g., if you select the “gain food” action and have a few cards in that row), you may activate each bird with a “when activated” ability (a brown ability). This is different than “when played” abilities, which you only gain once (at the moment when you play the card onto your mat).

  295. Hi, I’ve just tried to download the Appendix from the Dropbox but both times I’ve downloaded the complete PDF file, Adobe Acrobat refuses to open it, saying it’s damaged or incomplete. And when I try to view it in the browser, i.e. within the Dropbox viewer, the bottom chunk of each page is missing… So I can’t look up what I wanted to know, because that particular end of round goal is cut off and not visible.
    Thanks
    Louise

    1. sorry, third time lucky, tried again and the download worked properly this time, so ignore the above comment. thanks.

  296. Firstly, fantastic game, really great to play, and it is so beautifully made and presented.

    Apologies if this question is answered somewhere above, but my rule question is that if you activate a bird card power that allows the bird to change habitats if the bird card is the right-most card in a particular habitat, after changing the card to another habitat, do you continue to move your player cube left along the original habitat row, or the habitat row where you have moved your card to?

    Couldn’t work this out from the rulebook, and the correct method of play has a bearing on what other activation powers are potentially activated as part of a turn.

    Any assistance/insights that you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

    1. Because on your turn you choose a habitat and move the token from right to left in that habitat, you cannot change the habitat mid-turn. So the cube stays in the habitat you originally selected.

  297. Question: If power card says, for example, that you can pay a grain to get an egg, but you don’t have a grain, can you use 2 of other foods to use that for the grain? Thanks.

  298. My wife and daughter and I just finished our first game of Wingspan and enjoyed it a lot. We do have one question, though: The rules say that each player gets “5 random bird cards” to start the game. Then step B says “Keep up to 5 bird cards and discard the others.” Does this mean “discard any bird cards you don’t want, but you may keep all five”, or should we be getting more than 5 to start with so that we could keep 5 and “discard the rest”?

    1. I’m glad you enjoyed the game! Each player starts with 5 cards and 5 food (one of each kind of food). Of those 10 things, you’ll discard down to 5 things. So you could keep 2 cards and 3 food, or 4 cards and 1 food, or 5 cards and 0 food (you get the idea).

  299. Would you ever consider using symbols on bird cards that are related to the Cartographer, Anatomist and Photographer bonus cards (possibly even the Historian bonus card too?) As the list of adjectives keeps increasing for each new expansion added, I thought it might be helpful having symbols on the appropriate cards that indicate they are eligible for a specific Bonus card. For example an icon of a globe for the Cartographer Bonus card or an icon of a camera/ paint brush for the Photographer Bonus card. This could also help new players to the games, younger players and players of other languages identify these Bonus cards. It would also make the game simpler and faster as you would no longer be required to remember long lists of specific words. Perhaps the release of similar stickers for those who already have the games?

    Thank you for the incredible gaming experience this board game continues to provide to so many.
    Warmest regards.

  300. Can you play a sixth bird card in a habitat if the fifth card you play tells you to play an additional bird card in the same habitat?

    1. No, there’s no place to play a 6th bird–all of the places to play birds are on your player mat.

      1. Hello!

        Thank you for putting out a nice and friendly game that also works. It just feels nice.
        I usually play things like This war of Mine or Robinson Crusoe but this is a welcome change of pace.

        As such, I am used with looking up rules and whatnot.
        I’ve been through all of the 900+ questions and answers here and I still have need for a few (imo,an answer to this should address everything forever)
        Thank you for answering the same questions time and time again.

        I own the base game and plan on buying European today so I wanted to have everything cleared out before we introduce anything new.

        I’ve played a few dozen games of Wingspan as of yet.

        From what I can gather, the three most difficult to understand are the
        cartographer, anatomist and photographer bonus cards

        I’d say that this is due to the different translations.

        (long post coming up, thanks in advance)

        I’d suggest compiling a list with the LATIN names of the birds so that everyone understands correctly, regardless of language.

        Now, I’ve went through every bird objective and rule in the base game and came up with the following questions:

        1.
        There are 25+ birds that clearly count for both anatomist and color (red wing, black eyes,red shoulder, white belly, white crown, brown head, etc. ).

        Is it correct that these would count for both bonuses?

        2.
        There are 10+ that clearly count for cartographer and photographer (east blue bird, mountain blue bird, golden nordic bird, American white bird, etc.)
        Same question as above.

        3. Does “Mexican” count for cartographer?
        (haemorhous Mexicanus)?
        Does “forest”? (aix sponsa)
        Does “Jamaican” (oxyura jamaicensis)
        Does “traveling”? (falco peregrines)
        “corvus cryptoleucus”?
        “spinus pinus”?
        “chaetura pelagica”?
        This can go on with birds Containing words such as “shore, gravel, den etc”

        4.
        Do things like “stained, striped, painted, bicolored, crested” count for color?
        Examples: strix occidentalis, pipilo maculatus, podilymbus podiceps, strix varia and it could go on.
        Specific birds here: “egretta thula, ardea alba, tyto alba” – – – yes or no will do for these three

        5.
        Do things like “hooded, scaled/scaly, horned, tassel, cockade, mane, with ears, with stilts count for anatomist?

        6.
        Five birds that need specific yes or no answers:

        ” passerina caerulea” – – – anatomist?
        “buteo regalis” – – – photographer? (rusty in name)

        “chlidonias Niger” – – – photographer? (Black Sea in name)

        “bucephala islandica” – – – historian+photo+anatomist? (it would translate as “Barrow’s golden-eyed duck”)

        “anhinga anhinga” – – – anatomist? (it literally translates as “snake-neck”)

        I have a Romanian localized copy.

        This would cover most of “what bird qualifies for what”

        7.
        Food/alimentary expert – – – it says that birds that eat only invertebrates.

        As such, not the ones that eat invertebrates/grain/cherry. Right?

        8.
        Sets of three eggs in habitat objective.

        Do these need to be grouped on the same bird or just divide the total in the habitat by three and that’s how many sets you have?

        And finally (sorry for putting you through this), Three more bird powers:

        Once Between turns gain a fish/invertebrate
        – once for every other player, right? Not once until it is my turn again and it “resets”, right?

        Play a second bird in habitat x or y.
        -always the same place as the first one, right?
        -ex: can’t play a forest one and the second in the prairie. Or even better, play in forest and the second one in the water because it also lives in the forest. (happened, got mad)

        Last power:

        Throw all dies not in tray to gain fish.
        Throw these back into the tray or randomly on the table and leave them there?

        Thank you in advance for your answers!

        Partial answers will do also, thank you once more”

        1. Hi Filip! Most of your questions can be answered in this way: The words that count for Anatomist, Cartographer, and Photographer are all listed on the bonus cards themselves or in the expansion rulebook. It’s that simple. No other words count (and these cards never look at the latin names of the birds). Other language editions handle these bonus cards differently, so I can only speak for the English version of the game. Please check the rulebook for other languages if you’re playing Wingspan published in a different language.

          And yes, there may be birds that count for multiple bonus cards.

          8. Sets of eggs in habitat objective: The eggs do not need to be grouped, nor does the column affect anything. Another way of looking at this: count all the eggs in each habitat. The number of eggs in the habitat with the fewest eggs is the number of sets you have.

          Once Between Turns: This is literally once between each of your turns. That means it can only be activated once until your next turn. Not, as you say, “once for every other player.” That’s incorrect.

          Play a second bird: In the same habitat, correct.

          Roll all the dice not in the bird feeder (predator power): Roll these dice outside the tray.

  301. For the black shouldered kite, can the player who I’m giving the rat to deny the rat so I don’t get eggs?

  302. Hello! First of all thank you for this amazing game ! And could you please help understand one of the rules?

    WHEN ACTIVATED: Roll all dice not in birdfeeder. If any are mice, gain 1 mice and cache it on this card.

    – when says “if any” does it mean the dice that you’ve just rolled on the table or any dice including ones that are in bird feeder too? Because if there are 2-3 dice left in the bird feeder and there is one with mice can I use that or I can. Goose only from those on the table by rolling them on the table.

    I would appreciate the feedback! Thank you!

    1. Alina: Thanks for your question! For that ability, you’re only looking at the dice you rolled with that ability. So if there are 2 dice not in the birdfeeder when you activate this ability, you’ll roll those 2 dice, and if either of them have a rodent on them, you gain 1 mouse and cache it.

      1. Thank you for your answer! You meant the dice that are not in the bird feeder right ? Because those need to be rolled for this

          1. Do you roll the dice into the bird feeder or roll them and leave them on the table. We have been rolling them into the bird feeder and taking out the mouse if it comes up.

        1. Hi for the American restart card do u actually take the dice out if the bird feeder after using the ability of the card?

  303. I think I have seen answer but can not find it. Do you have to lay an egg if you have room for it on a bird? This came up because it was detrimental to lay an egg on a bird because of the teal card lay an egg on all birds in a row with no eggs.

    1. I don’t have that bird in front of me, but it’s the directly of the beak. You can post a photo in the Wingspan Facebook group if you’d like.

      1. At the end of board if you fill up all five slots with cards you can get extra food and or eggs- it says one card can be traded for one food. Can you do multiple cards and get multiple foods? Sale for lay eggs- one good you can get one egg. Can you use three food to get three eggs

          1. Wow quick Reply thank you so much. I see that my voice text didn’t translate all my words correctly but you got the point. We currently have the European expansion thinking about the next expansion… What are your thoughts? What do you do with the old game boards when you get the new expansion

          2. I’m the publisher, so of course I recommend every expansion. :) Please keep both player mats if you get it, as the original player mats are needed for future expansions.

  304. In Wingspan, the Breeding Manager Bonus Card is unclear. Do we get 1 point for each bird with 4 eggs printed on the card and played on our board or to get 1 point we have to lay the 4 eggs on this bird card.

    1. Here’s how it’s explained in the appendix: “Count only bird cards that have 4 egg tokens sitting on them at game end.”

      1. thank you because the french appendix is not clear it say’s: Oiseaux ayant au moins 4 œufs sur eux. They should said Lay on them.

  305. There’s and End-of-Round Goal in the Oceania Expansion pack that says “Beaks Pointing Right.” Which direction does the Eastern Screech-Owl’s beak point?

  306. Hello,
    We are completely baffled by the bonus cards. We’ve looked at the appendix book, videos and searched on the web but can’t figure out what the icons mean on the bonus cards, when they are used, how they are used.
    Can someone write how a bonus card is used and what the icons mean, please? Thank you.
    Wendy

    1. Hi Wendy! I have a feeling you’re looking at something other than Bonus Cards, which have a green back and on the front they have descriptions of how to score extra points. You might be looking at cards for the Automa (single player) game? Perhaps if you describe the cards, I can help.

      1. Hi Joe. Thank you for figuring out our problem and for replying so quickly! We looked at the cards tonight. When we opened the box, we thought that the blue goal board would mean using the blue bonus cards but the blue bonus cards must be for the automa game – well-spotted :-) .
        btw, when I clicked the link in the email to reply to this message, it came up with a 403 Forbidden page. Might be a Hotmail issue.
        My partner is a keen twitcher so we’re very much looking to get into this game and as we’re in Australia, will go for the Oceania expansion box when we’re ready.

    1. As far as I can recall, the Falconer is looking for predator icons, right? Does the Black-Billed Magpie have a predator icon?

    2. No, it’s not a predator bird itself. Look for the icon before the bird power to know which birds are predator birds.

  307. i have a question regarding a bonus card from the Oceanic expansion pack. For data analyst cards where you need consecutive birds with ascending or descending wingspan, are you allowed to get 6 points by having both ascending and descending wingspans of 3 cards, using the middle card twice? For instance my row of 5 cards could be, 30, 60, 90, 60, 30.

  308. My spouse and I love the game and especially the expansion packs. Thank you! It’s been a godsend during our frequent quarantine periods.

    We have a question about the Plains-Wanderer. Its when-played power is, “Draw 1 bonus card for each bird in your [grassland]…”

    How, exactly, should you count the number of birds in the grassland? I contend that the Plains-Wanderer itself should be included as it has been played. My spouse says the Plains-Wanderer shouldn’t be included as the instructions don’t include the phrase, “…including this one.”

    I searched the FB group, but could not find this question answered directly, although I found a few mentions of the Plains-Wanderer that suggest people include it in the count of grassland birds when exercising its power.

    By the way, I was inspired by your game to donate to Plains-Wanderer conservation!

    1. Thanks Robert! The bird count includes the Plains-Wanderer. Otherwise it would say, “…each other bird”. And that’s very generous of you to donate to the conservation!

      1. Hi Jamey! Thanks for your quick reply. We can’t wait until you release the next continent!

  309. If you have a “if this bird is to the right” bird and then to the left of it a “repeat a brown power bird” Can the repeat a brown power repeat that power and move?

    1. If you activate an “if this bird is to the right” bird and move it, then the “repeat” bird no longer has that card to look at because it moved from that habitat. Also, a “repeat” bird doesn’t copy a power for itself, it simply allows another bird to activate its power again.

          1. No, it’s just 1 VP for being on the bird as cached food. It’s only spent nectar that would go to that habitat.

  310. Many of your partners sell the swift start pack in their language separately, but 999games doesn’t. Why is that?
    I know you probably can’t help with this, but it’s really sad I can’t collect these cards for this awesome game in the language my children understand, and can’t introduce the game to new players in an easy way, simply because I have an older print. I hope 999games won’t act this way when/if you release promo packs.

        1. I’ve now confirmed that as long as 999 Games has spare parts for the swift-start pack, if you contact their customer service directly, they will offer it to you. If they say otherwise, please forward the email correspondence to jamey@stonemaiergames.com

          1. Thank you so much for your help, it worked! I just received an email that I have the opportunity to buy it. Good thing, because now I don’t have to play “captain” anymore when introducing the game :) Thanks again!

  311. Hi
    If I am going through the grassland to gain eggs, where it says discard a wild food or card to gain another egg, can I use nectar and if I do, does it go to spent nectar pile

    Thanks

    1. I double-checked the Oceania rulebook to make sure, but yes, that’s what the rulebook is referring to as “upgrade an action.” If you use nectar for that purpose, put it the nectar token on the left of the grassland habitant (it counts as spent nectar in that habitat).

  312. I have a question involving the Bluethroat. Its text reads: “When activated: Choose a food type. All players gain 1 of that food from the supply.” Does that include nectar as a food type?

  313. I have the Forster’s Tern and the Common Chiffchaff in the water. Can I tuck all my cards and not have to discard a card for the Forster’s Tern?

    1. Yes, the Forster’s Tern says to discard from your hand, and since you could have no cards in your hand, especially after activating the Common Chiffchaff, you can avoid discarding by having no cards in your hand.

  314. Regarding the greylag goose and the end of round tiles, “birds in one row” and “ground nest birds with eggs” ; if the goose has one egg on it does it count as two birds for the latter tile and also as two birds for the former (so that you could potentially score 6 birds in that row)?
    Sorry I’m sure this is something you’ve covered before

    1. The Greylag Goose only counts double for end-of-round goals that count birds. “Birds in one row” and “ground nest birds with eggs” both count birds, so it would count double. An example of a goal that would not count is “eggs in wetland,” because that’s counting eggs, not birds.

  315. Hi Guys,

    I just want to start off by saying that I absolutely love this game. I am an avid board gamer, and I have been waiting for a bird-themed (bird-watching) type of game for a long time. I really enjoy how the game puts you into the field and you feel like a bird watcher during the Big Year tracking the maigrations of all the birds. I am originally from Florida, and my home in Central Florida is a major bird sanctuary. I would often go with my field guide and binoculars and search for new species to record in my birding diary. I always get really excited when I draw a bird card and it turns out to be a bird I have seen up close in the wild.

    Now I live an work in China, and there are some interesting birds here, but there doesn’t seem to be as much of a variety of birds as in North America. I also don’t have a wide circle of friends who enjoy board gaming as much as I do, so I really appreciate the Automa. I only beat the Automa twice, but it is a good challenge and I never get bored trying to find ways to outwit the Automa. It literally feels like I am playing an AI player.

    I also really appreciate the beautiful artwork on the cards. They are scientifically accurate and detailed, and reminds me of the work of Roger Tory Petersen, who I was lucky enough to meet one day at the Midwest Birder’s Convention. He actually inspired me to be the artist I am today, and gave me advice I am still using to this day.

    Again, thank you so much for making such a wonderful game. I am eagerly awaiting the new expansions and anxious to see what new and wonderful species there will be in otherr parts of the world.

    1. Thanks so much for your note, Neil! The designer of Wingspan, Elizabeth Hargrave, is from Florida as well. I’ll pass on your thoughts to the Automa team too. :)

      1. Hi Automa Team,
        I had a question because I play Solo a lot and I am always playing against the Automa. When a bird has a Brown Power that lets them steal a food from another player, could I steal that food from the Automa if I use the Automa’s Hoard Variant mode? Otherwise there is no way I can steal food from the Automa because it does not actually gain or accumulate food to be able to steal it. I have been playing it this way, and it doesn’t really effect the game that much as the Automa still manages to beat me more often than not. Thanks in advance for your help.

        1. Hi Neil,
          Automa’s Hoard doesn’t have a rule to accomodate ‘steal’ brown powers. These are unique to the European expansion (there are only 4 of these cards) and you follow the same rule listed in that rulebook:
          “Steal powers—Some of the bird powers allow you to “steal” from another
          player. When you activate this type of power, you can only “steal” from the
          Automa if it has any cubes on this round’s goal tile (do not remove any of the
          cubes). Otherwise, you gain nothing from activating it. Anything you gain
          comes from the supply and as usual, the Automa gains nothing.”
          Cheers,
          David

          1. Hi David,
            Okay. That makes a lot more sense now. Thank you for clarifying that for me. I will try it that way and see how it goes. And I should probably stop stealing food from the Automa’s Hoard, otherwise it wouldn’t seem very fair in the long term. You guys are great, thanks so much for the replies.

  316. Hello!

    My local game store has a version with SKU:STM910 and the code left of the panda icon is SL 20038.

    Could you please tell me if this is an old version of the game or if this is an ok newest version with no issues?

    Thanks in advance

    1. Hi Chris! All versions with “STM910” are the most recent version. It’s very unlikely that anyone would run into those oldest printings nowadays.

      1. Amazon AU has the first edition for sale with STM900 on the box. Thanks for this info so I know not to buy that one!

  317. Hi! Question on the korimako – for discarding rodents, do they have to be from your supply, or if you have cached rodents on a card, can you use those?

    1. Allison: I don’t have the Korimako card in front of me, but I’m guessing it asks you to spend a rodent to gain a benefit? If so, it’s from your food supply. You can only spend cached food if a card specifically refers to cached food. Otherwise they’re just points.

  318. Hi and thanks for a great game!
    We need some clarification of the situation where a Tūi (or similar) copies the power of a Coal tit (or similar). What happens with the Coal tit’s ability to spend seed cached on it (from any source); is it also copied? And if so, to what extent?
    Is it..
    a. The tūi gets to cache seed but doesn’t copy the ability to spend any seed cached on it?
    b. The tūi gets to cache seed and you can spend seed cached on the tūi with some limitation (eg. can only spend seed cached on it by using this copied power, but not those cached from other sources – or, only until it copies another bird power)?
    c. The tūi gets to cache seed and aquires the ability to spend any seed cached on it, for the rest of the game?

    (if the answer is b. then which limitation applies?)
    Thanks in advance.

    1. On the turn when the Tui copies the Coal Tit’s power, the Tui gets to cache seed and can spend seed cached on the Tui. After you’re done activating the Tui’s power, it retains any cached food and loses the ability to spend it. Of course, on a future turn you can use the Tui’s power again, and then the same answer applies.

  319. I probably already know the answer but I still have a bit of an error about the ‘end of game ability’s’ on birdcards. Is it really so that you first score the round 4 goal and then you activate the ‘end of game ability’ on your birdcard? Is doesn’t make sense to me because then those cards are worth nothing for the round 4 goal. I know it kinda says it at the end of round checklist card but I was still not completely sure if that is what is means. Hope you can clarify!

    1. The order on the tile is correct. The purpose of end-game abilities is that they matter at the end of the game (after the rounds are over)–otherwise they’d be during-game abilities. :)

  320. Is the Galah supposed to be so powerful? I’ve played with that card, and while I think it’s great, it just seems a bit too good.

  321. “Can you discard birds from your player mat?”
    Is it possible for a future expansion to have a mechanic that discards birds from your player mat?

  322. Hello. I am playing the Automa and have played the Black-Shouldered Kite from the Oceania expansion. When I activate the bird, I can reset the birdfeeder, gain a rodent food token if present, and then have the option to give to another player to lay up to three eggs on the Kite.

    I think the new Oceania Automa rules may be sidetracking me as I’m not “checking” if I am giving a token away. So would the base game rule of Brown Powers be the consideration of the Automa gains nothing and I can gain three eggs? It felt a little powerful to me, but the Automa also had cubes on the round goal tile so I just played it as the Oceania rule.

    First triple digit score of 100 even!

    1. Unless you’re playing with the Automa Hoard variant, the Automa could gain nothing from your card, so you don’t have the option of laying the 3 eggs. The base game’s Automa rules apply: “The Automa does not participate in any brown powers you trigger during your turn.” But if you’re playing with the Automa Hoard variant, you are able to give the Automa the rodent (gaining a hoard token) in exchange for you laying eggs.

      1. Joe answered this exactly as I was going to. Thanks, Joe. I agree this one feels very strong when playing Automa’s Hoard. Enjoy!

