Briefs

Unseen “Winged Migration” Comes to the Lab

Unseen “Winged Migration” Comes to the Lab

Unseen footage from the stunning 2003 film, “Winged Migration,” will soon be archived in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library. The movie by Galatée Films was just 85 minutes long, but some 200 hours were filmed in all, including footage of fascinating behaviors.

A one-year grant from the Lounsbery Foundation will cover the cost of converting the first batch of 35mm clips to a high-quality digital format for the archive. The original film will remain in France. Eventually, all the video will be available to researchers and the public via the Macaulay Library web site, www.animalbehaviorarchive.org.

Rainforest Revelations

White-collared Manakin by Chris Wood

A team from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology recently returned from an expedition to the largely unexplored northern region of the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala. With local and international partners, they participated in an initial survey of birdlife in the second-largest expanse of rainforest after the Amazon, vital habitat for native birds, migrants, and wintering North American songbirds. The Lab’s Eduardo Iñigo-Elias, who led the team, says he has high hopes for future collaborations in the region to help conserve the rainforest and train Guatemalan biologists in conducting bird surveys and making audio recordings.

A video from the expedition with commentary by Chris Wood is also in this edition of BirdScope.org at www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/video/Guatemala.html

Wal-Mart Stores Celebrate Urban Birds

Thirteen Wal-Mart Stores in Indiana adopted classrooms to participate in Celebrate Urban Birds. This program is fun and informative for the students and dovetails with Wal-Mart’s efforts to support local environmental sustainability.

The program involved about 700 students and their teachers, who said they would love to do it again. Chad Williams, asset protection manager for Wal-Mart in Indiana, said, “To see the students get so excited over a bird that they otherwise may have never noticed was worth its weight in gold.” He added, “This is an easy and inexpensive way to support the environment and create an awareness of the natural world. There are potentially 700 new environmental advocates out there as a result of this program!”

Birding Inspiration

As part of our 2007 year-end appeal, we asked for stories about famous and not-so-famous people who inspired our members’ interest in birds. We received dozens of fond memories of people, places, and things that launched an enduring passion for birds and nature. You can read these lovely tributes online at www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/birdingnews/famous.

Share photos with eBird

Seen any rare birds lately? Now eBird gives birders a simple way to share photos documenting species seen outside their normal range, outside their normal seasonal occurrence, or in unexpectedly large numbers, by posting them at www.flickr.com/groups/ebird.

For permission to reprint all or part of this article, please contact Laura Erickson, editor, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850. Phone: (607) 254-1114. email: lle24@cornell.edu