This Dark-eyed Junco seemed overwhelmed by the heavy snow. We received about a foot of snow and this winter season we are already well above average for total snowfall. To a man, ornithologists are tall, slender, and bearded so that they can stand motionless for hours, imitating kindly trees, as they watch for birds. –Gore
Month: February 2008
Citizen Science – The Great Backyard Bird Count
The Great Backyard Bird Count….. …an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps
Continue reading Citizen Science – The Great Backyard Bird Count
Citizen Science – eBird Clubs
Launched in 2002, eBird is the premiere online storing house for bird sightings. eBird is citizen science at its finest: an easy to use place for individuals to submit bird sightings from all over the world that when put together forms a usable resource for bird conservationists all over. How it works (bare basics) User
Citizen Science – Golden-winged Warbler Atlas Project
The Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera), another bird on Audubon’s WatchList, is threatened by loss of habitat, but is increasing in the northern and northwestern parts of North America. Their decline also correlates with the Blue-winged Warbler’s expansion into the Golden-winged Warbler’s range. This expansion leads to competition and widespread hybridization of the two species. Photo
Continue reading Citizen Science – Golden-winged Warbler Atlas Project
Prairie Conservation – Sprague’s Pipit
The Sprague’s Pipit (Anthus spragueii) is a difficult bird to find and is becoming more so with loss of its native habitat. With the restricted breeding range and its unassuming appearance, the Sprague’s Pipit is poorly known. Photo Used with permission from Steve Collins, Odephoto Sprague’s Pipit passes through Illinois each year, but in small
Citizen Science – Promoting Bird Conservation
February is Citizen Science Month and to help spread the word we’ve created some “badges” in three sizes that you can put on your blog or website. But citizen science wasn’t invented by us. All year long it is important to promote bird conservation through the work of regular people, specifically people who like birds
Continue reading Citizen Science – Promoting Bird Conservation
Citizen Science – The Key to Bird Conservation
The Birdfreak Team has declared February Citizen Science Month, dedicated to citizen science projects and ideas relating to birds. We’ve said in the past that citizen science is very important to birds and bird studies, but what is citizen science exactly? It is a partnership between the regular “Joes” and the professional scientists, and sometimes
Continue reading Citizen Science – The Key to Bird Conservation
Phriday Photo – Sleeping Like a Baby (Owl)
This is one of the three Montgomery family Great Horned owlets. The family was raised on the Northern Illinois University campus in DeKalb, Illinois in early 2007. A wise old owl sat upon an oak The more he saw the less he spoke The less he spoke the more he heard Why aren’t we like