          1. When playing the Kea, do you get to keep the original bonus card you draw no matter what, and then have a separate choice to draw additional bonus cards (by discarding food) and keep one of those cards as well – thus keeping two bonuses? Or do you only get to keep one of ALL bonus cards you draw on that entire turn? Thanks!

          2. Im sorry, but I’m away from my copy of the expansion. I can help if you type out the text on the Kea, though!

          3. The text on the Kea says, “WHEN PLAYED: Draw 1 bonus card. You may discard any number of [wild food symbol] to draw that many additional bonus cards. Keep 1 of the cards you drew and discard the rest.”

  323. Hello. The European and Oceania expansion icons on the cards are not immediately distinguishable if performing a quick separation of the decks. As more expansions get released, if the same pattern is used then I can see the possibility of separation becoming more tedious than it needs to be. Has there been any discussion of using a different shape or a color to help with distinguishing the expansions? The size is fine if shape or color were altered. If it remains a small circle with two letters on the inside, then I’m not sure the font will vary enough to readily recognize which set the card is from. If “E” is going to be the second letter for every expansion, then it is redundant and having a single letter slightly larger in the orb would stand out more.

    Or was the intent to use the world map as well? Although, this can bleed over based on the migration patterns of the birds.

    Some hardcore Wingspan gamers will remember which expansion each card comes from, but my aging memory and eyes are not as adaptable. :)

    Great game and had a lot of fun with it this weekend!

    1. Thanks for the feedback! I agree with you, and I have discussed this with our graphic designer. We’ll be using a different shape (and perhaps color) for each future expansion, still to be found at the bottom right of each card.

  324. I assume the wild card food token means that the bird eats any type of food (including for example, rodents). So, for the Rodentologist bonus would this include not only any bird with a rodent food token symbol, but also any bird with a wild food token symbol? Or is this logic over-ruled by the stipulation that it must have a rodent food token symbol?

    1. For bonus cards like the Rodentologist, the only applicable birds are those with a rodent icon in the printed bird cost.

  325. regarding end of round (blue) powers and nectar; if i have a round end that is to play another bird if conditions are met, may I use nectar to pay it’s food cost? i know that nectar is discarded upon round end, but does that technically happen before i resolve end of round powers?

    1. Eli: Great question! Just follow the order of operations on the reference tile in Oceania. It will tell you when you need to discard nectar, so you can continue to spend nectar up until that step.

  326. Hey so we just got the new Oceania Expansion, it is awesome! However we already had our first argument. On the end of round goal “Cubes on Play a bird”, does a bird played during that round that counts as double towards end of round goal count as another cube?

    1. Good question…I don’t think so, as you’re looking at the cubes, not the bird. But feel free to post in the Wingspan FB group to see if others disagree! :)

    2. Hi Tobias! The birds that “count double for end of round goals” only count double if that goal is counting birds. So if the end of round goal is “Cubes on Play a Bird,” you’re counting cubes, and so the bird’s power doesn’t affect anything.

      1. Thanks your speedy response and the answer to my question. Love y’all’s games and will continue to be a loyal customer !!

  327. In the OE addition with the bonus card Site Selection Expert , how do you score the Brown headed Cowbird? It does not have a nest on the card, but in real life the bird lays eggs in other birds’ nests so we have a debate going as to if this would qualify as star nest ability in the new expansion. Does it just not count or get counted as a wild?

  328. Hello,

    I’m playing the Portuguese version of these awesome game and having some questions about the food replacement:

    1) For example, during my own turn, if I chose the option to grab two dices and there is only two dices available in the food tower, should I pick them both or can I chose just to pick one of them and throw again all the five dices before chose de second one (since when I chose de first one there will be left just one food option).

    2) In the end of a round should we throw back all the 5 food dices or should we start the next round with the food that are still available on the feeder.

    1. Thanks for your questions!

      1. You choose 1 die at a time, so yes, you would just choose 1 and then either choose the other or reroll all 5 dice (because with only 1 die in the birdfeeder, all dice are the same face, allowing a reroll).

      2. Just follow the end-of-round steps, which do not including rerolling dice. The dice stay the same as they were at the end of the previous round.

  329. i feel silly asking, but there is a specific reason the oceania rules state to replace all 5 food dice from the base game with the 5 new dice? if there is none, would it be alright to use all 10 or any number of them?

    1. Thanks for your question, Eli! There is a particular reason! This is how the expansion was designed and tested. You’re always welcome to play in a different way, but adding more dice will change the balance of food available, among other ramifications. The new dice in the Oceania expansion introduce nectar, so that’s why they replace the old dice.

  330. When placing a card on the board, do I move the cube step by step to the left, granting me the option to place more than one card per turn, or do I move my cube all the way to the left directly after placing my card?

    1. To play a bird card, you place your cube at the very upper left of the mat where it says “play a bird”. You then pay the cost (food and eggs), place the bird card, and your turn is over. There is no cube moving when you use your turn to play a bird.

  331. We are having a house debate. When a bird’s brown power is “draw bird cards” whether that be a tuck one draw one or pay an egg to draw two or any other combination of drawing cards, are you supposed to draw cards from the top of the deck or can you select from the face up?

    1. Unless a card specifically refers to drawing from the face-up bird cards or the deck, you have the choice between the two.

  332. For bonus cards such as Cartographer, do you get one point for each card in the category, or must you have at least 2 to gain 3 points, and at least 4 to gain 7 points?

  333. Imagine I am playing Wingspan (no expansions) and have already placed a bird (Stellar Jay) in the first forest space. On a later turn I play another bird (Ruby-Crowned Kinglet) in the second forest space spending a seed and an egg to do so. Using the Kinglet’s white power (Play a second bird in your [specific habitat]. Pay its normal cost) I play another bird (Hooded Warbler) into the third forest space. I know I would have to pay two invertebrates for the warbler, but since I already paid an egg to place the Kinglet would I have to pay a second egg to place the Warbler even though I already paid an egg this turn?

    1. Yes, the normal cost for a bird placed in the third column includes 1 egg, so you must pay 1 egg (and the food cost on the Hooded Warbler).

  334. I think the Swedish translation of the rules is quite bad. I can never play the game because everyone else is just discussing the rules,

    For example the rules say “throw back all 5 dices into the bird feeder” Dad claims that only the dices that are outside the bird feeder should be thrown back because else you are not actually throwing the dices BACK. Mom thinks that all dices should be thrown back since it says “all 5”.

    We also don’t know if the “once betweene turns” birds can be activated only once during the whole game or once between each of your turns.

    1. Hi Hilda! I’m sorry about the translation issues. That’s completely handled by the Swedish publisher. But to answer your questions, if you’re ever instructed to re-roll the dice, you re-roll all 5 dice. And the pink “once between turns” powers can be activated once between your turns. That means every time it’s your turn again, it potentially “resets” to be activated again after your turn. They can be activated many times throughout the game. Hope that helps!

      1. “Once between turns” is confusing – and grammatically incorrect – even in English. As written, a player should only activate that card ONCE, but must do so between their turns as opposed to during their turn.

  335. If we have the required food and eggs, can we play a bird directly from the tray or does it have to be in our hand first? I was looking for this in the rulebook but I guess I could have overlooked it.

  336. The Base Game Appendix PDF seems to be missing the diet related Bonus Cards, maybe there is a problem at the bottom of page 4?

    1. Lindsay: We didn’t note every card in the rulebook, as some of the cards don’t need explanations beyond the text printed on the cards themselves.

      1. Ok. Thanks for the explanation. I tend to count things to make sure I’ve got, and understand, all the components, and I noticed that there were 26 Bonus cards but only 20 explanations, so I thought I would check. Cheers!

  337. Hi,
    Does it matter that the food dice in both the base game and the Oceania expansion are anything but perfect cubes? For example, at least one of the dice in my copy of the Oceania expansion is about 1mm taller than it should be when sitting on a particular side. The effect on roll results is probably minimal but with everything else being such good quality, the dice being so irregular really bugs me.
    Thanks,
    Pete

    1. Hi Peter! No, I don’t think it should affect anything noticeable, but if you detect a problem, feel free to fill out our replacement parts form.

  338. Hello! I love the Oceania expansion! But I just got crushed by my wife who had the Galan bird. I need clarification on its power. It says to reset the birdfeeder and if there is wheat for the other player to gain it. Then the player rolling tucks 2 cards from the deck behind their Galan bird. My question is simple. What if the player not rolling doesn’t get to collect that wheat? Does the player rolling still get to tuck the two cards? I need help with this because I just lost 135-90 primarily because of that one bird! Lol Thank you!

    1. Hi Mark! As you’ll see on the Galah’s power, the two statements are not connected. One person collects food, if available. The other person tucks cards, regardless of the outcome of the first effect.

    1. Here’s what the Oceania rulebook says about the new actions available on the player mats:

      “In columns 2 and 4 of the new player mat, there is a new option in the forest and wetland rows. Use the actions on each space in the order they are printed: Reset if you are going to, then take food or cards.”

  339. I’m wondering about end-of-game nectar scoring in two-player games. I assume that most nectar in a habitat still gives 5p and the other player gets 2p. But if the other player has no spent nectar, does he/she still score 2p (as opposed to end-of-round goals where you don’t get points if you don’t have any of the targeted item)? And if neither player has spent nectar in a habitat, they tie at 3p each?

    1. They must have some nectar to score any points. And there are only two places, first and second for 5 and 2 points respectively. If one person has 3 spent nectar and the other person has 0, then the person with spent nectar will get 5 points while the other person gets zero points. If neither have spent nectar, they both get 0 points.

  340. Hi Jamey,

    I just played Oceania for the first time and I’m wondering about resetting the bird feeder and the bird tray. Am I allowed to do these resets *IN BETWEEN* taking two dice / drawing two cards?

    E.g. If the action I’m taking is:
    “Take two dice from the bird feeder and discard a card to reset the bird feeder”
    Can I choose to take one die, reset the bird feeder, and then take another food?

    Similarly, if I’m taking the action:
    “Draw two cards and reset the bird tray”
    Can I draw a card from the bird tray, reset the bird tray, and then draw another card?

    Thanks so much for being a rules guru!

    1. Thanks Ken! In the first instance, yes–you can reset the bird feeder whenever applicable, even in the middle of an action. As for the second example, you must draw 2 cards before you reset the bird tray.

  341. Seeking clarification on this food-gaining power: “Gain 1 (seed) from the birdfeeder (if available). You may cache it on this card.”

    Does that “you may” indicate that you could instead keep it as a playable food?

  342. Hello.
    i just got Oceania, We loved it. great expansion.
    i would like to know your opinion about playing with 6 dices, since there is 6 kind of food now? we took one dice from the original game.
    Also we are thinking to mix all cards, but just keeping the strongest birds from the base game and Europe expansion. what do you think?

    1. Randall: You’re welcome to play in the way that’s most fun to you! Beyond that, we recommend playing by the rules as printed.

      1. Playing automa, automa gets “take all that match” but none do. Do i discard and replace the face ups after giving automa one from the deck (face down)? The rules don’t say to when none match, but i have been…

        1. For Automa’s ‘Play a Bird’ action, if none match, you leave them all there. If you want those cards to change, you will need to do it yourself or wait for Automa to get the ‘Draw Cards’ symbol (see pg. 3 of the Automa rulebook for more details). Have fun!

    1. Officially, only the words listed on the card (or listed in expansion rulebooks) count. “Tan” is not on any list for the Photographer bonus card.

    1. Hi Guillermo! We don’t have that file, but Maldito does! You could try to contact them to see if they would send it to you.

    1. Yup! Nectar is a food, and if it has the “pinwheel all food symbol” that always includes nectar, as mentioned in the Oceania rules.

  343. […] getting an upper hand in this game and (hopefully) winning the game. For starters, you’ll need to know the rules of the games, so make sure to play through a few games before diving into these […]

  344. When exactly does unused nectar get discarded?

    I know the rules say at the end of the round, but it’s kind of unclear to me in what order that’s resolved vs. round-end goals and end-of-round-powers.

    Can I use nectar in my supply for an end-of-round power?

    What order does round-end power, discarding unused nectar, round-end goal, game-end goal get resolved in?

  345. Hello, today i preorder my copy in Italy. I hoping to see, in the future, an automa more competitive as in scythe.

  346. The OE expansion is outstanding! Are neoprene mats available for the OE? The store picture shows the original board. Thanks.

    Also, “horned” should count for Anatomist!

    1. Neoprene mats for the Oceania player mats are currently in production. The original player mats (and neoprene counterparts) are still important too, though–they’ll be used for future expansions.

  347. I cannot find a single reference in any of the rulebooks that explains the use of “/” in general. There is a reference to the use on the seed/worm die face, but nowhere else. The food section has no details about “+” vs “/”, and now the new player boards include “/” options, and the new options using eggs/nectar or cards/wild food are not detailed in the rules. As someone experienced with board games, I understand the use, but it is odd that there is no actual description of the use in any of the rulebooks. Something to consider for future printings? I note that the Watch It Played core game video addresses this related to food costs, but a general note in the rulebook seems appropriate, especially for folks new to the hobby.

    1. Chris: Thanks for the feedback! You’re correct that we explain that “/” means “or” on page 7, but we can mention it elsewhere too.

  348. Hi Jamey – congratulations to you, Elizabeth and the whole team for a smashing expansion. We can’t imagine playing without it, it’s brilliant. One question we encountered today – in a 3-player game, when Player 1 activates the Red-winged parrot and gives a nectar to Player 2, does Player 3 get a nectar pursuant to her Spangled Drongo power? In other words, does receiving the the nectar as a gift count as gaining nectar? We assume so but couldn’t find a definitive answer. Cheers from London, David

    1. Thanks David! I don’t have those specific birds in front of me, but based on the information you provided, yes, it counts. However, if the ability on the Spangled Drongo looks for other players to gain nectar while taking the “gain food” action, it would not count.

      1. We have a similar question, we’ve just played with the drongo for the first time, and all it says is “once between turns: when another player gains nectar, gain 1 nectar from the supply” it feels incredibly overpowered in comparison to other pink powered birds; everyone goes for nectar if available. The ruby throated hummingbird for example, when played in the middle gave my sister extra nectar each time. It’s within the letter of the law, but not the spirit we felt.

  349. When tucking a card under a bird from your hand does it have to correspond to the habitat (wetland, forest, etc.) or can it be any bird? When tucking a card under bird from the deck do you draw from the face down pile? Thanks!

  350. Question about Cetti’s Warbler – if end of round goal is “number of filled columns” – can the Warbler count as filling two columns, or only the column that it is in?

      1. Jamey – thank you for the reply. In the heated debate over this, my daughter-in-law found this post from Joe: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2365136/eurasian-green-woodpecker So, we’re not sure which way to go on this. It impacts 2nd place in our game, and since we keep “family statistics” and it’s a competitive family, it has been quite a rousing debate.
        thanks for your input and for the great game.
        And thanks for hosting the auction earlier – my signed OE box sits prominently in my gameroom.

  351. When playing a bird, can you play a bird directly from the 3 exposed cards after paying the food cost, or ONLY from your existing hand after paying the food cost? My husband is adamant about the former, but it’s not written in the rules anywhere!

  352. Will the Swedish rulebook be available for download anytime soon?
    We have the boardgame in English, but around New Years we usually play it with my parents who have a hard time to really get into it because of the slight language barrier.

    1. Sandra: I appreciate you asking. It’s not our rulebook to share, but you’re welcome to ask Asmodee if they’ll share it.

  353. This isn’t so much a question about the game, as it is question about one specific bird that may or may not be in the game. I was wondering if the Laughing Owl also known as the whēkau a new bird card in the game? It’d be a great homage to an extinct bird.

    1. There aren’t any extinct birds in Wingspan, though people have requested some! Perhaps Elizabeth will design an expansion with extinct birds one day.

  354. When a card is played and it has the white power to play another bird in the same habitat paying its cost and the next bird has the same condition does it allow a 3rd bird to be played paying all costs?

  355. I would like to know what constitutes a colour. When asked for birds with a colour in their name. My partner called pine a colour which I disagreed with. Please help solve my quandary.

    1. Hi Deborah! Officially, only the words listed on the Photographer bonus card count (and any words added in expansion rulebooks). That way the percentage listed on the bottom of the card stays correct.

  356. Ran into a question this afternoon regarding “body parts”…I had the canvasback, but “back” is not on the list on the bonus card. This bird was added as part of the Swift Start pack. 1) Is “back” an acceptable body part? 2) As birds are added, might lists on some of the bonus cards need to be updated to account for body parts (or geography or color) that were not included on the initial list?

    1. Yes, “back” is a body part. We note this in the European Expansion rulebook: “Anatomist (birds with body parts in their names): back, leg, toe”

  357. Hi, thanks for making a great replayable game (75+ games so far)!
    Question: when taking the eggs-action, can I take fewer eggs even if I have space for all of them ? For example: when taking eggs-action I may place 4 eggs and have room for them, but can I decide to gain only 0, 1, 2 or 3 eggs? This could be handy for end-of-round goal.
    Thank you.

    1. Is this statement correct: All powers and actions are optional and can be partially fulfilled (unless there is a conditional statement in the bird power: you have to do A before you can do B).

      1. That’s correct, though I’d add one more caveat. Only beneficial actions (beneficial to you) are optional. The active player can’t choose to avoid activating parts of a power that benefit other players or could be considered a “cost” for you.

  358. Hello Jamey, My wife and I love playing Wingspan and are looking forward to the Oceania Expansion. After playing a game yesterday, we discussed our strategies, including the first Bonus Card we picked at the beginning of the game. My wife had rejected the BREEDING MANAGER bonus card since we both feel this is the “weakest” Bonus Card in the game (including the European Expansion). We originally thought the bonus (1 point per bird) was for the number of birds that had at least 4 egg symbols on them (e.g., the BURROWING OWL). We considered this a semi-difficult objective and the 1 point per bird was not worth the effort. However, after re-reading the APPENDIX “clarification”, (Count only bird cards that have 4 egg tokens sitting on them at game end) makes this Bonus Card really not worth the 1 point per bird. Even if the BREEDING MANAGER awarded 2 points per bird with 4 egg tokens sitting on them at game end, it would not be worth the effort. Another clarification that is needed for this Bonus Card is if the number of eggs on the bird must be exactly 4. For example, if a player had a SONG SPARROW with 5 eggs on it at the end of the game, would that get them 1 point for the BREEDING MANAGER? Any clarifications you can provide will be appreciated.

    1. Hi Stan! The Breeding Manager bonus cards says “Birds that have at least 4 eggs on them.” I wasn’t there when it was designed, but I imagine it only gives you 1 point each because it incentivizes you to get eggs, which are also worth points themselves. Any bird with four or more eggs on the card counts for this bonus card. The appendix’s clarification is just a simple way of saying “if you have 5 eggs, the card still counts because you also have 4 eggs (plus 1).”

  359. 1. In the European Expansion there is a bonus round goal of “White & No Powers.” Does this mean only the cards like American Woodcock and Wild Turkey that have no “When Played:” power or does it also include white cards like the Common Blackbird that has an “When Played:” power?
    2. When playing Automata-The Dunnock (European Expansion) has a blue Round End power of “Choose 1 other player. For each action cube on their Grassland, lay 1 egg on this bird.” How many eggs would that be playing Automata?
    3.The Common Blackbird can be placed sideways to cover 2 Forest spaces. When you are totaling how many birds are in the forest for Bonus Round scoring, for example, does this count as two birds or 1?

    1. Hi Robin! I see you asked these questions on Facebook too. There’s no need to ask in multiple places. But in case someone else sees these questions, I’ll answer here:
      1. This end-round goal counts birds that have “when played” powers and also birds that have no powers.
      2. Check out page 11 of the European Expansion to see how Teal Powers are handled when comparing to the Automa.
      3. It’s still one bird.

  360. Jamey,

    Allow me to pose an argument for “migrating birds” and a clarification of the rules (or go deeper into the philosophy of the rules):

    1. Choose an action and gain the resource indicated (food/eggs/cards.
    2. Move the cube to the first card next to the action.
    3. Follow the rules on the card.
    4. Move the cube to the next bird on the row.

    Literally every bird in the game would continue on the original track chosen except these unique birds. Personally I used to dislike these birds the most until I started playing them by moving them and advancing down the chosen track.

    This makes for amazing plays (one bird track to a four bird track), but then can punish you for the next play (having to move that bird back to the now-zero bird track).

    Have you tried playing a game like this? It is truly fantastic and makes these birds more fun, immersive, and exciting!

      1. Heya Jamey,

        Seems to me the above statement doesn’t work out like that, unless I am mistaken!

        From the Q&A:
        When activating “migrating” birds that can move from one habitat to another, does the action token move with them? Can they move even if they’re the only bird in the original habitat?

        The action token stays in the original row, as that is the action you chose for this turn. And yes, they can move if they’re the only bird in the row. These birds can migrate as long as there is no other card to their right.

        1. You’re right, Pattie! Andrew is proposing a variant (something different than what the official rules say).

  361. Thank you so much for this game, it’s the greatest and we have played it so much through the pandemic.

    I have three questions.

    1. For birds like the Pileated Woodpecker with a brown power that lets you lay an egg on a bird with a specific nest type and then an egg on an “additional” bird with the same nest type, can I put both eggs on the same bird? Or does the “additional” bird need to be a different bird?

    2. Can players freely look through the discard piles for bonus cards and bird cards? Can I regularly look throughout the game at them to determine which cards are still available to be drawn?

    3. Can a pink “once between turns” power be activated by something that happens from a round end power? Like if I have a once between turns power that activates when someone tucks and then at the end of the round someone tucks using the Ruff’s power, will my pink better still get triggered?

