What is Celebrate Urban Birds all about!? 

10 Minutes

Let's start at the heart of the project...the 10-minute bird observation.  You become a citizen-scientist by observing in your neighborhood and sending the data to scientists here at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca NY.  We want your data! Learn how! 

Sign Up

First, sign up. Then we'll send you a free Celebrate Urban Birds kit . Or you can download materials directly from the web site.  It contains everything you need to do this observation, including 2 beautiful color posters, data sheet, sticker, and seed packet.

Seed packet?!  OK, sunflower seeds don't relate directly to doing the citizen-science observation, but you can plant them, grow the sunflowers, let the seeds ripen, to feed and support birds!  We want to help you learn about and help birds. 

Who is Celebrate Urban Birds?

Learn who translates our pages, collates our kits, tests our data entry/out systems and more!

What's New

We're a web site full of new ideas to help you Celebrate Urban Birds, with fresh pages, programs, and challenges added to the web site all the time.  Stay in touch by checking on our 'What's new'  button.

Feel Good

Celebrate Urban Birds is a 'feel good' project...you feel good when you participate as a Citizen Scientist and submit data.  We feel good because we're getting data to help scientists study birds.   You feel good because you're outside, connecting with nature, helping birds and scientists,   making your yard and community good for birds...there are lots of reasons to Feel Good when you Celebrate Urban Birds.  This is 'wellness', both for you and hopefully, ultimately, for birds and the planet. 

Community

Maybe you want to organize an event in your community or share the experience of watching birds with your family, so  we have lots of ideas for the 'community' of people who Celebrate Urban Birds. Learn more!

 Art

Art is a big part of Celebrate Urban Birds...we think birds are beautiful and we know you do too!  And when you draw, paint, photograph, and video the birds you are engaging and observing on a deep level...that's our hope!  We want to inspire you by  showcasing great bird art and giving you ideas for fun bird/art activities.
 

Gardening

You can Celebrate Urban Birds by gardening...create one little flowerpot of green space on a balcony, or help a community make a complete bird-friendly habitat.  We show you examples of what can be done, and how to do it...habitat is so important for birds (and for humans!)  Celebrate Urban Birds is all about the relationship between habitat and birds.

Birds

Birds, learn about them, focus on the 15 focal species in this project, learn what you can do to help them, learn what scientists are learning about birds, listen to their sounds, stories about them...

Celebrate Urban Birds was designed to be easy to do, easy to find, so anyone, even someone who has never thought about birds before, can do the project.  Yes, for people in urban areas, and anyone, anywhere, anytime.  Live in the suburbs...the country...the city? Yes, everybody can Celebrate Urban Birds in some way. 

Email us your questions and comments, we'll help you get started and keep going!   urbanbirds@cornell.edu