A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, the old saying goes. But try telling that to the hordes of birders flocking to Suffolk right now.

The three-day Great Dismal Swamp Birding Festival wraps up today and is destined to attract about 500 birders, said Deloras Freeman, visitor services specialist at the national wildlife refuge.

In its seventh year, the festival coincides with the annual arrival of neotropical migratory birds to the swamp’s thousands of acres of nesting habitat.

The birds breed in the United States and Canada during our summer, and they winter in Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

“They begin arriving the first of April,” Freeman said. “I’m not sure how many (species) come in, but the swamp has 220 species on its bird list.

“They leave in the fall, usually in September. It’s like clockwork.”

Currently winging their way here are the warblers, according to Freeman, and enthusiasts will have their eyes particularly peeled for the Swainson’s warbler and prothonotary warbler.

“It’s not a guarantee, but right now, with one of the walk leaders, you will probably see one,” Freeman said the Swainson’s warbler.

The prothonotary warbler, she said, “has a beautiful little song. It’s golden-yellow with black … and it’s just always very active. People just enjoy watching it.”

Birders are different than bird watchers, Freeman said. They are “a little more serious; you really strive to identify what you are seeing.”

Freeman says she has been a birder for eight of the dozen years she has worked at the swamp.

“I enjoyed being outside and watching wildlife before I became really involved in birding,” she said.

She records bird sightings in a journal, referred to as a “life list” by many birders.

“Some people … count for the year how many different species they see,” she said. “Some try to get the most species they can possibly see. It takes dedication and lots of travel.”

Freeman herself doesn’t tally how many species she sights. “The numbers don’t concern me as much as just learning,” she said.

The birding festival attracts birders from as far away as Seattle, the Midwest, Oklahoma and Vermont.

They are organized people who generally book spots on the festival’s guided bird walks far in advance, Freeman said, meaning that walks are mostly already full.

But other activities, including children’s workshops, are still open, she said. Events at the swamp headquarters, 3100 Desert Road, last from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

All these out-of-town birders need somewhere to stay and eat, and Freeman said most do so in the western part of Chesapeake and Suffolk.

For more information on the festival, including the schedule, visit www.fws.gov/refuge/Great_Dismal_Swamp and follow the links.