    Thank you so much.

    1. Hi Brendan! I’ll answer you questions below:
      1. The additional birds needs to be a different bird.
      2. This doesn’t come up often, but I don’t see why not.
      3. Pink powers are activated on someone else’s turn. During round-end, it is no one’s turn. The European expansion rules don’t spell it out in those terms, but they do say “Round end powers do NOT activate “once between turns” (pink) powers.”

      1. Will pink powers on an active player’s turn be activated by another player’s activation of pink powers ? Say it is Player A’s turn and he has triggered Player B’s pink power card to tuck cards under Player B’s bird. player A also has a pink power card that states ‘if a player tucks a card for any reason, tuck a card under this bird.’ Can Player A’s pink power card be triggered on his own round by the actions of Player B tucking cards (using Player B’s pink power card ) on Player A’s round? On my reading of the instructions of Player A’s pink power card, the answer is yes. but my husband’s view that pink power cards can only be activated ‘between’ the active player’s turn and not during their turn.

        1. Hi Lynn! Your own pink powers cannot be activated on your own turn. They’re only activated “once between your turns.” In fact, they can only be activated on opponents turns, so they can’t be activated during the end-round phase (from European Expansion) or the end-game phase (from Oceania Expansion) because those phases are not anyone’s turn.

          1. Clarification for this rule when considering two pink cards:

            The Sacred Kingfisher (which has the skull/crossbones predator icon) states:

            “When another player takes the ‘gain food’ action, gain invertebrate, fish, or rat from the birdfeeder, if there is one, at the end of their turn.”

            The Turkey Vulture states:
            “When another player’s predator succeeds, gain 1 food from the bird feeder.”

            Q1: If the Kingfisher ends up gaining a food, is that considered “succeeding” as a predator – thereby triggering the Vulture? Rulebook verbiage mentions success as tucking a card or cacheing food – but not pulling from feeder.

            Q2: Player A has the Vulture and Player B has the Kingfisher. Player A takes the “gain food” action – triggering the Kingfisher’s power. Since the Kingfisher’s pink power doesn’t active until “the end of their (Player A’s) turn” – would it trigger the Vulture since Player A’s turn is considered ended (and therefore between turns)?

            Thank you – absolutely adore this game.

          2. Q1. Yes, that is a successful predator action.
            Q2. I assume you’re talking about a 2-player game with players A and B. Nope, the Kingfisher’s power happens as the final step of their turn, not outside of their turn. So the normal pink power rules apply: your own pink power can’t be activated on your own turn. But if you were dealing with a 3-player game, there is a combination of powers where the Sacred Kingfisher could activate a 3rd player’s pink power by successfully activating the Kingfisher’s predator power.

  362. Dear friends, I have been trying to invite friends to play the Steam version of Wingspan, but I don’t see an option to do that anywhere in the game. I know it is probably something simple I am missing, so if you could give me any help at all, it would be most appreciated. Sincerely, John thomas Oaks

    1. I’m sorry to hear about that, John. We’re actually the tabletop publisher of the game, not the digital version. Can you please contact Monster Couch so they can help?

  363. Hi! Is there some reason why “meadow” is not included in geographical terms for the Cartographer bonus card? Or, to be more precise, shouldn’t it count considering that for example “moor” and “scrub” from the expansion have been listed as qualified? Thanks (:

    1. Thanks for the question! At the moment it’s a moot point because the only bird with “meadow” in its name is the Western Meadowlark, and “Western” counts for Cartographer. :)

  364. How do I get bonus cards from the bonus card deck in the middle of the game? The directions are not clear on whether I can draw a bonus card instead of a bird card on a draw action in the base game.

    1. Hi Sean! If you’re ever instructed to draw a bonus card, it will explicitly say so. For instance some endangered birds allow you to draw from the bonus card deck. Otherwise all cards drawn are from the bird deck.

  365. My daughter just noticed (after 250+ games!) the color “rufous” on the Photographer bonus card. An internet search shows a number of rufous named birds, but we have no bird card that uses that name, nor is one listed in the appendix.
    Coming soon, omission, error, …?
    Thanks, love the game!

    1. Scott: As far as I can tell, we included that color out of the possibility of including a bird with that color word in the future, but so far there isn’t a bird in Wingspan with that color in their name.

  366. Hi,

    For the bonus cards that require birds that eat, for example, seed (showing a seed icon), the extra detail underneath is that birds may also eat other kind of food.
    On birds that can eat anything, there is the picture of the feed dice. Despite there being no seed icon, strictly speaking, would these birds also count for birds that eat seed?

    Thanks :)

    1. For them to count for those bonus cards, they need to have the specific food symbol (as noted on the corresponding bonus card).

  367. Question-Using the Euro expansion Black-Headed Gull card when playing Automa: If Automa has cubes on the bonus round board-can I choose the food of my choice from the supply? The Black Headed Gull has the brown power of Steal 1 random/wild food from another player’s supply and add it to your supply. Since Automa doesn’t have food (but let’s say they do have bonus cubes) can I choose my own food from the supply?

    1. Fred, I don’t see a Common Cuckoo in the Oceania expansion. Can you let me know where you see that card?

    2. Hi Fred! Common Cuckoos (from the European Expansion) are “brood parasites” and lay their eggs in other birds’ nests. This matches their power in the game and the bird fact at the bottom of the card. So that’s why it does not have a nest type nor egg capacity.

  368. How many times can you use the “When Activated” cards? Just once, even if you add a card to the right of it? We can’t find the answer anywhere.

    Just got the game and really like it!

    1. This is actually printed on the player mats themselves and throughout the rulebook: For example, the “Gain Food from Birdfeeder” action is accompanied by text that says “Then activate any brown powers in this row.” You’re activating those powers every time you choose the Gain Food action.

      1. Ahh. I didn’t realize it specifically said they can be used every time. Guess we overlooked that in our excitement to start playing.

        Thanks for the reply.

  369. I have a question. When the card says “when another player takes the lay egg action, this bird lays one egg on another bird with a cavity nest” can you lay it on a star nest in addition to the cavity nest?

  370. Thanks for the awesome game! My question is about the Common Starling in the European Expansion. It says “Discard up to 5 (wild food) from your supply. If you do tuck…” Does it have to all the same food or could I discard 2 seeds and 3 fish to tuck 5 cards?

      1. Follow up to the Common Starling ability, can you use Nectar for this ability, and if you do where does the nectar go?

        1. Yes, when a bird power says to “discard” a food, it’s simply describing how to spend food. So when playing with the Oceania player mats, if you choose to discard nectar with the Common Starling, you would place the nectar on the appropriate spent nectar space of your player mat.

  371. Do players have to resolve the teal round end powers? Or is this optional?

    For example, the Black Redstart’s round end power is to lay 1 egg on each bird in a habitat with no eggs. However, if the end of round goal is birds with no eggs, then the Black Redstart’s round end power could prove detrimental.

    Thanks for your help. Eagerly awaiting Oceania!

      1. But what if I had 3 birds in that habitat, can I activate the real power by only laying 2 out of 3 eggs. Namely, by not laying an egg on the third bird I win the end of round goal of “birds with no eggs”. But I still want to get 2 out of 3 extra points. Seems fair to only get partial fulfillment of the teal power. What do you think?

  372. Does the Automa get dealt any bird cards during set-up? I can’t find clear instructions either way in the manual, but the helper you linked above suggests the answer is no?

    1. Hi Kate. Automa does not get dealt any bird cards during set-up. She gets all of her bird cards, one at a time, during the game when the Automa card shows either the Draw Cards or Play A Bird icons (see p.3 of the Automa rulebook). Have fun, David

  373. Technical question.
    For the Sandhill Crane, you must discard a [seed] to tuck two cards from the deck.

    The Eurasian nuthatch says “At any time, you may spend [seeds] cached on this card.”

    I know you normally can’t spend cached food, and must use from your supply, but the nuthatch has the line “at any time”
    Can you use the seed cached on the nuthatch to tuck 2 cards on the sandhill crane??

    1. That’s not how the Automa was designed and balanced, but it’s technically possible. Perhaps with two Automa decks? And you’d have to make sure Pink Powers didn’t get too overpowered with two Automas activating them. But I’m not the Automa expert. Perhaps you could ask this on the Facebook group to get other opinions?
      https://www.facebook.com/groups/wingspanboardgame

  374. Hi,
    I have the Swedish version of wingspan, and one thing isn’t clear for me (it might be the translation that is poor): Some cards says “reroll dice outside the feeder. If you roll a mouse, take a mouse token.” Does this mean that I get two mice tokens if I roll two mice? Thanks for a great game!

    1. Hej. Jag har också svenska versionen och det är många fel i översättningen, särskilt i korten för nybörjarrundan. Men svaret på din fråga är nej. Man får endast ta en mus även om tärningarna visar fler.

  375. Hi,
    Quick question that I think I know the answer to, but hoping to confirm:
    Do end of round teal powers activate at the end of each round, or just in the round that the card is played?
    Thanks!

  376. Hi,
    Quick question for clarification on the birds in the EE with end of round powers that include discarding food in order to tuck cards (e.g the house sparrow).

    If it states to discard a grain, can 2 other food types be substituted to count as a grain towards this end of round power? For example, can I discard 1 grain and 2 invertebrates in order to tuck 2 cards at the end of the round?

    1. The 2-for-1 exchange can only be done when paying the food cost to play birds. So no, you would not be able to make this exchange at any other point in the game.

  377. I purchased Wingspan on Steam yesterday and there’s no option for me to actually begin a game. I’ve attached a screenshot when I’m in either the custom or automata screens and there’s a red return arrow, but no green arrow to proceed. I’ve tried every single resolution setting in full screen and not in full screen and it never shows up. I went through the tutorial and noticed that the bottom of the cards never showed.

    What can I do to 1) play the game and 2) see the entire screen? I have a MacBook Pro.

    1. Hi LD! I’m sorry you’re having issues with Wingspan Digital! We only publish the physical version of the game, so we can’t be of much help in this situation. Monster Couch developed Wingspan Digital. You might be able to contact them, or if you’re not happy with your purchase, I think you can get a refund through Steam.

      Here’s Monster Couch’s website for contact info: http://monstercouch.com

  378. Hey all. Love Wingspan! I picked it up after hearing Elizabeth Hargrave on The Design Round Table. We’ve been playing a lot and I think we need some rule clarification that I couldn’t find in other comments.

    1. Does the “Repeat Brown Power” work with the Sparrows’ “Move to another row”?

    2. With the green end of round scoring. When there’s a tie, the second place points are added to the first place and then split. It get confusing with say, 3 way ties for 7 points or 3 way ties for 5 points.

    3.Also what about ties for first and second. Does first place take the second place points and second place takes the third place points.

    4. If first place is tied and there’s a person on second and third place, does second place get nothing and third place get some points?

    Thank you!

    1. Hi Levi! Thanks for being a fan!

      1. Think of “repeat” as “activate another bird in this row.” That means if you activated the Sparrow while it was the furthest right and then move it to another row, it would not be in the same row to be repeated.

      2+3+4. If there’s a tie, the tied players all split the places they’re tied for. Two players who are tied for 1st means they are also tied for 2nd. So two people tied for 1st split 1st and 2nd place’s points, then all other players would follow after that, 3rd place, 4th, etc. If there’s a clear 1st, but the next two players tie for 2nd and 3rd, they split those two places’ points, then all other player would follow with 4th, etc. If there’s a three-way tie, then all three of the places they tied for would be split (for instance, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, then other players would get 4th and beyond). Remember the divided points are always rounded down.

      If only two players are tied, I’ll put both cubes onto the dividing line of the two places they’re splitting. This helps me remember they’re taking both of those spots.

      1. Clarification on this rule re: repeat brown powers and migratory birds.

        I have the following birds in the same row, in this order:
        Migrator
        Repeater
        Migrator

        Would I be able to move all 3 birds together because the Repeater will always be next to a Migrator?

        (This is how we’ve always played and I love the possibility of having a 3, 4, or even 5 bird chain move from row to row.)

        1. Nope, check the explanation in the FAQ above. Basically the “repeat” birds simply activate a different bird in that row. They don’t “copy” the power for themselves. So the repeater could never move like a migratory bird.

  379. First of all, incredible game. I play several times a week with my wife, often several times a night…
    I have two questions:

    Have you figured out the highest mathematically possible score for each number of players? (My highest so far is 120 with 2)

    When a bird is placed sideways and has eggs on it, do the eggs count against one column or two columns for the ‘sets of 3 eggs’ end of round bonus?

    1. Hi! I haven’t personally worked out a theoretical maximum. But for your rules question: the “sets of 3 eggs” does not look at columns. Count the number of eggs in each habitat, and then match the sets (in other words, the habitat with the fewest number of eggs equals the number of sets).

  380. I know there is a lot of back and forth about adding in for six players, but I wanted to add my voice too–PLEASE make an expansion that play six! We have a family with six people in it, and I’m milking all of our boardgame time together before they bail for brighter locales.

    1. Thanks! You can actually play with 6 with the current version. Just get a neoprene playmat from our webstore and use some spare cubes from another game as the player tokens. :)

      1. If you were looking to play with 6 players, would you have to increase the number of tokens for each food source since more food will be taken? Same thinking with the eggs?

        1. Sure, there’s really no limit to food or eggs for any player count. We sell more eggs on our webstore; if you want food, though, you’d need to turn to a third-party company like Meeplesource or Top Shelf Gamer.

  381. I just played three games of Wingspan solo today. It was really enjoyable even though I lost the first two games and won the third one. This was the first time playing it ever and really loved it, hopefully play with friends one day soon.

  382. We really enjoy Wingspan. It stays set up at our birdwatching spot. Our ? what does “…when playing a bird, you can always use any 2 food tokens as 1 wild.” mean?

    1. Hi Lynda! When paying the food cost of a bird, you can exchange any 2 food tokens to act as a different food. As an example, if a bird cost a berry and a rodent, and you didn’t have a rodent, you could pay any other 2 food (a seed and a fish, or whatever) to represent that missing rodent. Or if you had no berries and no rodents, you could do the 2-for-1 exchange multiple times, for instance paying 4 seeds to replace both foods. Remember, this exchange is only available when you’re playing a bird.

      1. That’s fantastic! I think I would have won tonight. Looking for the third rat for the Golden Eagle when I was stacking worms from my European Honey Buzzard, :)!!

  383. Any chance the bird cards from English edition get updated with the 4 blue icons matching the “Name-Related Bonuses” similar to the Spanish edition? It would be super useful and way much easier to identify…

    1. Thanks for your question. Each foreign language publisher handled the name-related bonus cards differently. We don’t plan on changing any cards.

      1. You should consider it for future printings since that little detail is a such great improvement. I really wish my English copy had those icons…
        I would like to know what Elizabeth Hargrave thinks about it. I doubt she disagreed.

  384. When the Oceania expansion is released “later in 2020” will we need to unscramble the egg and take the European Expansion cards out before adding in the Oceania cards?

  385. Hello, i’m loving wingspan and just recently bought the european expansion, but i have a question regarding teal Powers, if i activate a teal Powers that lets me play another Bird and i play another teal Power Bird can i activate it’s Power too or do I have to wait till the next round end?

    1. You can! If a teal power allows you to play a new teal power bird, you can activate that new bird in the same end-round phase.

  386. For general game play, if a bird’s power can “lay an egg in every bird that has a ____ nest”, does that include star/wild nests? or only those with that specific symbol?

  387. Hello – with the Automa, do I give it an egg or a bird card when I activate a brown power on a bird that says “all players get…”?

    1. Hi Jaclynn. When we work out an Automa, we always try to include a small section of the rulebook like this: If you ever have a doubt, go there first:

      When playing against the Automa, you will always follow the multiplayer rules.
      The Automa, however, does not play by the rules.
      The Automa will not get a player mat.
      The Automa will not collect food tokens.
      The Automa will gather birds and eggs, but they will only be used for game-end scoring.
      The Automa does not need to ‘pay’ for anything.
      The Automa does not benefit from any bird powers.

      Enjoy,
      David

  388. Hi, I am curious about the Fisheries Manager bonus card. It says that it is for birds that eat fish, but would the wild symbol signify a fish as well or must it have the fish symbol to count?

    Thanks!

  389. I have been playing with the Automa and have run into the situation where we are tied at the end of a round. Do I treat it as a tie for points? I know that at the end of the game a tie is supposed to go to the Automa as it has an imaginary 2 food tokens. What if I have food tokens left, too?

    1. There is no tie breaker for end of round scoring. If you and the Automa tie, play it as if you and another player had tied (add the two places you tie for, divide by 2, and round down).

      1. Hi Joe! Can you clarify what you mean? I have run into this situation a couple of times now where I tie with the Automa at the end of a round. What do you mean by add the two “places” we tie for?

        1. Sure, it’s the same rules as for multiplayer.
          If you both tie for first place, then you’re competing for first and second place. Add the points for first and second place together, divide by two (rounded down), and you each get that amount of points. The number will differ depending on which round you’re on.

          1. Got it, thank you! This is the first board game I’ve ever tried to play solo — a bit confusing at first but I think I am getting the hang of it!

  390. If you have the European Magpie and let’s say the Eurasian Nuthatch. When using the Magpie power can you choose to store wheat on the Nuthatch and then later use this wheat as food as the Nuthatch allows?

    1. That is correct. With the Magpie you can cache onto any bird. The Eurasian Nutchath says “At any time, you may spend [seeds] cached on this card.”

  391. Hello! My group and I have been really enjoying Wingspan. We have run into one issue that we don’t agree on and hoping you guys can help. What is the order of operations for drawing and tucking for pink action birds? Meaning… There is a brown action bird that says “tuck a card from your hand, if you do draw on from the deck” another player has “If a player tucks a card for any reason, tuck a card from the deck behind this card” does the brown action complete before the pink action of does the pink action take the card from the deck before the draw?

    1. That’s correct. It rarely matters, but if a brown power activates a pink power, finish the brown power before activating the pink power (and after that, go back to the player whose turn it is, if they have any more birds to activate).

  392. Have the developers tried using more turn counter cubes?

    It always seems like we could use more in that last round. Game ends too quickly

    1. Wondered if anybody has been playing homebrew versions with longer game arc using alternative turn / point cubes for scoring?

    1. Iralie: Wingspan is indeed published in Chinese by a company called Surfin’ Meeple. It’s up to them if they would like to share the Mandarin rulebook online; you’re welcome to ask them about that.

  393. Hi there,

    Got a copy of Wingspan last week for me and my bird-enthusiast wife and we are loving it! Beautiful game and lots of fun. So much fun that we wanted the game to last longer. Is there any negative to simply playing rounds 5, 6, and so on until action cubes are depleted? Would you maybe consider a Bonus Round Tracker that goes up to 8 rounds in a future edition of the game?

    Once again, congrats on a fine offering. Gonna be tough deciding between this and Viticulture on game night!

    1. Hi Thomas! I’m so glad you’re enjoying Wingspan. I know a few fans have experimented with extra rounds, and you’re welcome to play the game in the manner that is most fun for you! But I’m not aware of any plans to officially add rounds to the game. I know if you ask on the Wingspan Facebook Group, you’ll get many different answers as to how players have house-ruled extra rounds: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wingspanboardgame/

  394. We are in the process of trying to learn to play, and have a question about brown powers. Is it used only once or can it be used each time a bird is played in that habitat?

    1. Hi Gary! This video may be of help to you: https://youtu.be/lgDgcLI2B0U

      All brown powers have “When Activated” powers. So they are not activated when played. They are activated when you take one of the three main actions on your board, and your action cube travels form right to left, touching each bird on its way over.

  395. Good afternoon.

    My mother and I have enjoyed your game very much over the last few months.

    We do have a question though.

    Some bird cards such as the “Bushtit” say to tuck a card and lay an egg on this bird. If the bird cannot hold any more eggs, can you still tuck a card without laying an egg? Or do you have to lay an egg to be able to tuck the card?

    Thanks, and have a great day!

    1. You can still tuck a card if you can’t lay the egg. You aren’t “punished” for having full eggs. I’m glad you and your mother are enjoying Wingspan!

  396. Hi, Wingspan is our group’s favorite game. But even after playing well over a hundred games together, we ran into confusion over a pink power bird, and we’re not sure how the power is intended to work. Suppose we are playing with three players.

    The bird is the Eurasian Tree Sparrow (though there are other birds with a similar enough pink power for this question to apply). Its pink power is: “ONCE BETWEEN TURNS: When another player takes the ‘gain food’ action, gain 1 [seed] from the bird feeder at the end of their turn”.

    What happens in each of the following scenarios? Let’s assume Player 3 has this bird.

    Scenario 1: Player 1 takes the ‘gain food’ action and at the end of Player 1’s turn there is no seed in the bird feeder. So, Player 3 does not get a seed from the bird feeder. Player 2 also takes the ‘gain food’ action. This time, at the end of Player 2’s turn, there is a seed. Can Player 3 then take that seed?

    Scenario 2: Player 1 takes the ‘gain food’ action and at the end of Player 1’s turn there is 1 fish in the bird feeder. Player 3 has an opportunity to take food, because of the pink power bird, so Player 3 resets the bird feeder. There are still no seeds, so Player 3 does not take a seed. Player 2 takes the ‘gain food’ action and the end of Player 2’s turn, there is a seed. Can Player 3 then take that seed?

    1. More exactly put, the question we have is, at which stage has this pink power actually been used, so that it cannot be used again until after the new turn has begun:

      (A) when another player takes the “gain food’ action?
      (B) when another player takes the “gain food” action and Player 3 *actually* gains a seed from the bird feeder (whether or not this involved Player 3 resetting the birdfeeder)?
      (C) when another player takes the “gain food” action and, because there is only one type of resource in the bird feeder, Player 3 has reset the bird feeder (in which event, there may or may not be a seed that player 3 may take)?
      (D) something else we haven’t considered?

      The way you answer the scenarios above will probably give us our answer. But I figured I’d try to get to what is at the bottom of our question.

    2. Hi Caleb! Good question. The appendix says this about the Eurasian Tree Sparrow:
      If all dice in the birdfeeder show the same face, you may reset it before gaining the [specific food type]. If the birdfeeder contains none of the [specific food type], you gain nothing.

      So this power can be activated and still receive no food. So following the normal pink power rules, you could not activate this bird again until after your next turn. If a reroll was involved or not is irrelevant.

  397. We played our first game last night and had great fun. However we ran across a situation, and we were not sure if we were playing it correctly.
    One player had the Eastern Kingbird on their player board, and it has a power that states: “Once between turns: When another player plays a forest bird card, gain 1 worm from the supply”.
    Well, another player had a migrating bird that they continued to use to jump between the forest and the wetlands.
    Our question is; should the player with the Eastern Kingbird receive a worm food token each time the other player’s bird migrated to the forest?

    1. I’m glad you had fun, Larry! Playing a bird is different than activating a bird (allowing it to move). So the Eastern Kingbird’s “once between turns” power would not activate when a bird is moved. Only when a new bird is played in the forest.

  398. Just got the game this week and the whole family is enjoying it immensely! A question has come up that we’d like some clarification on.
    ~ In the Play a Bird action, is it possible to play a bird, then move the action cube to the left one space and play another bird (granted you have the eggs and food to pay for it, and there is space in the column below the cube)? Or is the Play a Bird action a one-shot-deal?

    1. I’m glad you and your family are enjoying it! You can only play one bird with the “Play a bird” action.

    1. Officially, only the colors listed on the card and in the rulebooks count. Unofficially, your group can decide to include any word you’d like! :)

  399. I’ve noticed there are a small number of bird cards that have greyed tips on the bottom left and top right of the entire card. What’s up with that?

  400. Hi, we’re loving the game and the European expansion pack. One question, there’s the Montague’s harrier in the expansion pack who can be played on top of another bird on the mat. However, it’s a grassland habitat bird, so can it only be played on a grassland bird or is it really ANY bird on the mat in any habitat?

    Thanks in advance, can’t wait for the next expansion pack!

    1. The Montagu’s Harrier has a “when played” power, which means it must follow the rules of playing a bird unless specified otherwise. Here it says you may avoid paying any costs by playing over another bird, but it doesn’t allow you to avoid the grassland habitat limitation. So in other words, you must play the Monotagu’s Harrier in the grassland habitat.

  401. Have you considered nerfing the Common Raven and the Chihuahuan Raven? After A LOT of games over the past months, it’s clear they’re over-powered. The Fish Crow, American Crow, and the Night Heron have limitations, but those ravens can decide a game on the deal. Either reducing the exchange to 1 food or making it feeder based would improve balance.

    1. Hi Nate! The easiest answer is: if you feel strongly about it, feel free to leave the ravens out of your deck. :)

      1. Whoa, Joe, speciesism is ugly. We’re trying to slow down mass extinctions here.
        Anyway, ravens are survivors (especially when fed PEDs by game designers). Guess every game needs a cheat code …

  402. With the bonus cards, when it says 2 points per bird that eats a fish, does that also apply to birds with the colorful circle (any food)?

    1. Nope. That bonus card is specifically looking for the fish icon. The wild food icon does not count.

  403. Hi, are there any plans for a Swedish translation?
    I saw it listed as pre-order for delivery in November in one Swedish on-line store but nowhere on this site or in any other stores.
    BR

  404. NEW PLAYERS, are you feeling frustrated? This is our first game of this type and there were several moments of…”Uh, will we ever learn this?”
    Our advice: Hang in there. It is TOTALLY worth it. Take it slow. Watch a video or two. Read the rules. Try a few plays. Watch a video again. Revisit the rules. Trust the process. You WILL get it and then you will LOVE it. We play at least once a day.
    There are multiple things to consider in each decision; I don’t think this game will ever be boring. We are also sharing facts from the bird cards when played, also fun. We haven’t yet opened the European Expansion pack but look forward to learning about those birds, too. We’ve abandoned Facebook or I’d post this there, too.
    To Jamey: Thanks for helping with our first questions. We truly appreciate this game. Now looking for a card-driven, engine-building board game about famous works of art. Maybe?

  405. Hi, just a quickie, any plans for a russian language version of wingspan, we have eager family over there dying to play!! :)

  406. Okay, one more. I have the “Rodentologist” bonus card, which gives 2 points for every animal that eats rat. The card specifically says it has to have the rat symbol but I’m wondering about birds like the one crow (American Crow, I think) that just has the color wheel symbol because it eats everything, rats included. Should I get two points for that even though it doesn’t have the rat symbol specifically?

    1. Sorry for the slow response, John. I missed your question. (For future reference we also answer questions in the Wingspan Facebook Group and on the Wingspan page of Board Game Geek. Often a fan will answer before we get to it, so it’s great for quick answers.)

      Rodentologist is looking for the rodent symbol specifically. The wild food symbol does not count.

  407. We have a question. We have the end-of-round goal “Food in Personal Supply”; does cached food (that you can spend, per European Expansion) count as “food in personal supply?”

  408. Hi. Do you know if there are any plans to do a portuguese version of the european expansion?
    Thanks for your attention.

  409. Hi, when i use common raven abillity, can i take from the suplly two diferent types of food? or 2 of the same type(food)

  410. From the Rulebook, p4: “Move your action cube from right to left, activating any birds with a brown “WHEN ACTIVATED” power in that row. Each power is optional.”
    On page 7: “Activate any brown powers on your forest birds, from right to left. All powers are optional.”
    On page 8:”Activate any brown powers on your grassland birds, from right to left. All powers are optional.”
    On page 9: “All powers are optional.”
    On page 10: “Bird powers are always optional. For example, if you do not want to spend a card by tucking it under a flocking bird, you do not have to do so.”

    Predator:
    From the Rulebook p. 10: “This indicates that the bird is a predator.” (next to the predator symbol and a picture of the American Kestrel card with that symbol.

    It helps to read the rules before attacking with foul language those who carefully created this game and its rulebook (which is currently in revision 18).

  411. I have the Dutch version of the European expansion (recent reprint) and came across a discussion on a teal card (Brilduiker – I presume golden-eye? ), to put an egg on the bird for each other bird which you own with that type of nest. Question and discussion was if the cards held in your hand (with that nest) also count for the eggs, or only the ones you played on the board…

  412. I have a question about the Snow Bunting. It says to tuck a card from your hand and then to draw a card at the end of the turn, but you’re also supposed to refill the bird tray at the end of the turn.

    Do you draw the card with the Snow Bunting before or after the bird tray is refilled. (If after, is it refilled again?)

  413. When playing against the automa, can you activate the cuckoo’s once between turns power (one between turns when another player takes the ‘lay eggs’ action, this bird lays 1 egg…) When the automa lays eggs, or can you only activate that when the activate all pink powers automa action comes up?

      1. That’s interesting for me. I was going to ask the same question myself :)

        because I wasn’t sure if I understood it right. I interpreted it like you can use ONE pink powers once between turns like playing with actual people, and then I thought when the pink power action came up on the automa card you were allowed to activate ALL of them.

        1. You activate ALL pink powers of bird cards on your player mat when the Automa shows the “Activate Pink Powers” symbol.

        2. You can activate more than one pink power when playing with humans, if more than one is triggered. For example, it is possible to have 2 different birds that have pink powers that say ‘When another player takes the “lay eggs” action…’ and you can activate both of them at the same time.

          1. Am I correct in understanding that you can only use a PINK power ONCE the entire game?

          2. JR: No, it’s once between turns. So if you’re playing a 4 player game, as soon as your turn ends, if another player triggers the power, it activates. If another player then triggers the power, it doesn’t activate. However, when it gets back to your turn, its availability resets for the next series of turns.

  414. Hi, I have a question about playing with the Automa. When it says activate all pink powers, do you have to activate ALL of them or chose which ones you want?

      1. Thank you so much for your answer. I was wondering if you could also answer two questions I had about powers which reference the birdfeeder:

        1) When a card says to gain all of a specific food type from the birdfeeder. Say for example’s sake there was 1 of that food type and I picked It out, and then the remaining dice where all the same of a different food type, could I then throw the dice back in the bird feeder and continue taking out the food type instructed on the card?

        2) when a card says to roll all dice not in the bird feeder, what if there aren’t any that are not in the birdfeeder? I’m guessing this just means I cannot use the power?

        Sorry to trouble you again. Thanks alot

        1. No problem, Sean!

          1. “Take all” is a single action. If you took 1 or more dice, then that action has been completed. If the birdfeeder is empty afterwards and gets rerolled, the results of that roll happen after your action is completed, so don’t take any more.

          2. That’s correct. If there are no dice outside of the feeder, you can’t roll any dice.

  415. If you have a bird that takes 2 spaces and then use a bird to cover that 2 space bird and turn it into a tucked card, does the new bird remain as 2 spaces or does it go back to 1 space?

  416. I have a question about bonus cards. When you are allowed to get 2 new bonus cards can you keep both and discard the one you started out with if you don’t like it as much as the 2 that were drawn?

  417. For the End of Round Goal, sets of 3 eggs in each habitat, if you have 2 eggs on each card in each habitat, does that count as 2 or 1? (i.e., 3 cards, each with 2 eggs, vs. 6 cards, each with 1 egg)

  418. Salutations!!!

    I have a question regarding a specific circumstance with my Wingspan clan, with the expansion pack:

    How many “birds” is the Grey Heron technically worth? Even though it’s one bird, it takes up two spots in the water habitat, specifically for the End Round Goal of “Birds in One Row.”

    Thanks so much!

    1. A sideways bird fills two slots and helps fill two columns, but it is still a single bird. :)

  419. I was wondering about the possible future inclusion of the Scarlet Tanager in future expansions? I encountered one in the wild the other day and it was very beautiful.

  420. We just played a game where one player had à European Goldfinch with the power to tuck one card from the deck once between turns when another player tucks for any reason. How does this apply when the other player has a teal power to discard up to 5 grains to tuck that many cards from the deck? Does the person with the pink power get to tuck 5 cards to match the person with the teal power tucking five cards, because “once between turns” the other playing tucked five cards at once?
    Thanks — LOVE this game and have played almost daily since Christmas :)

    1. Here’s what the European Expansion rulebook says about pink powers and teal powers: “Round end powers [teal] do NOT activate ‘once between turns’ (pink) powers.” Essentially, pink powers are activated on other players turns. Teal powers happen during no one’s turn.

      But regardless, even if a player triggered a pink power by tucking 100 cards at one time, the pink power would only activate once.

  421. Hello! We love wingspan! We are having a disagreement regarding the Anatomist bonus card. Do birds such as the Blue Grosbeak and Loggerhead Strike count? Either way, can you please explain why? Thank you!

    1. Both “beak” and “head” count for Anatomist (they’re on the list). So both birds count. :)

      1. We figured the horned lark would also count as horns are a body part, but it isn’t on list. Yes, no?

        1. The horned lark doesn’t have a horn, so it’s not on the list. To be technically correct in the rules, follow the list strictly (and the European Expansion has some additions in its rulebook). That will be the easiest way to answer any questions. But if you disagree, feel free to play it however your table agrees to play.

          1. Not to disagree with the rest of the comment, which is sensible and appreciated. But Horned Larks do have “horns” (the males anyway). The “horns” are tiny and made of feathers, but since they’re an actual body part for which the bird was named I think it would have been more consistent if “horn” had been included in the “Anatomist” list.

  422. How many birds can be played when it says play a second bird in …. habitat? Can you use they one after the other? What’s the limit? Ruby-Crowned Kinglet then Downy Woodpecker then House Wren ? Would this be possible?

    1. There’s no limit as long as each card says that and you have the food and eggs to play them.

  423. Impossible to play i don t speak english ihave the rule in french in the box i want you ‘re video with somebody playing

  424. Hi, I have a question on the rules/play. The turkey Vulture for example gains a food from the feeder when an opposition players killer bird “succeeds”. Question is what constitutes “succeeds”? Is it when a bird is played, is it when it gains a food on the card or a tucked card. Please help as we cannot figure how this should be played…
    Cheers
    Giles

    ps. Awesome game, can’t stop playing, though my girlfriend says it is missing green parakeets from the Euro Expansion that have made their home noisily in West London parks!! :)

    1. A predator bird “succeeds” when its action is successful (not when it’s played). So yes, that usually means either cacheing a food or tucking a card.

      1. I have a similar question. I had played the Turkey Vulture, and then another player played the Goshawk (a predator card) by paying with cards from their hand. Does that count as a successful hunt?

        1. Here’s what the appendix says about the Goshawk and similar birds: “If these birds use their power to tuck cards instead of paying some or all of the bird’s food cost, this counts as both a) tucking a card and b) a predator succeeding, and triggers birds with pink powers accordingly.”

      1. At most once between each of your turns. So, this could happen multiple times per round.

        1. Awesome thanks Jamey, and by the way it’ll be awesome to show my friends a screen shot with the response from the publisher when we play again. Yall’s customer service is above and beyond the service I have ever seen from any company in any industry.

          P.s. I have scythe and wingspan, should I buy charterstone or tapestry next, knowing that I do plan to buy both which order should I buy them?

          1. Happy to help! I would wait to buy Charterstone until you can play regularly with the same group for a while, as it’s a campaign game. :)

  425. If I choose the lay eggs action, can I choose not to lay an egg on a nest when there are available nests? I ask this because there is a around goal where it counts birds with no eggs, and laying some can disqualify a player for that goal.

    1. Mike: While we don’t have release dates after the initial launch of any product, we’ll have Wingspan back in stock on our webstore in July, and stores will have some copies in June and more in July.

      1. Ok. Thank you. I’ve watched so many videos and read the rules so many times and read so many posts it feels like I’ve played the game several times already, even though I have my copy pre-ordered. 😀

  426. In the Euro expansion it says that the teal end-of-round goals “trigger at the end of each round.” It doesn’t specify that they only apply to the round in which they are played, so we’re arguing about whether they can only be used once in “that” round or in “each” round that they are on the mat.

    Here’s the long example of how it came up: At the start of the game we turned a round 4 end-of-round goal that was “birds in grasslands.” One player played the Eurasian Green Woodpecker (round end power: counts double toward round goal) in round 1 expecting to collect the bonus at the end of round 4. Since multiple players finished with 5 birds in the grasslands, we actually encountered two questions: 1) Does the “counts double” power of the woodpecker played in round 1 count in round 4?; 2) Can you ever claim a 6th bird in any habitat using that power?

    Thanks for your answers and for the best game ever.

    1. Round-end powers activate at the end of each round. And yes, “this bird counts double” powers could give you a virtual 6th bird in that habitat when you’re counting birds.

      1. Thanks, Joe! There’s a lot of quibbling over that “each.” So, to be absolutely clear, once a bird with a teal round end power is played, its power activates at the end of each subsequent round, not just the round in which it is played, right?
        Thus, a Eurasian Green Woodpecker played in round 1 could activate 4 times if it qualified for all 4 round end goals?

    1. Those are the swift-start cards. They can be shuffled in with the other cards or used to teach the game (with the swift-start guide).

  427. Does “Turkey” count as a geography term for the purposes of the Cartographer bonus card since the origin of the name is from a bird imported from the Levant?

    1. Officially, no. Only the listed terms count for Cartographer. But some tables have decided to houserule this. (Elizabeth studied the etymology of the bird’s name and decided against including it in the list.)

    1. We only sell the English version of the game. Ghenos Games is the Italian language publisher.

  428. Can a brown power be activated more than once. If not how does one show that a particular power has been activated?

    1. If you play a bird that has you draw 1 and discard 1 at the end of your turn, can you tuck your last bird thus having no cards to discard? Or would you have to save a card to tuck to complete the brown power?

        1. I don’t think the question was about the ability to tuck a card, but the requirement to return a card at the end of turn. I would have assumed that a card would need to be reserved in order to discard one at the end of turn in order to fulfill the requirements of the brown power that was activated

          1. Thank you for the correction. I got the card confused with other cards with a similar power. If you’re talking about a bird like the Great Crested Grebe in the European Expansion, the appendix explains how to handle this. The card says “WHEN ACTIVATED: Draw 1 for each empty card slot in this row. At the end of your turn, keep 1 and discard the rest.” And the appendix clarifies, “These cards should be kept separate from the other cards you draw and your bird cards in hand. They cannot be spent during this turn. But to keep the game moving, you can sort through them at the end of your turn and let the next player start their turn.”

            If we’re talking about a different card than that, let me know specifically which one and I can answer further questions.

          2. I have 3 cards played in the wetlands and no cards in my hand. I draw 2 cards from the deck and move to Clark’s grebe who let’s lets me draw 1 bird, if I do discard 1 at the end of the turn. So I draw one card giving me 1 more bird card total of 3 birds in my hand. The next bird is a common chiffchaff where I can choose 1-5 birds in this habitat. Tuck 1 from my hand behind ea. I tuck all three in my hand behind ea bird. Now I have no cards in my hand and the last bird is a white power so nothing happens. Is this a legal move because I did not qualify the second part of Clark’s grebe which says discard a card from my hand at the end of your turn.

          3. Thanks for the specifics! You do not have to hold a card in your hand to discard. If you end the turn with no cards, that’s ok!

          4. One more specific question but now I think it’s is allowable due to your last answer. I am drawing bird cards and draw 1. I move to my cube to the red-winged blackbird who lets me tuck a card from my hand behind this bird. If I do, also lay 1 was on this bird. If my blackbird’s nest is already full of 3 eggs, would I be able to tuck without laying? We interpreted that because you can’t complete the lay an egg, you wouldn’t be able to activate this brown power

  429. I have a question that I found an answer for on Reddit, but my mom won’t accept anything less than an answer from the game creators themselves, so I hope you wouldn’t mind answering this for us. :)

    Say you have a bird in the forest, for example, the Eastern Screech-Owl: “Roll all dice not in birdfeeder. If any are mice, gain one mouse and cache it on this card,” and you use the gain food action to take the two remaining dice out of the birdfeeder so now it is empty and all five dice are out of the birdfeeder. My understanding is that the moment the birdfeeder is empty, you put all the dice back in before activating any bird powers, meaning that there are no dice to roll for the owl’s power. My mom thinks that you activate bird powers first, then put the dice back in the feeder. Do you use the “roll all dice not in birdfeeder” powers first, then replace the dice, or do you replace the dice and are not able to use the power?

    1. When the bird feeder is empty, you immediately re-roll all the dice before doing anything else. So the most dice the Eastern Schreech-Owl could roll outside the feeder is four.

  430. Hi,

    We’ve just played Wingspan for the first time and loved the finish, pace, gameplay and the ease of play.
    We found a deck of cards not mentioned in the rule book in the box. The deck has gears on the back and depicts … some round specific modifications. Where can I find the rules for these cards?

    Best regards
    Niels

    1. Hi Niels! Those cards are explained in the Automa rulebook. They’re used in the single player game.

  431. Hi!
    Thank You for this wonderful game! :)
    I have a question. Player has a bird that can “move to another habitat”. This bird has eggs on the bird card. If it moves to another habitat, does it lose or does it keep the eggs? In real life the bird would make a new nest in it’s new habitat. It would not take the old nest along.
    Please, clarify!
    Thanks!

      1. My interpretation of this is that the nest doesn’t change, the habitat changes, such as a dam is built turning grassland into wetlands.
        I also had the idea of a white power saying “choose a player to pick one of their birds to loose all of their eggs”. The automa would loose a cube. (If it doesn’t exist yet)
        (I can hardly wait to recieve my pre-ordered copy!)

  432. LUV Wingspan. Brilliant game. Totally addicted during quarantine. Rule question for certain powers: If your mat prevents you from playing part of a power, does that prevent you from playing the full power? Examples:
    – Bushtit brown power is: “tuck a card, If you do, also lay 1 egg on this bird”. But if Bushtit already has max 5 eggs laid, then you cant lay another egg, and therefore you cant tuck the card?
    – Red-legged Partridge: Lay 1 egg on each bird in this column. But if 1 bird in column already has max eggs, then the partridge cant lay any eggs on any birds, because it is prevented from laying an egg on at least 1 bird in the column?
    We interpret the rules strictly like this, unless phrases such as “may” or “up to” are included in the power. Are we on the right track?

    1. Thanks, Jeff! For your questions:
      1. You don’t have to lay the egg if you can’t or don’t want to. Either way you tuck first and then you have the option of laying the egg. (Edited to realign with current rules of allowing the player to opt out of benefits.)
      2. You can still activate this bird even if one of the birds in the column has max capacity eggs.

      Generally in Wingspan you can elect to not do something beneficial to yourself. This allows for both of your examples to work in the player’s favor.

  433. Hi and thanks for replying my previous question. I’ve got a new one, thanks in advance.

    When the bird at the most left, says that I can “repeat” another bird’s ability in the same habitat; as I am resolving the actions from left to right, does it mean I can not use that “repeat” because I haven’t used any brown power yet to be able to repeat it? Thanks again

    1. Check out the “rules questions” above on this page. This is what is says about your question:

      When a bird says that I can “repeat” another bird’s ability in the same habitat, how does that work?
      Basically, it means that you can re-activate any other “when activated” bird in that habitat. It doesn’t matter if you’ve already activated that bird or not this turn.

      1. Thanks for the reply. I’ve checked the rulebook and explications above before asking but with my friends we were hesitating and I wanted to be sure (our reasoning being: it is overruling the logic of going from the left to right and repeating an action that you couldn’t have already made). Thanks for clarification.

        1. I’m guessing you just mis-typed, but the actions get resolved right to left, as the rulebook clearly states.

          1. Yes you are right Caracara, a stupid mistake I’ve made (and not once but twice :) )

      2. I would suggest instead of the word ‘repeat’, use ‘mimic’ or ‘copy’. Repeat implies the action as having already been done.

        1. We considered that during the design process, Mike, but we didn’t want players to think that you’re copying the bird itself–you’re using using another bird’s ability.

          1. Synonyms of synonyms. You’ll get questions/interpretations no matter what word you use.
            Also, thank you for the facebook group suggestion!

  434. Hi! We love the game, have been playing it for two weeks straight. ALthough, there is one minor issue we cannot figure out: when you activate a bird that says you have to cache your gained food on it can you only activate it once throughout the entire game? Or is it possible to cache more then one food on one bird? Thanks for the answer!

    1. Thanks Lilla! For any activated ability, including caching food, you can activate it (when applicable) throughout the game. So you could end up with a pile of cached food on such a bird (just as you can end up with multiple tucked cards under birds that tuck cards or multiple eggs on a bird).

  435. We are confused about the End of Round goal: Sets of eggs in all there habitats… Does this mean that if I have one card in each habitat, with two eggs on each card, that I have two points? OR does it mean I have to have at least one egg on each card and I get a point for each column of cards? In order to get two points, I would need at least 2 cards with an egg on each of all three habitats? If I had six cards, two in each habitat and I had a pair of eggs on each card, is that worth 2 or 4 points? Also, is there a page somewhere with all the corrections? I bought my game in December, so perhaps by then my game already had all the corrected cards included.

    1. Hi Mary! I’m going to explain it in a different way and then go back to how the rule book explains it. Think of it like this: count the number of eggs in your three habitats. Compare those three numbers and the lowest number will give you the number of sets you have.

      The rulebook explains it something like this: 1 egg in each of the three habitats equals 1 set. If you have 4 eggs in the forest, 2 eggs in the grassland, and 5 eggs in the wetlands, then you have 2 sets total. (I don’t think this part was confusing you, but it doesn’t matter how many birds there are in each habitat, just the number of eggs on those birds.)

      If you bought your game in December, it is completely up-to-date. Any errors were long since fixed by then.

      1. We just had a long discussion about this and can play by the official rules, but (a big but) we think it much more interesting, strategic from a gaming perspective, and ecologically appropriate if one counts the number of columns with birds in each habitat where each bird has at least one egg. From a gaming perspective, it means you work to increase your diversity of birds across all habitats. Ecologically it is akin to trying to maximize the diversity of reproductively successful birds in different habitat types. Many conservation planning efforts are based on species and habitat diversity – not just getting larger number of future birds (eggs) of a small number of species. We strongly recommend an amendment to the rules and may just decide to do this ourselves as house rules because its so much more difficult AND strategic

  436. Regarding bonus cards. If it says “birds that eat cherries” do birds with the any food (wild card) count? I assumed yes, since these birds can eat cherries, but the detail on bonus card specifically says “any bird with a cherry symbol.”

    1. Right, since it’s looking for the cherry symbol, the cherry symbol itself must be on the birds (wilds don’t count).

  437. 3 questions.
    1.) Can I do the 2 for 1 food exchange on bird abilities like the Sandhill Crane. It has the discard 1 grain to tuck 2 cards from the deck. Can I 2 for 1 if I don’t have the grain to activate it?
    2.) When you Activate a bird ability like the Blue Jay’s for example; “Gain a grain from feeder if available and you may cache it”. Do I have to cache or is it actually giving me the option?
    3.)For the “Once Between Turns” ability; does it still work after the last person of the round finishes their turn?

    1. 1. For the Sandhill Crane, you must discard a [seed] to be able to tuck two cards from the deck.
      2. “You may cache it” means you have a choice. Either keep it in your supply or cache it on the bird. The choice cannot be changed later.
      3. Yes, “Once between turns” is just shorthand for “it resets after each of your turns.”

  438. Hi, I have a question about the European Robin – When Activated: From the supply, gain 1 food of a type you already gained this turn. Does this basically mean that whenever I choose to gain a food I can immediately gain another token of the same type?

    1. “When Activated” powers only happen right when they’re activated. So you don’t get double food some other time, you only get one food of a type you already gained that turn when the European Robin is activated.

      1. Yeah that’s what I mean – I gain a food token by placing the action cube at the end of the top row, and then when I move the cube to the left I activate the Robin power – allowing me to take the second identical token. Am I getting this right?

  439. When a brown power is activated and prompts me to tuck a card from my hand, do I have to?

    this keeps happening where I’m planning on playing a bird soon but in order to do so i need to first lay eggs or gain food and the next thing you know I’m being made to tuck the card instead.

    1. Activated brown powers is optional. So if you don’t want to tuck a card, you wouldn’t activate that power.

  440. If an opponent triggers an ‘everybody draws one food from the bird feeder’ ability do you *have* to take one food? (Just thinking about food blocking, etc).

    1. You’d have to let me know the exact wording on the bird you’re talking about, but players can generally decline a benefit.

      1. So for example Anna’s Hummingbird: ‘Each player gains 1 [die symbol] from the birdfeeder, starting with the player of your choice.’ So if your opponent activates the ability, asks *you* to pick first can you refuse? Or are you obliged to take a food?

        1. I’ve never seen anyone decline, but going with the general rule that a player can decline a benefit, I’m going to say any player can decide not to take a food from the feeder during the activation of Anna’s Hummingbird (they of course won’t get a 2nd chance to take food during that single activation).

          1. It makes sense to me. If by choosing a food I enable someone else to reroll the dice for a more favorable food, then I could actually gain a small advantage by leaving them undesirable food in the feeder, especially if it is near the end of the game, and they just needed a particular food to play one more bird before the game ends. Sometimes an entire endgame strategy depends on a having a particular set of food to play a particular bird to gain particular bonuses, etc.

          2. It’s an interesting question. I would argue that the player who triggered the brown power is the one entitled to the benefit.
            If I am not the player who triggered the power and refuse to take a food, I’m declining a benefit to myself for the sake of denying a potentially larger benefit to the player who triggered the power.

            I think allowing someone to decline taking a food is outside of the regular “a player can decide not to take a benefit” rule (because the benefit should be to the player who activates the brown power) and seems a bit contradictory to the spirit of the card that lets the player who activates the power choose who should take the food first. Maybe Jamey or Elizabeth can chime in?

          3. I’ll just chime in to back up Joe on this one. Hard to imagine it being good for you, but sure, you can pass up the food if you really want to be that person.

          4. Thanks a lot Elizabeth! I agree with Joe that I’ve never seen anyone decline but that was because we played that bird according to the wording on the card (“each player gains…” not “may gain”). Also, in the appendix “The hummingbird’s owner decides which person gains the first food”.

            I also agree with Caracara that this can be quite important in late game situations. In fact, we had a situation recently where someone chose another player to go first because they needed a specific food to play a bird on their last turn, that food was not currently available in the feeder, and an additional food was of no benefit to the player who had to go (well, so we thought!) first. Anyway, I would probably suggest to change the wording on the card and in the appendix for future editions.
            (And I think we’ll house-rule that one and will keep playing according to the wording on the card for now.)

          5. Can the player tasked with “choosing a player of their choice” [to begin selecting a food from the feeder] choose their own self to be the one who starts the food selection (Or does it have to be someone other than their self?)

  441. The Piliated Woodpecker says “All players lay one egg on any one bird with a cavity nest. You may also lay one egg on one additional bird.” Does that mean that you cannot put two eggs on one bird with a cavity nest when you play this card?

    1. Yes, the first egg must be laid on a cavity nest and the 2nd egg must be laid on a different cavity nest bird.

  442. Question about “once between turns” at the end of round 4… If you have used all 5 of your turns in round 4, and on your opponent’s final turn it activates one of your pink powers (ex: lay an egg), do you still gain that power? Or since you technically have no turns left, is the power forfeited? Thanks for any clarification!

    1. You can activate it between your last turn and the end of the game. “Once between turns” is just shorthand for “resets after your turn.”

  443. I have a question regarding pink card action. My husband tucked a card, I have the pink card “Snow Bunting”, I tucked a card and drew a card, my husband whats to tuck a card behind his pink card “European Goldfinch”, immediately after I tucked my card. Is this even possible? I thought he could only use his pink card when I tucked a card on my turn. Thanks in advance for an explanation. We love this game!!!

    1. You are right, Joy. Pink cards activate (once) between your turns. So they can’t activate on the pink card owner’s turn, and only activate during other players’ turns.

  444. For Name related Bonus, are the points awarded per bird you have or just the flat amout. For example if I have 3 bird with geography in the name to I get a bonus 9 points end game or do I get 3 points!

    1. For Cartographer, if you have 2 or 3 birds that qualify, then you get 3 points. If you have 4 or more birds that qualify then you get 7 points.

  445. I’m checking about the birds that have no food cost.

    Can they be played just by paying zero food, or do you have to have no food tokens in your personal supply before the no cost bird can be played?

  446. How is the ethologist bonus card in the EE supposed to work? Is it the total number of one colour in a row or the number of different colours in a row multiplied by 2?

    1. The Ethologist bonus cards means that you’ll choose one of the three rows of your birds at the end of the game, and then get 2 points per power color in that row (of the 4 types of colors, including no power/white). That means you can score a maximum of 8 points with this card if at least 4 birds have a different power color in a single row.

      1. Thank you! My partner just won by two points for having 8 white cards in a row because that’s how we understood it. Thanks for the clarification.

  447. 1: regarding greylag goose’s teal power; does its 3 grain food-cost count as 6 for the end of round goal “food cost of birds”?
    2: regarding the die symbol vs. the “color-wheel” symbol when gaining resource from feeder, is there any real difference? e.g. american redstart has a “color-wheel” symbol
    3: regarding red-bellied woodpecker; is its brown power two actions or one? a confusion arose when a player thought that you could keep the grain in your personal supply, another player argued you had to cache it. the card seems clear, but any clarification would be appreciated.

    sorry to post so many questions! love the game. maybe one day a latin american expansion. i know there are already many neo-tropical migrants represented, but would love to see more.

    1. 1. The Greylag Goose counts double only if the end-round goal is counting birds. “Food cost of birds” is counting food, so it does not double.
      2. No difference.
      3. You gain the food and then you have a choice to either keep it in your supply or cache it.

      No problem about the questions. They’re easy to answer this way. Have fun!

  448. How is the Red-Backed Shrike power played with Automa? Do I automatically receive a worm?
    Is there a FAQ for Automa questions about individual birds somewhere?

    1. Hi David! The 2nd to last page of the European Expansion has the Automa rules for these “steal power” birds and other issues that come up with some expansion birds. It’s pretty handy! Basically for the Red-Backed Shrike (and other similar birds), you can only “steal” from the Automa if it has any cubes on this round’s goal tile (but don’t remove the cube). Otherwise you gain nothing from activating it. And of course the Automa never benefits from your bird powers, so she wouldn’t take a food from the birdfeeder afterwards.

  449. Hi! I have a question. My boyfriend and I just got this game and in our first time playing he got two water birds: a yellow headed blackbird and a barn swallow. Both have a 3 egg maximum. Both allow for a tucked cards when activated. He played this to his advantage and racked up 20 extra “tucked” cards. It was an overpowering amount that I’ve read online is impossible to overcome especially if played in the beginning rounds. Is there a limit to the tucked cards? If not maybe it’s a variation we can add next time so it’s not unbeatable.

    Thanks!

  450. When using the Snipe power I (All players draw a card from the deck) does the deck also include the face up cards on the tray?

  451. Hi there! Love this game so much. My husband and I play every day and have a “score board” going. It’s helped keep our spirits up in quarantine and has gotten us into birding on our daily walks. So thank you so much for the amazing game!!

    My question is: can you discard multiple food tokens for multiple eggs at the end of the “lay eggs” row? (also as it applies to eggs for cards / cards for food)

    Thanks again!

    1. Thanks Cassidy! I’m glad you two are enjoying the game. You can only use a bonus once each turn (one conversion, like, discard 1 food token to lay 1 egg).

    2. Hi Cassidy! I’m so glad Wingspan is brining you joy during this time. :)

      As for your questions, you can only do that conversion one time.

  452. Question about Pink “Once Between Turns” actions:

    For pink cards that say “When another player takes the “gain food” action” (ex. Eurasian tree sparrow) or “When another player takes “lay eggs” action” (ex. Brown-headed cowbird), do these only activate if another player plays their meeple in the Forest (for the gain food action) or the Grassland (for the lay eggs action)? OR, can these pink powers be activated anytime someone gains food or lays eggs (from an activation power on another bird card in their turn, say for this example if these cards were in the wetland)?

    We’re wondering because the pink Snow Bunting (which activates tucked cards) is clear and states “for any reason”.

    Thanks in advance!

    1. Those pink powers that mention the “lay eggs” and “gain food” action refer to one of the 4 basic actions in the game, not from card effects. So a card that allows laying of an egg would not be the “lay eggs” action.

  453. If start by choosing gain food and and then activate this power, “each player gains one food token from the birdfeeder” and you make the first pick and after that the only two that are left shows the same face, do you re roll it before the next player takes from the birdfeeder?

    1. The player has a choice to reroll if all the dice show the same face AND that player is about to take food from the feeder. Just having the same face doesn’t cause a reroll. It’s a choice and the player must be about to take food.

  454. GOT the game from my uncle, who Konow I love birds! Is IT possible to Get the rulles in Norwegian?

  455. When you place a bird sideways and you have the ”Birds that only live in wet” bonus card, does the sideway card count as two cards because the unavailability to place 5 unique cards.

  456. If I only have 1 vacant space left in a habitat (4 spaces are filled), can I play a bird in that vacant space if the card says “When played, play a second bird ….”?

  457. Cetti’s warbler counts double toward end of round goal. How is this regarding the “Sets of eggs in habitat” If you only have Cetti and another bird in the water habitat, does Cetti count double so that you can get 3 sets if you have 3 birds in each of the other two habitats. (granted that you have eggs all of your 8 birds).

    1. Cetti’s Warbler, and other birds with the same power, only count double for end-round goals that count birds. “Sets of eggs” counts eggs. Another example of an end-round goal that doesn’t apply is “Food cost of birds.” If it had been, say, “birds in X habitat” and Cetti’s Warbler qualified, then it would count as two birds for that end-round goal.

      1. Knut: Keep in mind that the sets can include multiple eggs on one bird. So, you just count the number of eggs in each habitat, independent of how many birds they are placed on. You’re counting eggs, not birds. This has been addressed in the questions before (Look for the answer on January 7, 2020 at 9:44 pm, or search for the word “sets” on this page.) and is addressed in the rules.

        That said, Joe’s answer about the eggs on Cetti’s warbler not being doubled remains. Same thing for eggs for any other goal. You don’t double the eggs. The rules state this.

  458. Do other players have to reveal how many cards they have in their hand? Couldn’t find an official answer, but this will definitely need to be resolved before my kids can play another game with an end of round goal of total number of cards in your hand!

    Thanks.

    1. Hi again, Therese! Wingspan hasn’t been published in Swedish yet. So there is no official Swedish rulebook.

  459. When can a player at their discretion take some but not all of the resources to which they are entitled by some bird power? For example:

    * If I activate the Red-Legged Partridge’s brown power (“Lay 1 [egg] on each bird in this column, including this one.”), can I lay an egg on some birds in the column but not others? (I might want to do this, for example, if I have a Black Redstart on my mat [“Choose a habitat with no [egg]. Lay 1 [egg] on each bird in that habitat.”])?

    * If I play the Northern Flicker and activate its white power (“Gain all [invertebrate] that are in the birdfeeder.”), can I leave some of the invertebrates in the birdfeeder? (This could be advantageous, albeit mostly in contrived situations.)

    One can ask the analogous question about the Audouin’s Gull’s brown power (“Draw 2 [card] from the deck. Tuck 1 behind this bird and keep the other.”), though for card-drawing powers the question is largely academic, as there is rarely (if ever?) a reason to draw fewer than the maximum number of cards.

    1. As a general premise in Wingspan, you can take less of an action beneficial to yourself. So yes, you can take fewer than “all” invertebrates from the feeder with the Northern Flicker. And the others apply in the same way.

      This premise applies as long as there is not a conditional statement in the bird power. For instance, if it said “Do [action1]. Then if you do, also do [action2].” You can’t do action2 without first having done action1 (but you can do action1 without doing action2 if you wish).

  460. We have a rules question about the European Expansion: Some birds, like the White Wigtail, have a round end power that says “If you used all four types of actions this round, play another bird.” Our question is this: if you are using that power to play another “round end”-powered bird, do you then instantly get to use your new bird’s round-end power? Or do you have to wait until the next round to do it? My wife says one thing, I say another. Thanks!

    1. Round end powers (teal) can be activated in any order you wish. So if one teal power allows you to play a new bird, and that new bird has a teal power, you can activate the new teal power in any order with your remaining teal powers during the same round-end.

      1. The argument was that the last cube plays constitutes the end-of-the-round, and therefore the newly played power would only be eligible next time.

        1. Nope, you can activate all round-end powers that are available, even if they’re added during that round-end.

  461. Hi! We have a question..
    One of my partner’s birds has a brown power saying “if a wheat is available in the bird feeder you may cash it on their card”
    Currently there is only a fish.
    Therefore in my opinion he is unable to use his brown power as there is no wheat available.
    But he feels he should be able to re-roll the dice to see if a wheat does come up as in the rule books it says “if the bird tray is ever empty throw all 5 dice back in. If the dice in the tray all show the same face (including if there is only one die) and you are about to gain food for any reason you may first throw all 5 dice back into the bird feeder”

    Can anyone tell us who is right?

    Also….
    If you choose to discard a feather card in order to get an extra food on the gain food section. Do you have to take the two food tokens at the SAME time or for example if there is two dice in the feeder can you take one and then re-roll the remaining dice (including the ones outside the bird feeder). Again relating back to this rule of if the bird tray is ever empty throw all 5 dice back in. If the dice in the tray all show the same face (including if there is only one die) and you are about to gain food for any reason you may first throw all 5 dice back into the bird feeder”

    Thanks in advance

    Ellie & Scott

    1. 1. Here’s how the FAQ puts it higher on this page:
      “My bird card says ‘WHEN ACTIVATED: Gain 1 [food type] from the birdfeeder, if there is one.‘ There’s another bird card that says I can gain a specific food “if available.” Can I reroll if there’s only one type of die face in the feeder?

      Yes, regular reroll rules apply whenever you have the opportunity to gain food (see “Managing the birdfeeder”).”

      2. Each time you take a die from the feeder, you can assess the remaining dice to see if you can reroll. So you can take one, then reroll the rest if they’re all the same face.

  462. I love having multiple “move to another habitat” birds. I have had up to 3 of these birds in a row (sometimes the Mockingbird is the 3rd bird). I got massive amounts of resources, and each time. I planned ahead to what I would want to do next turn, and moved them all to that row so I could get a lot of whatever that row offered next turn. It becomes quite complex to make sure that you both maximize your resources, and also clear out a habitat just before you play a bird, so you don’t trap your mobile flock behind another bird! It makes for a very fun game. In a way, it is very like a mobile feeding winter flock that feeds together and helps each other find more food.

  463. If a player has multiple “move to another habitat” bird cards next to each other can they both move in a single turn? The second card (from right to left in order if play) isn’t the right most bird at the start of the turn but when it’s power is activated after the bird to the right of it has moved to another habitat there are no other birds to it’s right.

    1. Indeed, you can do that. You activate each bird one by one, looking at their current status only at the moment they’re activated.

  464. Hi!

    Thank you for a great game. Played it twice a day with my wife for the last few days in quarantine.

    I have one question regarding ”cartographer” though: do you realise that Turkey is a geography term?

    Kindly
    Rickard, Sweden

    1. Hi Rickard! Thanks for the question. Here’s how Elizabeth Hargrave, the designer, put it when asked the same question: “Hmmm…turns out etymologically this is a fair question. But in North America a turkey has become its own thing, people aren’t referring to the history of European misconceptions about where it’s from. So I’m sticking with the ruling that it doesn’t count. (And turkey vultures are named after turkeys, not the country, so they don’t count either.)”

      It may slightly affect bonus card percentages, but you’re welcome to houserule anything you’d like if you disagree. :)

  465. Hi. Enjoying the game. When you move your bird to a new habitat as a result of its being to the right of all other birds in its habitat, do you need to pay a new egg cost?

    Thanks.

  466. When determining the value of birds in a row for end of round goals, is a sideway’s bird counted as one or two birds?

    1. It fills two slots for that row (so a sideways bird could complete two columns) but it is only one bird.

  467. Dear Jamey,
    Please help with the viticulturalist too. Does the all food symbol count into it?
    Thank you,
    Peter

    1. No, the bonus card refers to a specific icon, so if you don’t see that icon on a bird, it does not count for the bonus card. This is for every bonus card of that type.

  468. Please help with the omnivore expert bonus card. In the Hungarian version it is not clear if this card gives extra points for the birds only with the all food symbol or they can have other symbols beside this as well.ie. all food + fish?
    Thank you!

    1. The birds can have other icons too, but among those icons must be the specific icon requested by that bonus card.

  469. The Bronze Cowbird, the Brown-Headed Cowbird, and the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo have the power of once in between turns, when a player performs the “lay eggs” action, he lays an egg on another bird with a specific nest type.
    The question is: do you get that egg from the bird or from the general supply? Thank you.

    1. When laying eggs, they’re always taken from the general supply and then placed on a bird. Thanks!

  470. At the end of round are the dice all rolled, similar to the bird cards being replaced? Or are the dice left as is and play resumes for the next round with some dice possibly out of the bird feeder?

    1. Nope, the only circumstances that all dice are rolled is as noted in the rulebook: When the birdfeeder is empty or (optionally) if a player is ready to gain food and all dice in the birdfeeder show the same face.

  471. We’ve assumed they are rolled outside the feeder and don’t affect the contents of the feeder. (In practice, we remove and set aside the feeder dice, use the feeder to roll the “out of the feeder” dice. We then put those dice back outside the feeder, and replace them with the original contents of the feeder.) A bit complicated, but it ensures that dice don’t go rolling all over the place and end up on the floor, knocking eggs off birds, etc. I suppose we could just get an alternate rolling box, but this works for us.

  472. When a bird’s activation calls for dice not in the feeder to be rolled, are they rolled outside the feeder? Or are they rolled in the feeder, and the food type mentioned in the activation is removed from the feeder if rolled?

    1. That type of bird power calls for you to roll the dice outside of the birdfeeder (don’t roll them into the feeder). Nothing is removed from the birdfeeder if the action is successful (these dice are outside the feeder after all).

  473. HI Jamey, I have a question regarding the birdpower, what does it mean “optional”? Is it optional to activate or optional to execute it? Example on American Bittern the power is to draw a card if you have the least bird in the wetland. So if the player has more than the other player than he can say that he doesn’t activate it?

    1. That’s correct. If it doesn’t benefit the player activating the bird, they don’t have to activate it. So it’s “optional.”

  474. For the “Bird Feeder” bonus card, do birds that eat the “wild” icon count toward the objective?

    1. No, that bonus card (and others like it) specify that it’s looking for cards with a specific food icon, so wild doesn’t apply.

  475. Does the End-of-Round Goal: “Count the total number of birds you currently have in this specific habitat row” include birds that are tucked- i.e., flocking, hunting or fishing??

    1. I don’t think so, since some of them just represent prey and not living birds. As for floks, I think Wingspan is about gathering as many UNIQUE birds as possible, so they don’t count upwards to the number of birds in a row. However, you still get points for your tucked cards at a later point while scoring. They just don’t count twice.

  476. Hi Jamey, thank you for answering. Let me also say what a fantastic game Wingspan is. I really love the details and artwork. I have no real problem with the English rules. I just wanted my parents to test this as well so it would have been nice with localisation in Swedish or Norwegian.

    1. Thanks John! There is a company working on a Norwegian version. The tricky thing is that the rules alone aren’t enough, as the cards are very text heavy–it’s necessary to have the full game in that language.

  477. It says on the back of the english rule book that you can find the rules in dozens (I assume a lot more than 12) of other languages at stonemeier.com/games/wingspan/rules but I cannot find them. Please point me in the right direction.

  478. Can you explain how to score the end of the round points for the Automa’s points? I do not understand the scoring cards for it & how to use it. There are birds for all 3 types, all four types, bird cards alone, and sets (-1)???

    Can you give an example? Round 1, Base value 1, egg in any? or what?
    or: Round 1, base value -1 sets of any???

    Thanks,

    Bryan

    1. Hi Bryan,
      You set up the end of round goals normally. For each round, find the round-end goal on the Automa scoring card for that round. The number beside the image of the current goal is a base number that tells you the MINIMUM count of that item that Automa will ‘have’ at the end of the round. That number will change each time the Automa cards show a blue cube (or a blue cube with an X). At the end of the round, when it’s time to compare how you did at the goal, Automa will have the base number shown on the card plus 1 for each cube placed there.
      Using the example on pg. 4 of the Automa rulebook: In Round 2, all 7 goals (eggs in any of those 3 habitats and eggs in any of those 4 types of nests) start with a base of 3. This essentially means that you can expect Automa to have MINIMUM of 3 eggs for that goal (in this case straw nests). There are also two cubes on the tile so, assuming this is the end of round 2, Automa has 3+2 or 5 eggs on straw nests. Compare how many you have to see how many VP you and Automa get.
      I hope this clears it up for you. Please let me know if you still have questions.

  479. New Players here! We have been through the new Player Guide twice, watched two different videos and read all the directions many times. We understand the need to preserve food and start with a low card count (like 1 or 2) but keep getting stoped at Turn 2 or 3. What happens when all players run out of food and/or cards at this early stage?

    Other questions using the New Player Guide to illustrate the questions:
    Player 1 – Turn 1: Why don’t you collect food as shown on the picture of the die in the left most position in the Gain Food row? And why is the bird power not activated in this position?
    Turn 2: Why do you gain 2 eggs in the left most position as the picture indicates but don’t follow the picture indication in the Gain Food row above? And is it true that you gain 2 eggs without playing a card?
    Turn 3: Regarding paying the egg cost at the top of the column, does this cost need to be paid only for the Gain Food row or also in the Grassland and Wetland rows as well if a card is played in those rows?

    Player 2 – Turn 1: What does it mean to “use the wetland” and why is placing a card in the first left position not using the wetland and thus (not) activating the brown power. Are brown powers not activated in the first left position of a row?
    Why do you not draw a card in the first left position of the Wetland row despite there being a picture indicating that action?
    Turn 2: This New Player Guide doesn’t mention playing a card in the left first position of the Grassland row? Is this always the case in this row?
    Turn 4: This references “cards” plural in our hand. But this was a practice round where they had us start out with 2 cards. We drew 1 card and then put it under the Vaux Swift which means no cards. What happens when you have no cards and/or no food.

    Thank you. I have requested to join the FACEBOOK group but still need to be accepted. We have friends coming over to play and would love the answers to at least these questions.

    Thank you. Gabrielle

    1. Hi Gabrielle! The Facebook group will be great at answering your questions. Also, this video is amazing too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgDgcLI2B0U

      But I can also try to answer things here. Generally, to answer your questions, there are 4 main actions. Play a Bird, Activate your Forest row, activate your Grassland row, and activate your Wetland row. The last three as similar, just different rows, the first, Play A Bird, is very different. When you’re playing a bird, you only play that bird, you don’t activate the row it’s on.

      Player 1 –
      Turn 1: This is demonstrating the “Play a Bird” action, not the “Gain Food” action. The video above will help you with this. You place the cube in the “Play a Bird” spot, not the “Gain Food” row.
      Turn 2: Explained above. You weren’t gaining food, you were playing a new board somewhere on your player mat.
      Turn 3. The egg cost is paid whenever you play a bird beyond the first column, no matter the habitat.

      Player 2
      Turn 1: Playing a bird is different than activating a habitat row. You don’t activate any powers in the row when playing a bird.
      Turn 2: I’m not sure I understand the question, but hopefuly I’ve already answered it or the video has helped.
      Turn 4: In turn two you drew more cards. So you have cards in your hand. If you are out of cards in your hand or food in your supply, you can still do actions that don’t require cards or food.

      Hopefully that helped.
      -Joe

  480. @Jamey Stegmaier: “WHEN ACTIVATED: Tuck a card from
    your hand behind this bird. If you do,also lay 1 egg on this bird.”

    What if the activated Bird has no space for other eggs?

    I can tuck a card behind this bird anyway, not laying the egg;

    or i cannot tuck a card if the Bird has no space for other eggs?

    Many thanks!

  481. I recently purchased Wingspan and noticed that 6 of the 170 bird cards do not have one of the three bird powers (for example, the HOODED WARBLER). So if I played the HOODED WARBLER and on another turn gained food, and then moved my action cube to the HOODED WARBLER, I would skip over it, just like I would if it were a ONCE BETWEEN TURNS bird card or a WHEN PLAYED bird card. Is that correct?

  482. Can I play several birds that “WHEN PLAYED: Play a second bird at normal cost” all in one turn (for example 4 birds)?

    1. Yes, if you use that type of bird to play another of that type of bird, you can then play another bird. Just make sure to pay the cost (food + eggs) each time.

      1. Thanks and a follow-up question: If a “WHEN PLAYED: Play a second bird..” has two different habitats listed (i.e. woods or field) could you play the when played bird in the woods and the second bird in the field?

  483. Can’t find this in the rules, hope you can help: are pink, white and blue powers optional? Or mandatory? Thank you!

  484. I have a rule question about round-end powers. If I use a round-end power to play a bird with a round-end power, does that second bird’s round-end power activate immediately?

  485. When a card tells me to roll all dice that are NOT in the birdfeeder, does the reroll rule still apply when all dice show the same?

    If so, one could simply wait to activate the card until there’s only 1 die out, and reroll until he gets the desired result

  486. For the Green Heron card (trading food) does the food token you give up go back to the supply or back to the feeder (i.e. change the face of one die in the feeder to represent the switch?

    Thanks

    1. It will go back to the supply. I can’t think of a situation where you could ever return food back to the feeder.

      1. If you are using nectar for the trade (payment), will it go to the supply or the player mat?

      2. When using a nectar as the trading food, does it go into the supply or to the player’s mat for nectar scoring?

  487. Hi, we have a query about the activation of pink powers. I’ve searched through this thread and can’t find any that clarify our specific issue.
    I made a successful predation with my owl in the second slot of the woodlands. Another player has the the Turkey vulture. Does the pink power (turkey vulture) activate before I complete moving my cube along the woodlands? Or do I complete my brown powers before the pink activates. We ask because if the (turkey vulture) player removes a dice it can effect the remaining brown abilities if they involve available dice.

    1. Hi Chelsea! A Pink power is activated directly after the action that caused it. So if a successful predation action activates a pink power, then the player with the pink power must complete their pink action before the original player continues doing actions in their row. This strict order of operations usually doesn’t matter, but you’re right, it could be important in some cases.

      1. Thanks for the quick reply. We’ve played a few times now and it didn’t come up for several games. But it made a huge difference yesterday’s game!

      2. As a follow up: I don’t remember the card name, but it was a if you tuck a card, then draw one. Another player had the turn end power that she could draw and tuck a card whenever another player tucks.(itseems like the rules say she can do this automatically and not when it gets back to her turn) So question, it’s my turn and I tuck and then can draw a card. Do I draw my card first or does the other player with the turn power draw first before I complete my action?

        1. Your opponent’s pink power will activate after you finish doing all the actions on the card that caused that pink power to activate. Basically you finish tucking and drawing, then the pink power does its thing, then you continue the rest of your turn (if you had any birds left to activate).

          1. Also about order of operations with a vulture, but this time involving the automa: The automa activates pink powers when it takes from the birdfeeder. Does the automa take from the birdfeeder strictly before the human player’s vulture?

          2. Yes, the Automa completes its normal action and then activates all pink powers (just like a human player would complete an action before any pink powers could be activated).

  488. Automa end of round restocking:

    When Automa plays “draw card” action on its last turn of a round, does the face-up cards got to be restock twice (once for ending Automa’s last turn and once for ending a round – therefore, discarding 6 face-up cards)?

    1. Technically, yes. You’ll discard the tray, and then refill, and then discard again. But unless the cards that are discarded matter to you, there’s no difference. Feel free to follow the rules strictly, or just save yourself a step. It’s up to you. Whatever you do, do it consistently and I’d say it’s fair. :)

  489. First of all, let me say that I don’t consider Wingspan just a game, but a work of art – so beautiful! The game has been my obsession since the end of August when I finally found a copy in a remote game store on the very tip of Cape Cod! :-) I would like to make a suggestion…. When the expansions are released, it would be helpful if they would include updated replacements for the affected cards in the base game. (for example: a new Anatomist bonus card to include “back” and a new Cartographer to include “European”). It would help settle a few arguments on game days! :-)

    1. For what it’s worth, I second this request. I’m currently typing up the revised lists and taping them to the cards. Not interested in rulebook consultation or having my players scratch their heads over hidden information. I imagine even adding 3, 6, or 9 different updates depending on expansions being used could generate some significant cost, but it feels absolutely necessary.
      Thanks for the excellent game. Just unboxed Oceania and I’m excited to play it.

  490. Any answer on the Eleanora’s Falcon and Mute Swan questions that you said you’d check with the designer on? Thanks!!

    1. While my answer remains the same (play with the card as printed), you are correct that those cards need the corresponding icons for future printings.

  491. And more than that (because it sounds like there may be an assumption), there is NEVER a bonus for placing a bird on a space (beyond what is printed on the bird card). The symbols on the spaces are what you get when you execute that action (gain food, lay eggs, draw birds). You receive the amount in the next unoccupied space to the right. Placing a bird on a space only incurs an egg and food cost, plus whatever is written on the cards. What is printed on the rectangle that you place the bird upon is irrelevant while you are playing the bird.

  492. Alright, so there are some cards like Montagu’s Harrier that say “Instead of paying any costs, you may play this bird on top of another bird on your player may. Discard any eggs and food from that bird. It becomes a tucked card.” It initially has a 2 rat cost and can only be played in grassland. I’m saying that since it says play on top of another bird on your player mat means that it can be on any bird in any habitat, but my girlfriend is arguing that it can only be on a bird in my grassland because that was the initial requirement, but I’m saying that since I’m not playing the bird as normal then the requirement goes away and I can play on top of any bird. What is the right interpretation? Thanks!

    1. Thanks for the question, Tyler! The Montagu’s Harrier power is a “When Played” power. That means to use its effect, it must follow all the normal rules of playing birds, include playing it in the appropriate habitat.

  493. What are the differences between all of the versions, from the first edition till the latest (7th, I believe?)

    1. Hi Jim! The only difference a new customer needs to know about is the newest version of Wingspan includes the Swift-Start Promo, which provides a scripted way for new players the learn the game. All other details in all other version of the game currently for sale are identical. Feel free to email me at Joe@StonemaierGames.com if you have specific questions about the minutia of early printings.

      1. Think of them more as reprintings, rather than different editions. The initial printing had some card errors, which were fixed in (I think) the 2nd printing. The Swift Start is an excellent addition, as it used to take me about 30-45 minutes of explaining to get a new player going with all the complexities and goals. Swift Start bangs out half a round in 20 minutes, and you can then explain goals and strategy on top of that base understanding of the game mechanics.

  494. Hey guys, love the game. Was wondering what would happen in this scenario.

    Turn 1: play a bird on the lay eggs space

    I now can never gain eggs because I don’t have the required eggs to lay eggs. What would I do if this ever happens?

      1. Thanks for the update, Dale! Just in case others are reading, I’ll clarify his misconception of the rules. The egg cost at the top of the mat is only for playing new birds. You never have to pay that egg cost when taking actions in the forest, grassland, or wetlands habitats. :)

  495. First of all I love Wingspan! Beautifully produced Jamey, with much attention to detail.
    I have a question about the Blue Jay.
    When activated. If there is 1 die in the feeder (since I’m looking for food) can I reroll all dice to see if a grain comes?

  496. Hi. I just played the game for the first time. I love the game!

    I have two questions.

    1. When we tuck a bird behind another one, do the powers of the tucked birds get activated like the one on top?

    2. When counting up round bonuses or final bonuses, I know the tucked birds count for 1 VP each, but do the tucked birds count at all toward bonuses like nest types?

    1. Thanks! (1) No, tucked bird cards are face down–they merely represent 1 VP at end of game, nothing more. (2) No, they’re considered blank, nothing other than 1 VP.

  497. Hi, just purchased this game the yesterday! I’m loving it! Did notice that my game was a blue turn token short… How can I acquire the missing component?

  498. Hi, question about the sets of eggs round objective. Does each set have to be in the same column vertically? Or do you just count the total number of eggs in each habitat and count the total number of sets regardless of where they are placed vertically?

    1. Hi Greg! The columns don’t matter. Another way of thinking about it: find the habitat with the fewest eggs and count the number of eggs there. That number equals your sets of eggs in all habitats.

  499. With the ecologist bonus card, can a player receive the bonus for multiple habitats (say the player has three birds in each habitat and all other players have 3+ birds in each habitat, thus netting 18 points)? Or is only one habitat able to be counted for fewest birds?

    1. Hi Scotty! The Ecologist bonus card is only looking at your own player mat. So you’ll be comparing your three habitats and scoring the one habitat (or multiple if tied) that has the fewest birds. I hope that answers your question. :)

      1. So if you have the ecologist card and only laid down three birds in each habitat, you receive 2 pts for every bird for a total of 18? That seems like it would win you the game every time!

        1. Oh sorry, I misspoke. You only count 1 habitat, even if you have ties for the fewest. Maximum 10 points if you happen to have all habitats filled with 5 birds each, which is very difficult to do.

          1. Correct. If you had a habitat with no birds, that would be your habitat with the fewest birds.

  500. We are enjoying the game very much, thank you for the effort to produce a quality game on a worthwhile subject.
    One suggestion and one nitpick.
    Suggestion: We know there are too many species to cover entirely with the game, but we would love to see an expansion set of cards that cover some of the birds that were missed in the first version. We love our Brown Thrashers, Snowy Owls, Hairy Woodpeckers and Purple Finches (to name a few). I’m sure you’ve heard this a bit already, so take it as intended.
    Nitpick: The materials are top notch (thank you) but we were a bit disappointed with the amount of plastic packaging and materials in the game. We personally see no reason for the plastic trays and there are far more plastic bags than is necessary. If part of the idea is to promote awareness of avian wildlife, it might be nice if some of the production and materials reflected care for the habitat as well.
    Thank you again for listening and for an excellent game.
    Rob

    1. Thanks Rob! Expansions will cover new continents, but there are far too many birds in the world to cover every bird on every continent, especially those that we’ve already covered.

      How many plastic bags are unused in your copy of Wingspan? We consider the environment in every decision we make. My primary concern are plastic components that are disposed of, not those that remain in the game–if you keep the plastic tray (which serves several important purposes in the game) in your game, then it’s not going to clog up the ocean. We’re working on eliminating shrinkwrap too.

      1. thank you for the reply. We do use the large plastic tray. We do not use the smaller clear plastic trays. We also find that we have six or seven additional plastic bags (maybe more) we do not use or need. We’ll find uses for them rather than throw them – but still…. We put all of the food tokens into one. All of the eggs into another. Even the move counters don’t need separate bags – we don’t find separating 8 counters of the same color out to be too difficult. I think additional bags came with the starter pack that was included with this version. I know it is a cost thing, but I’d sooner see cloth bags for the eggs and food tokens, since there are several of these.

        thank you for allowing the chance to give feedback.

        As for more bird cards. We get that. But, just think… Snowy Owls! ;)
        Best,
        rob

        1. Snowy Owls are already in the game. Just get the European Expansion. The Snowy is in fact the featured cover bird on the European Expansion box. The European Expansion also adds some interesting new wrinkles, such as end-of-round powers, some new end of round goals, and some innovative brown powers. You can find a description of all of these in the online copy of the rulebook for the expansion.

    1. Hi Tig! I’m not sure I exactly understand your question, but I’ll try to help. The Common Nighthawk is one of the birds that will move habitats if it’s to the right of all other birds in that habitat. So when you activate the habitat it is in, and then activate this bird, you may move it to a different habitat, and then continue activating the originally chosen habitat. If you have more questions, myself and many others can help you at the Wingspan Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wingspanboardgame/

  501. I do not understand this rule: ONCE Between TURNS: When another player’s [pirat symbol] succeeds, gain 1 food from the birdfeeder.
    What is meant with “succeeds”?

    1. That is the predation symbol. Succeeds means that the conditions for gaining a benefit are met. The most usual conditions are: 1) Rolling some dice and seeing whether a particular prey item (mouse, fish, etc.) pops up, 2) Drawing a card to see whether the wingspan is below X, 3) The more unusual new European expansion powers of deploying a bird using birds from your hand that get tucked as prey.

  502. Hi. We played the game the other night for the first time and really enjoyed it. We did have one question. My son had 2 birds in the forest habitat, so the next gain food action would give him 2 foods (col 3). One of his forest birds had the hunting power to “roll all dice not in the birdfeeder” (sorry I don’t recall which bird). There were 2 different dice in the feeder when he played a gain food action. It seemed his options were
    1) take the 2 foods in the feeder and restock it leaving no dice for the hunting power
    2) take 1 food, then restock the feeder before taking the 2nd food, leaving 1 die for the hunting power
    3) take only 1 food and leave 4 dice for the hunting power (his preference)

    In general, is a player allowed to take fewer items than shown?

    1. Dan: Thanks for your question. Yes, a player is allowed to take fewer items than shown, so option (3) is viable.

      1. In that same case, is the next fourth option posible?:
        4) take the 2 foods in the feeder and restock it after activating the hunting power.

        Thanks!

        1. No, because as soon as you take the second die, you must reroll them–the hunting power won’t activate until later.

  503. If I have more than one pink power card on my board, can I take that action (when activated) for each one of the cards?

    1. Also would be nice to have shiny card collection for iconic strong birds. These could be optional to play in the game or not.

  504. Hi! I would like to ask for some information about the translation. I would be interested about the Hungarian translation especially. The Latin names are completely correct to my knowledge BUT the hungarian translation is very mixed up and not correct at all. If I’m correct the publisher in Hungary is Delta Vision Publishing. Is it possible somehow to contact the translator or the publisher? Because I know a lot of ornitologist in person and could offer a huge help to correct it out. Thanks for your feedback!

    1. Csaba: Thanks for offering to help! I would recommend that you contact Delta Vision about this, as it’s their translator who translated the game.

  505. I got Wingspan for my girlfriend for Christmas and she along with her family love it. It’s also become my favorite game as I love the all the analytical/probabilistic thinking involved. But we have one rule that we’ve been arguing about that we were hoping to get clarification on:

    With the pink cards that say, “Once Between Turns”, can those cards’ powers only be used a maximum of one time during the entire four round game?

    Thanks!

    1. Alex: For those types of powers, they can be used many times over the course of the game, but only once between your turns (turns are different than rounds). For example, say you’re playing a 3-player game. The player to your left takes her turn and triggers your “once between turns” ability. You gain that benefit. Then the next player also triggers the ability. But because the ability only works once between turns, nothing happens then. It’s then your turn, and the ability resets and can be activated by another player.

      1. Thanks for the clarification. So for a bird that had the pink power which says, “Once Between Turns when someone plays a bird in the forest habitat, gain an invertebrate from the supply”, whomever played that card early in the game could get invertebrates from the supply a lot of times since up to 5 birds per player could be played in that habitat as long as they weren’t trying to do it when it was their turn? It seems like it would make those cards very valuable.

        1. That’s right! The order in which you play cards in Wingspan makes a big difference (and makes each game feel different). :)

  506. Loved the game.
    Quick rule question that just came up in our last game. When playing a bird, you can convert any 2x foods to 1x food. Can you instead convert 4x food to 2x food on the same turn? E.g., you have 4 grubs but actually need 2 berries.
    Related, can you convert to foods that you don’t need for the bird you’re currently playing, but for another bird you plan to play later?

    1. Samuel: Thanks for your question. When playing a bird, you can do the 2 to 1 conversion as much as necessary to pay for the cost of that bird. That’s it.

      1. You guys are awesome. I’ve never seen a game with such an responsive team behind it. Here’s the follow-up then. Does the same stand for the other conversion opportunities (i.e.: card-for-food, food-for-egg, egg-for card)? Can those be done as many times as wanted?

    1. That’s the core benefit of using the corresponding row on turns when you have 5 bird cards filling that row.

  507. Three European Expansion Questions:
    1) Greylag Goose (and 2 others) have a blue power: ROUND END: This bird counts double toward the end-of-round goal, if it qualifies for the goal.
    So, the question is, if the goal is “Bird cards in Hand” does the bird count as 2 birds in your hand?

    2) Eleonora’s Falcon: Brown power WHEN ACTIVATED: Roll all dice not in birdfeeder. If any are Mice, lay 1 Egg on this card.
    Is this a predation power? It seems like one, as this is a Falcon, and the mouse would be a prey item, allowing the falcon to have a bigger brood. However, there is no predation symbol on the card, so we’re not sure whether this counts towards “Birds with a predation power” or “When a predation succeeds.” Was this just an omission?

    3) Mute Swan has a tucking power (WHEN ACTIVATED: Choose 1-3 birds in your Wetland.
    Tuck 1 Bird Card from your hand behind each. If you do, draw 1 Bird Card.) But it has no flocking symbol. So, is it a flocking power? It is listed in the rules under “Flocking Powers”. It is a very similar power to the Common Chaffinch’s power, which does have a flocking symbol. Was the lack of a flocking symbol on Mute Swan an omission?

    1. Thanks for your questions. I’ll answer below.

      1. No, you can only use the abilities of birds you’ve played, not birds in hand.
      2 and 3. I think you make good points here. I’ll check with the designer, but for now, I would recommend playing them as printed.

  508. I cannot figure out this game! I’ve watched videos and it’s so confusing. So disappointed we can’t figure it out!

  509. So, to me, Eleonora’s Falcon’s power seems like a predation power:
    WHEN ACTIVATED: Roll all dice not in birdfeeder. If any are mice, lay 1 on this card.
    However, the falcon does not have the predation symbol on its brown power. Is this an oversight, or was this intended?

  510. Does the Greylag Goose (Blue Power: This bird counts double toward the end-of-round goal, if it qualifies for the goal) count as 2 birds in your hand if the end-of-round goal is Bird Cards in Hand?

  511. I am playing with my 8 year old son. When we’ve played, here’s the situation we can’t figure out:

    He starts with two bird cards and 3 foods.
    He plays one bird card by paying a food cost of 3 and it is not a forest bird.
    So he is immediately stuck and can’t get more food to play the next bird.
    None of my birds say “everyone collects food” so I can’t help him on my turn.

    What are we doing wrong??

    1. Heather, one can take the “gain food from birdfeeder action” even if there are no birds in the forest habitat. (Similarly for “lay eggs” or “draw bird cards”.)

  512. Hi, we just recently discovered this game and we love it, but we ran into a problem when playing. My mother played the Loggerhead Shrike which has the ability “Once between turns, is another player takes the “gain food” action, if they gain any rodents, you can get one rodent from the supply and cache it in this card.” I had in play the Eastern Screech Owl in my “Gain Food” row, and when I took the Gain Food action, I decided to activate its power, which was to roll all dice not in the bird feeder and if any are rodents, I can gain one rodent and cache it in the card. I rolled a rodent on the dice and cached one onto my card, but then my mother interpreted it as I “gained a rodent” and cached a rodent on her shrike. I, and my brother and sister in law who were also playing, all thought that was the wrong interpretation of the card, that since I had cached the rodent and would not be able to use it in the game, it did not count toward my mother being able to cache her rodent. The food I gained from the Gain Food action was a wheat (grain) rather than a rodent, after all. I was hoping you could clarify this for us. In this situation, would the Shrike ability activated not?

    1. Corinne: Thanks for your question. This ability is referring specifically to the core benefit of the “gain food” action, not “when activated” bird abilities. So no, the Shrike ability would not activate.

  513. New to game. After two hours reading rules, watching videos… still unclear if you use only one action cube per each player turn, or the same cube is repeatedly returned to left side and used in next turn.

    1. One action cube per each player turn. Hence you get 8 actions the first round, then 7 then second round, 6 the third round, and 5 the fourth round.

  514. The Viticulturalist card gives bonus points for birds that eat cherries. Do birds that eat ‘wild’ (rainbow) food count?

    1. No, for bonus cards like the Viticulturalist, they’re looking for that specific icon on the bird cards.

  515. My Husband and I are debating the interpretation of the Egg-Laying Power on the European Expansion (Teal Round End) card…. ex: Dunnock

    “Choose 1 other player. For each action cube on their (X habitat), lay 1 egg on this bird”

    We are debating what the/an/a “Action Cube” is? Is it the colored block you use each time you have a turn…and then return to the habitat at the Left most after you have completed your play? Or something else?

    Please Advise?

    Thank you in advance…and Bravo on SUCH a beautiful game!

  516. When counting points after a round do you count the tucked cards also?

    Example: it’s the end of round 1 and you need to count all your birds in the forest (or all ground nest cards with an egg on top, etc). Do you then count only the TOP cards or tucked ones also (up to max 5 points)?

    Same question for counting the bird points (feathers) at the end of the game. When counting tucked cards as (feather) points, numbers add up real fast so I don’t think so but can’t find the answer.

    1. Klaasje: You only count played birds. Thematically, all of the tucked birds have been eaten by the face-up played bird.

        1. As printed in the rules, you only count VP on birds you’ve *played*. Also as printed in the rules, you gain 1 VP per tucked card (NOT the VP value on those cards).

      1. So you have now said both that you play a kite over a horizontal bird, and (earlier) that you can’t play over a roller. Are those contradictions?
        Please clarify. Thanks!!

          1. If you play the Red Kite over a Grey Heron, can you count the Grey Heron’s 3 feathers when scoring, and can you place two eggs on the Grey Heron?

          2. When you play a bird over the Grey Heron, the new bird will also go sideways, completely covering up the Grey Heron, which becomes a tucked bird.

      1. If a player chooses the Draw Bird Cards action and is drawing 2 (or more) cards, can he draw both cards from the deck one at a time (thus allowing him to see the next card in the deck before deciding on his second card), or does he decide on his 2 cards before drawing (thus forcing him to draw no more than 1 from the deck)?

  517. Happy Thanksgiving, Jamey.

    A question came up during our most recent game of Wingspan (original version – no expansion yet). One of the players played a CHIHUAHUAN RAVEN in the Grasslands (When Activated: Discard 1 [egg symbol] from any of your other birds to gain 2 [wild food icon] from the supply.) . The next turn she played a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD as the second bird in her Grasslands (When Activated: Repeat a brown power on one other bird in this habitat.). A few turns later she placed an action cube to get three eggs, which she placed on her various birds. Next she moved her action cube to the NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD and activated its brown power. We agreed that the brown power for the CHIHUAHUAN RAVEN requires the player to discard an egg from one of their other birds (i.e., not the CHIHUAHUAN RAVEN ), but wondered which bird could /couldn’t discard an egg when the NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD copied the CHIHUAHUAN RAVEN’s brown power. The three choices were 1) an egg from the CHIHUAHUAN RAVEN, 2) an egg from the NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD, or 3) an egg from some other bird (this is what she did to avoid controversy).

    The basic question is: When a bird’s brown power lets it “repeat” another bird’s brown power, should you play the “repeat” brown power as if you had two of the same bird? In this case the player would “pretend” that the NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD was a second CHIHUAHUAN RAVEN for this turn, to determine which egg to discard. Thank you for any guidance you can provide.

    Stan

    1. The repeating bird repeats the power as if it’s printed on the repeating bird.

      EDIT: To be clearer, the bird allows another bird to repeat their action (whether they’ve taken that action yet or not). The repeat bird does not take on the power of the other bird.

      1. This came last night, regarding the raven power (When Activated: Discard 1 [egg symbol] from any of your other birds to gain 2 [wild food icon] from the supply.)
        What is the real meaning of “Discard 1 egg from any of your other birds”?. the way it is written enables 2 interpretations:
        If you have 3 additional birds with at least 1 egg on them.
        1) You can only pay 1 egg in your turn and needs to be from another bird. Pay 1 egg and get 2 food tokens.
        2) You can decide to pay 1 egg from each of the other 3 birds. Pay 1-3 eggs to get 2-6 food tokens.

        Thanks

        1. It should be 1 egg only. The Appendix says: “Discard the egg to the supply.” As it is, 1 egg for 2 foods already tips the game heavily towards the Raven owner. If you could do any number of eggs, each for 2 foods, the Raven would pretty much guarantee a win for the owner.

      2. So, if a Mockingbird repeats a tucking power (such as the Barn Swallow which says tuck a card, then draw one), the card gets tucked under the Mockingbird, right? This means that it then counts as a “Bird with Tucked Cards” for that European Expansion end of round goal. But it presumably does not count as a bird with a Flocking Power for Bonus cards. Is all of this correct?

        1. Thanks for the question. The Mockingbird allows you to repeat a bird’s power (in the same habitat). So technically the bird you’re repeating will potentially get two actions (in this instance, two chances to tuck under itself). The Mockingbird does not take on the powers of the other bird and so in this instance would not gain a tucked card. In the European Expansion there are some cards that allow you to tuck cards on other birds, and to answer the second part of your question, that does not give the “flocking power” to that bird, but would count for the “Citizen Scientist” bonus card in the European Expansion which only looks for “birds with tucked cards.”

          1. Oh that is sad. I thought it was a genius move that I played a bird that could be moved to another habitat, then a repeat bird to the right of it. Later, I activated the repeat bird and moved it to a new habitat, thus also freeing the migrating bird to move. But apparently that was not a legal move. Even though in real life, the mockingbird does not talk another bird into singing their song twice, but instead sings their song also, as if they are that other bird. Well, good to know. Thanks!

  518. I apologize if this is a repeat question. If the brown power says “when activated” do you have to activate it whenever you take that action? I’ll give 2 examples. Do you always have to move the birds with the move to another habitat power or can you choose to leave it in that habitat. Second example is a brown power that says all players lay eggs on a cup nest, can I choose not to activate it? So I don’t lay my 2 eggs (maybe my birds are full) but also other players can’t either.

    1. Okay I see that you already said you don’t have to activate. But I’d love if you’d clarify whether that means in an “all players” scenario that the other players can’t take advantage of the brown power too.

          1. Great! Thanks for the quick reply. I could see “golden” is, since it comes from the noun gold. Snowy is on the photographer card, but Snow (the noun) isn’t. Oddly enough, my opponent had all those three cards! He’ll be happy to know he won :)

          2. As an amateur ornithologist, I think that for this particular bird, “Snow” means the habitat where it lives. Unlike in Snowy owl, where I think it means it is white colored as in an “owl covered by snow”.

  519. In the expansion, there are two new abilities that interact oddly. If I play the European roller sideways in the plains habitat and later want to play the common buzzard in the plaims, do I cover half of the bird to fill a plains slot or do place the buzzard sideways to cover the roller and take up both slots?

        1. Kristina, I’m sorry, but my previous answer was incorrect. You actually can play the Buzzard on top of the Roller.

  520. For the “once between turns” actions, if you were first player, do you have to wait for everyone else to play a second time and only get to activate this ability once as you have not gone yet? Or should you be able to activate it again on the second go around when your turn is “skipped” due to the first player marker moving clockwise?

    Or in other words,

    Player 1 goes
    Players 2-5 go, “once between turns” ability is triggered
    Round changes, player 2 now goes first
    Players 2-5 go again before player 1 gets another turn
    Does player 1’s ability trigger again during this new round? Or not, because player 1 hasn’t gone yet?

    1. The end of the round causes all “once between turns” abilities to end until the next round begins (they reset).

      Correction: The end of the round does not reset pink powers. Only your turn resets your own pink powers.

      1. Thank you! That’s even better, as if I’m understanding correctly everyone’s abilities can be triggered again once a new round starts!

      2. We’ve generally played that as soon as the trigger occurs, the player whose pink power is activated gets to take their action. We let that player take the action as soon as the turn is finished, but before any rounds can end. It says “once between turns.” It doesn’t say “Wait until your turn comes, and if the trigger happened then act during your own turn.” We assume the action can be performed in between that pink power owner’s turns, and the most convenient time to do that is right after the triggering player has finished their turn.

        Example: 1) Predation action happens for player 3, triggering a food reception from the feeder for player 1. 2) Player 1 can choose a food from the feeder. 3) Player 3 takes their turn (or if it was the end of the round, do end of round stuff and then the next “First Player” takes their turn).

  521. Thank you for answering my former question.
    I have some questions about the rule again.

    1.
    When I activate the power “Each player gains 1 food from the birdfeeder, starting with the player of your choice.”, can I choose myself for the starting player?

    2.
    If, during I activate Loggerhead Shrike’s power, someone gains food from the birdfeeder by activating another bird’s power, can I get a mouse from the supply?
    Or Loggerhead Shrike’s power means, only when someone gain food by normal food-gaining action in forest area, I can get a mouse?

  522. I bought a Japanese version of this game.
    I played it 2 times (first time with Automa, second time with my friends), and I truly love this game!
    Thank you for all people spent a lot of time and made a tremendous effort for this joyful, beautiful and wonderful game!

    Now, I hove two question about the rule.

    1. IF during someone activate the power “ONCE Between TURNS: When another player plays a bird [in a specific habitat], gain 2 [specific food] from the supply.” in habitat-A, another one play a bird with the power “Play a second bird in your [specific habitat]” in habitat-A and play a second bird, the first one gains 4 [specific food] or 2? (By the way, in Japanese version, the power is changed to “gain 1 [specific food]”.)

    2. When I get food tokens / eggs / bird cards from the 2nd, 4th and 6th column of the board, can I pay 2 or more bird cards / food tokens / eggs and gain 2 or more additional item?

    P.S.
    I’m sorry if my English sentences are incorrect.

    1. Thank you for your questions! I’m glad you’re enjoying Wingspan. For those questions: 1. “Once between turns” means only once. If a player plays two birds in one turn, only the first bird triggers your pink power. And 2. You can only pay to get food/eggs/cards a single time.

      I hope that answers your questions! If you’re on facebook, look for the Wingspan group there. It’s a great place to get rules questions answered quickly.

      -Joe at Stonemaier

  523. Hello Jamey !

    I am French and have a question about a basic rule in the game : the “when activated birds”.
    Am I obligated to activate the power of “when activated bird” or do I have the choice to not activate it ?

    The French translation is unclear for this rule point.

    I really love your game and I can’t wait for the European expansion by the way ! :O

  524. Hello Jamey,

    in our most recent game of Wingspan, we had a disagreement on the “Pink Power” of the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo (ONCE BETWEEN TURNS: When another player takes the “lay eggs” action, this bird lays 1 [egg symbol] on another bird with a BOWL nest). I did not have any BOWL nest birds in play when my opponent took the LAY EGGS Option, but I did have two birds in play with STAR nests. I feel that an egg could be placed by my Yellow-Billed Cuckoo on one of my STAR nest birds. We reviewed the rules on Page 8 (Types of Nests) in the rule book and Page 8 (Egg-Laying Powers) in the Appendix, but still disagreed.

    Basically, the two questions that we need answered are:

    1) Specifically, can the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo (or American Avocet, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Bronzed Cowbird or Brown-Headed Cowbird) lay an egg on one of a player’s STAR nest birds when another player takes the LAY EGGS Option?

    2) In general, is there any situation (e.g., Bonus Cards, Brown Powers, Pink Powers, End-of-Round Goals) )when a STAR nest bird cannot be “used” instead of one of the “specific” four nest types (i.e., PLATFORM, BOWL, CAVITY or GROUND)?

    We’d appreciate your help.

  525. Hello- just starting out – getting game play down before having family & friends join me-
    please, If a bird -when activated (and on the right) can move to another habitat- does the moved bird gain anything from the new position -as food, eggs, cards? Or is it just a shift in position? Thank you.

      1. Wow. Thanks for the super fast response! I think that I was hoping to use it to garner more supplies…is the moved bird still restricted to its designated habitats or can it go to any. (maybe all these are all ready indicated on all the cards that have this, but I haven’t looked through all.) I guess I haven’t played enough to see/understand any advantage to shifting position – except maybe to open spot for another more advantageous birdcard.
        Thank you. Gloria

        1. It can keep migrating on future turns whenever you activate it. Generally the reason you would do it is to set up your next turn (as it makes the core action more powerful on its new row).

  526. When you take an action (eg gain food or lay eggs), and there are already birds placed in that habitat, how many foods, eggs, cards do you get? (a) the number in the original left most column; (b) the number under the last bird placed; or (c) the number showing in the rightmost place.
    Thank you!

    1. Abby: The number showing in the space to the right of the last bird in that habitat. So, if you have 2 birds in the habitat, the benefits you gain at the beginning of that action are in the middle column (the 3rd slot).

  527. I feel like this is a very stupid question (took three games for us to get most of the rules, we think): is it true that in a game you deal only ONCE on the first round? So cards are dealt once and then four rounds till the game ends with no new cards?
    Thanks.

  528. If the last player in a round (e.g., Round 2) plays the Draw Bird Cards option and selects one (or more) of the three face up cards, do you replace the chosen card(s) from the deck before the remaining face-up cards are removed (and replaced) for the start of the next round?

    1. Technically yes, but because those cards are going to be immediately discarded, I’d recommend not doing so. It’s random either way.

      1. One advantage (?) of displaying the replacement card(s) before immediately discarding it / them at the end of the round is knowing which bird(s) will no longer be available to help achieve bonus card goals or end-of-round goals.

  529. When activating the Blue Jay’s effect – the way it is written seems like I gain a grain of available from the bird feeder – but then have the option to cache is or keep it as a food token. Is this correct? Or am I required to cache it?
    It says “you may cache it on this card”. So it seems like I have a choice to keep it and not cache it?

  530. If the first bird I play in a habitat is a bird with the power, “if this bird is to the right of all other birds in its habitat, move to another habitat,” (so technically there are no other birds to be oriented to the right of) can I still move it? Or does it need to be at least second in a habitat so there is another bird that it is to the right of?

      1. When you move the bird, do you get the bonus it lands on? For example if I move from the forest to the water, do I get a bird card?

  531. Question about sets of eggs in habitats for end of round goals. Is it just a count of eggs in each habitat, regardless of how many cards are involved?
    Example: Forest: 2 cards (2 eggs, 1 egg), Grassland 2 cards (2 eggs, 1egg), Wetland: 1 card (3 eggs).
    So, is this:
    3 sets (because there are 3 eggs per row)
    2 sets (because you’ve 2 sets in the first column, and none in the 3rd column)
    1 set (because you only count each bird once it has an egg on it).

    I’m interpreting it the first way, and a friend thinks it should be the 2nd way.

      1. Please clarify: In the example provided by Caracara, is the number of sets eggs equal to “2” since the first column bird card in the Forest and in the Grassland has exactly 2 eggs (even though the Wetland bird card has 3 eggs)? In addition, there is not a Wetland bird in the second column (therefore no Wetland eggs in Column 2). Thank you.

      2. So, I’m unclear now. In my example above, there are 3 eggs in each habitat (row). I thought the columns don’t matter, so please explain why it is only 2 sets.

          1. Oh okay, I read this incorrectly. You are indeed looking at eggs in the rows. If you have 3 eggs in each row, that’s what matters.

  532. Hello!

    With the green end-of-round goals, how does it work with a 3 players tie?

    Let’s take an example:
    We are at the end of round 4 and three players have 5 birds in forests. Do they get (7+4+3)/3=4 or (7+4)/3=3 ?

    Thanks a lot!

  533. When taking the “draw bird cards” action, players may have the option to discard an egg for an additional bird card. Does a player need to decide at the beginning of his/her turn whether he/she wants to exercise that option (before having drawn any bird cards) or may he/she look at the drawn bird card(s) and then decide whether to exercise the option?

    (Similarly, when taking the “gain food from bird feeder action” and deciding whether to exercise the option of discarding a bird card for an additional food die.)

    1. A player may look at the cards they’ve drawn (you can select from the face-up cards or the top of the deck) and then decide whether or not to exercise the option. Same with gaining food.

  534. Two questions from our maiden game yesterday: 1) once you choose to activate a bird’s powers, is it a one-time thing? Or if you place another bird to the right on a subsequent turn, can you use the same activation powers again? 2) once you have 15 birds on your board during the 4-part round, what happens if you have other bird cards along with the food and egg costs, but nowhere to put them? Thanks.

    1. 1. Every time you activate a habitat, you have the choice of activating each “when activated” ability from right to left.

      2. If you’re able to fill up your board with birds (which can happen, though it’s very rare–if it’s happening to you a lot, it’s possible you may be playing a rule incorrectly), you cannot play more birds.

        1. I’m referring to the 3 actions that are not “play a bird”. For example, if you use your turn to gain food, you gain some food from the birdfeeder and then activate “when activated” birds from right to left in the forest habitat.

  535. When you have the yellow breasted chat and you move it to another habitat, do you continue playing your action piece to the left in the new habitat or the old one? (E.g. I play draw a card, get to the chat, and move it to the forest. Do I continue to move to the left in the forest or the wetland?

    1. Your action tokens remains in the original habitat, as that’s the action you selected to take that turn.

  536. WHEN ACTIVATED: Each player gains
    1 food from the birdfeeder, starting
    with the player of your choice.

    I take that as the player playing the card can choose to go first but the others playing say he would have to choose another player.
    Please clarify.

    1. You are a player, so you can certainly chose yourself. If you were required to choose another player, the card would say, “starting with another player.”

  537. […] game has easy to understand rules but it’s not strategically simple. There are three habitats represented on the player board […]

  538. Hi Jamey, can the same star nest bird(s) count toward two end game bonus cards? For example, could I score both the Nest Box Builder and the Platform Builder bonuses if I had three star nests, one platform nest and one cavity nest in play? Thanks!

      1. Does it one star next card could contribute to one end of round goal on round 1 the count towards the number of next needed for the round 2 after?
        Thanks

  539. Thank you for the quick response. We look forward to the expansions, especially for South American and African bird species.

  540. We love Wingspan ! ! ! Please clarify: The Canada Goose says “When Activated: Discard 1 Grain to tuck 2 bird cards from the deck behind this bird.”. If I do not have a Grain token may I pay two other food tokens as a substitute for the 1 Grain token?

  541. Hi Jamey, we just bought Wingspan and are playing through our first game. But we left the game out overnight and our dog *literally* ate the instruction book! We just downloaded it, but we’re sad because the original book was so beautiful! Is there any way for us to purchase an extra rulebook from y’all?

  542. When resolving the fishery Manager bonus is it *only* the cards that have the fish symbol that count or do the cards bearing the ‘any food type’ symbol count towards the bonus too?

  543. Beginner here – when you pay an egg to play a bird, where does the egg come from? The board, from eggs you’ve played? Or the egg stock?

    1. Alison: It comes from eggs on your birds (eggs are either on birds or in the general supply–you can’t spend eggs from the general supply).

      1. Right. I was hoping for “concise,” rather than sorting through 12 pages of posts. ;-)
        I believe I have the third printing, which corrects many errors, but still omits “Prairie” on the Cartographer Bonus Card, and has 10% vs. 16% on the Omnivore Expert Bonus Card. It’s difficult to know if there’s something else I should be adjusting.
        Thanks for the lovely game.

  544. When playing a bird whose card immediately places an egg in every bowl nest on your player mat, do star nests also get eggs placed in them?

      1. if a bonus card says birds that eat grain – does a bird that eats worm + anything (the multi color circle) count?

    1. Yes, whenever you’re about to gain a food token and all dice in the birdfeeder show the same face, you may reroll all dice.

  545. Does the insert fit sleeved cards? Does it have room for expansions?

    The answer is NO!
    The stack of cards will be too thick and therefore will never fit all in. Please update FAQ answer.

    1. There are different types of sleeves, Patrick. I’ve definitely seen photos of a fully sleeved set of cards fit into the insert.

      1. Hi Jamey, i have several friends with the same problem. It’s okay, I mean there are alot of cards. But the stack increased 50% in size, with only space for approx 20%.

        Dunno where you’ve found those pictures. But I thought it would be nice to give some real advice.

        Anyway, thanks for the FAQ

          1. Sure, just keep the bonus and Automa cards separate and spread the bird cards over the 3 slots.

            Either way, I’ve adjusted the FAQ to note that sleeved cards may fit differently based on the type of sleeves.

  546. Question about one of the Once Between Turns card: If the card states “When another player’s (predator) succeeds, gain …” what does succeed mean? Thanks

    1. It means for example if someone else activates the hunter power that says “Look at a bird from the deck. If wingspan <75cm, tuck behind this bird" and it is in fact <75cm then you can activate that pink power. Similarly for the other hunter (like if they roll a rat/fish to cache one on their card, that means they succeeded and you can activate the power). Keep in mind that you can only activate the pink power between turns. So if multiple people's hunters succeed between your previous turn and the next, you can only activate it once.

  547. I have a question about one of the Once Between turns card. I states “When another player’s (predator) succeeds, gain … What does ‘succeed mean?

    1. That’s referring to a predatory’s ability triggering for a positive result. Like, if a bird goes hunting for another bird and it fails (maybe the wingspan of the revealed bird is too big), that’s a failure.

  548. When the rulebook says that all powers are optional, what exactly does that mean for powers that affect other players? Take the osprey, for instance – its power is that, when activated, all players gain a fish from the supply. But the power is optional! Does that mean:
    a) the player who controls the osprey can – if they wish – choose not to activate the osprey, resulting in nobody getting any fish
    or
    b) the osprey is always activated, but every player can choose whether or not they want to take a fish (obviously they will all choose to take one)

    Thanks!

      1. Hi Jamey, following on from this, if the player activated the osprey’s power could another player still decline taking a fish?

        1. I’ll quote Elizabeth from a slighty different but similar situation, “Hard to imagine it being good for you, but sure, you can pass up the food if you really want to.”

  549. Hi Jamie

    I absolutely love the game. I live in Spain with my girlfriend and we love playing wingspan. The problem is that not many people in the family talk English (we have an English copy). Having the rules and powers reference in Spanish would help immensely. As I’ve seen Spanish versions on the shelf here, I was wondering when you will have the Spanish PDF’s up?

    1. Daniel: Have you checked with Maldito? The Spanish rules are theirs to share if they’d like to do so.

  550. Hello Jamey,

    Would activating Anna’s Hummingbird and picking a mouse also trigger the bonus of the Loggerhead Shrike?

    We had a discussion about that in the last game.
    Player A played Anna’s Hummingbird in the woods.

    Player B had the Loggerhead Shrike.

    When Player A uses the “Gain Food” option and take a mouse Player B will get a mouse as well, no doubt.

    When Player A uses the “Gain Food” option and is taking a fish. Player B doesn’t get anything that’s clear as well.
    No due to the fact that Anna’s Hummingbird is in the woods it will be activated and each player will get another food token.
    If Player A takes a mouse now, will Player B get a mouse as well?
    or in other words is the activation considered to be still a “Gain Food” action?

    Regards

      1. So, activating a move bird to another habitat ability is not the Play Bird action, so you don’t have to pay the egg cost for moving to a new column?

  551. I noticed on BGG that people are mentioning they are receiving their replacement cards. Have they been shipped in Canada? Will they automatically come for those who ordered initially and/or champions?
    Thanks

  552. Hi Jamey, how does the game end scoring for birds work? Do you only count the points for birds placed on the mat or also points for birds which are still in your hand? I can’t find any hint on this in the rulebook. Overall I like the game idea very much, but the unprecise rulebook and a lot of typos and minor errors on both the cards and in the rulebook leave me with mixed feelings (I own the German translation by Feuerland?! If you need support with proofreading of the German translation, let me know).

      1. Hi, we are also confused about this, so only cards that have been placed in the aviary can be counted in the end, none of the cards in hand? It doesn’t state this in the rule book nor in the instructional videos.

        1. The rule book states all the different ways to earn end of game points on page 5.

          It includes this item:
          “Points [are earned] for each face-up bird card on your player mat”
          It does not say that points are earned for birds on hand. Thus, birds on hand do not earn points.

          1. You’re welcome! :)
            Curious what version of the rule book you have. Did you buy a Chinese copy ;)
            Anyway, the rules are available for download here (link from top of this page): https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fapp.box.com%2Fs%2Fxtwzcdxld63v57tkfbxwoacfwhfqpyu0
            As I said, end of game scoring is explained von page 5.

            Also, I watched the instructional video linked to at the top of this page and at 14:10, end of game scoring is explained. The narrator clealy says “add the points of the birds in your aviary.”

            Happy playing!

        2. Sorry for any confusion, Emielke. When the rules tell you to add the “Points for each bird card (printed on the cards),” this means only for the birds played on your player mat. Do not count the points printed on the card for any birds in hand or tucked birds. :)

          1. While I understand the rules provide for no points for birds in hand, I watched the designer interviewed on a “how to play Wingspan” video and she said: If you have at least 8 bird cards in your hand at end-of-game you will receive seven points. I know I didn’t imagine this (because I took notes and watched the video before ever playing the game). Ever since hearing this I’ve tried to find verification of the rule, but so far have come up empty. Can you explain what happened here? Thanks!

          2. Don: I’m not sure the context for that particular interview, but by default, cards in your hand have absolutely no impact on victory points at the end of the game. It’s likely Elizabeth was referring to a specific bonus card in that specific game (I believe there is a bonus card that looks at cards in hand).

  553. Hi Jamey: Quick question, has “Wingspan” been translated in Traditional Chinese? Or is it just in English currently? Thanks!

    1. Wingspan is currently in about 10 languages, including Chinese (I think simplified Chinese, but I’m not sure–Surfin’ Meeple is the Chinese publisher).

      1. Thanks Jamey! Having the name of publisher helps. My sister found one and was wondering if it’s a counterfeit due to price different (~$70 USD) compared to ones we saw on Amazon ($104 USD). But after reading the press release here, I now understand the discrepancy :-P

  554. Hi. Just a question about a card that says ‘when activated’ you take a certain piece of food from the feeder (when available) and you MAY keep it on the card. Now keeping it on the card will score you one point at the end. So the text suggests an option..is the other option keeping the food in order to buy future birds or is the text just misleading and there is no option. We are playing a dutch version of the game so it could be a translation problem.

    Kind regards Patrick.

    1. If it says that you “may” place the food on the card, you have the option of either keeping the food in your supply (to later spend) or to cache it on the bird card (for 1 VP at the end of the game).

  555. 30 Automa games and I’ve encountered something new.
    The American Oystercatcher says ‘When played: draw cards equal to the number of players +1. Take 1, pass them on, each player selects one and passes them on. You keep the extra one.
    When playing against the Automa I have a few options.
    1. Draw 3, Choose one, give Automa A bird that fits his criteria (or face down if it doesn’t fit) from the remaining two and keep the last one. (This what I did)
    2. Draw 3, Choose two myself and give Automa the last card face up or facedown dependant on fitting his criteria.
    3. Draw 3, Choose two and give the Automa nothing.

    1. Thanks John! I’ve forwarded this to David, but just to let you know, by far the best places to post questions about Wingspan are on BGG or the Wingspan Facebook group. You’re welcome to post here, but I just wanted to let you know that your great questions will help more people if they’re posted in one of those other locations. :)

  556. Regarding the birds that have the “when played you may play a second bird from your hand, pay its costs as normal” ability, when it says a second bird is that an implied limit on the number of birds i am able to chain with these cards? For example if I have 3 birds in hand and 2 of them have the above-mentioned ability, as long as I can pay the costs involved with playing them, am I able to play out my hand that turn?

    1. Joshua: Definitely, as long as you can play the food and egg costs, you can keep chaining them.

  557. Can you clarify I’ve got this right please?
    I had one ‘move to another habitat’ bird and one ‘repeat a brown power’ bird in the same habitat.
    In a turn, If the ‘move’ bird has already moved then presumably the ‘repeat’ bird can’t repeat because the other bird is no longer in that habitat, but if the ‘repeat’ bird is the first to use its action it can move to another habitat.
    Thanks

      1. Hey Jaime!

        My question is in regards to resolve order on the Northern Mockingbird. Does the power “repeat” or “trigger” any brown power in the habitat? If The Mockingbird is the right most bird in the habitat, can it “repeat” a birds power to the left, even though it hasn’t happened yet? Thanks and LOVE all your games!!

        1. It copies another power in that habitat (on a bird to the left or right of it).

          EDIT: This has been revised. The Mockingbird and other birds like it, cause another bird to activate in the same row. It does not “copy” the power itself.

          1. May I suggest that you use the word “copy” instead of “repeat”? How can you repeat of re-activate something that hasn’t happened yet? I was very surprised when I understood how you intended this rule.

          2. We considered the word “copy,” but we wanted it to be clear that it is the Mockingbird who is being activated, not the other bird.

          3. OK, I see that, but how about just saying “activate”? Then it should be clear that it is the other bird that is being activated, and it should be clear that you can activate a bird to the left that has not already been activated. Of if you stick with “repeat”, then add a comment about it in the appendix.

  558. We’ve just had a game where someone used the cartographer bonus card. At the end they had the Greater Prairie Chicken but it isn’t in the list for cartographer. Is there a reason Sandhill, Savannah and Mountain count as geographical terms and Prairie doesn’t or is this an oversight?

      1. Hi Jamey, we had this same cartographer end game scoring query come up in a game tonight, did Elizabeth provide clarification?

  559. It’s possible I’ve missed it but did we ever get an official resolution to the question about the House Wren’s ability?
    All the other birds with a ‘play a second bird in your ‘x’ habitat can only live in one habitat and only have one habitat quoted but this bird lives in two habitats and has an either ‘x’ or ‘y’ choice. In the case of the House Wren can we play the second bird in a different habitat to the first or does it have to be the same habitat?

    1. Sorry, I didn’t realize there was a question about the House Wren. Because it’s referring to “a second bird,” it needs to go in the same habitat as the House Wren.

  560. Is there a card list available somewhere? Manual says there are 170 bird cards and I counted 169, wanted to check if I am really missing one…

      1. You were right, on a 4th count managed to separate 2 cards, how they survived together 3 games with heavy shuffling and then a couple of countings is a mystery :).
        BTW, thanks again for a great game!

        1. Question from our maiden game: several actions include a “draw a [image of rear face of bird card]“ instruction. Does this include the bird cards that are placed face up on the card holder or only the stack of face down bird cards? When can the face up bird cards be drawn, only when playing the “draw a bird card” action?

          Is it correct that at the end of a round the bird feeder is not restocked with all dice / the dice are not re-rolled?

          1. Whenever you draw a bird card, unless otherwise specified, it’s from either the deck or the 3 face-up birds.

            That is correct about the birdfeeder.

  561. I’ve seen a couple of posts about running out of eggs. Tonight we had a four player game and we finished 15 eggs short.
    Will there be a way to buy sets of eggs?

  562. John: The birds themselves don’t matter for the goal. In your example, it’s 2 sets because there are 2 eggs in each habitat.

  563. Just when I thought I’d got every rule worked out, along comes the Oologist.
    If I have one bird in each habitat with two eggs on each, is that two sets or does each set have to be achieved by being on different birds?

  564. Sorry to revisit the typo problem again but when we get the British/European version can we have colour spelt properly!
    🙂😎🕊

  565. First of all, sorry if this posted multiple times. The first time I tried to post, it led to a message the the site was down. I refreshed that page.

    One question says:
    My bird card says ‘WHEN ACTIVATED: Gain 1 [food type] from the birdfeeder, if there is one.‘ There’s another bird card that says I can gain a specific food “if available.” Can I reroll if there’s only one type of die face in the feeder?

    Yes, regular reroll rules apply (see “Managing the birdfeeder”). Birds affected: Great Crested Flycatcher, Indigo Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Western Tanager
    But this BGG post stated the bunting would NOT be able to reroll due to the “if available” wording. Has this ruling changed?
    https://boardgamegeek.com/article/30872340

    PS some of the formatting isn’t being applied, like [accordion] [toggle title=”Rule Questions”]

  566. It’s a minor nitpick, but why were 4 plastic trays included when there’s 5 kinds of food to separate? Are they not supposed to be used for the food tokens?

    Would it be possible to order one more plastic tray? :P

    1. Please see the chart on the side of the box. It shows food tokens going in 2 of the trays and eggs going in the other 2 trays. The egg colors are purely aesthetic–they should all be mixed together, not separated.

      We do sell plastic trays on our webstore.

  567. What is shown on the little map of the world on each bird card? The region this bird can be spotted? Or the breeding ground? I have the impression that there are a lot of birds that I have seen here in Europe but Europe is not marked on the map for these birds.

  568. I’m working on the assumption (hoping) that the first expansion will be UK/Europe. I just spent 10 mins on Facebook writing a post and adding a poll for people to suggest birds to you, unfortunately it wouldn’t post.
    Is there a way we can feed back to you what we’d like?
    Do you want that sort of input?

    1. You’re welcome to hope that. :) I saw the poll, and I’m sure Elizabeth will too. We see everything in the Facebook group. Thanks!

      1. Expansions would be awesome! More birds with new actions, maybe the new deck can add more die faces for food, like other fruit, flowers, lizards, or leggy bugs or winged bugs that can be played with more players. A board expansion to more rounds or an additional environment of higher perching birds, cave dwellers, or some other unique territory. Maybe a possibility of eggs breaking or raccoons or snakes eating them. Then a giant size game with life size eggs💕 so many awesome possibilities! Can’t wait:)

  569. I’m intrigued to know what the scores were like in play-testing. Now that people have received their games there seem to be some ridiculously high scores.

  570. you know, it’s nice to get replacements for the 2 cards with errors in the numbers, but the art mistake is just as important. just imagine if all the birds had exactly the same art. don’t you think it would affect gameplay? gameplay is not just rules (numbers) but also theme. the error in the art affects gameplay in the sense that it affects the theme. also, as a Champion, I would rather get a correct game later than an incorrect game sooner, and I feel penalized for actually being a Champion and getting a game with so many mistakes. I have noticed that you always listen to suggestions with an open mind, so I hope you will consider treating the error in the art of 1 card on par with the errors in the numbers of the other 2 cards, and find a way to get all 3 in the hands of Champions and other 1st edition buyers.

    1. Yes, I think we’ll supply the 2 cards with small, gameplay-impacting typos to the Geek Store. They’re good at shipping lots of little things.

  571. Situation: I want to take 3 food from the bird feeder and there are only two available and they are differing types.
    Can I take one and reroll all the dice (all the same rule) or do I have to take the two and the reroll?

  572. If you need some more help on proofreading, I have done it for several games so far. I’m not the best on syntax and advanced grammar and such (as English is not my first language, but I’m sure you have a lot of English speaking proofreader already) but I’m great at finding all the small mistakes and difference between cards, rule book and other things that were not changed everywhere even when found. I can proofread rule books, but also all the printed material. If you want my help, feel free to reach out.

    On another note, can’t wait for my copy this week!

    1. The question about rerolling dice says “My bird card says ‘WHEN ACTIVATED: Gain 1 [food type] from the birdfeeder, if there is one.‘ There’s another bird card that says I can gain a specific food “if available.” Can I reroll if there’s only one type of die face in the feeder?

      Yes, regular reroll rules apply (see “Managing the birdfeeder”). Birds affected: Great Crested Flycatcher, Indigo Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Western Tanager”
      But this BGG post says for the indigo bunting, you cannot reroll due to the “if available” wording. Has this ruling changed?

      (Also, the formatting didn’t take in places, like [accordion] [toggle title=”Rule Questions”])

  573. If you need some more help on proofreading, I have done it for several games so far. I’m not the best on syntax and more advance grammar and such (as English is not my first language, but I’m sure you have a lot of English speaking proofreader already) but I’m great at finding all the small mistakes and differences/inconsistencies between cards, rule book and other things that were not changed everywhere even when found (so this applies to rule book but also all the printed material). So if you want my help feel free to reach out. Can’t wait to get my copy!

  574. When reading through the rules I noticed a typo on the pink cards.

    It says BETWEEEN instead of BETWEEN.

    Will this be fixed?

    1. Yes, somehow all of our proofreaders (including me) missed that, but we caught it for the third printing.

    1. This game has been a blessing for my family during quarantine. Thank you!

      Two questions:

      1. Player 1 has a pink power that allows them to gain wheat between turns when another player gains food. Player 2 gains food, leaving only one berry in the tray. Player 1 activates their pink power and rerolls all cubes, but none of them are wheat so they fail to gain food. If player 3 then gains food on their turn, can Player 1 activate their pink power again since it did not succeed but they did roll food cubes?

      2. If a player uses a blue power that allows them to play a bird at the end of a round and the bird they play using that blue power also has a blue power, can the second bird’s blue power activate that round?

      1. 1. No. Choosing to reroll the dice is choosing to activate the pink power, and it can’t be activated more than once between turns.

        2. Yes, you can activate blue powers in any order, so if one allows you to play a new blue power, you can activate the new one that round.

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