How can parks 'Celebrate Urban Birds'?

 Explore different approaches:

1. Focus on community-- (Event  Approach)

• Partner with artists to attract and engage families
  

  -partner with a local artist to create a mural or portable mural, with helpers from the community
  -invite musicians/dancers to share their music/dance with families (an interactive experience is even better...performance and teaching)

• Hold bird walks and collect data for Celebrate Urban Birds
• Build nestboxes and nesting platforms to place in your park
  
• Partner with a local library to hold book readings for children
  
• Partner with a wildlife rehabilitation organization to bring live birds to the park
• Partner with local businesses such as native plant nurseries and supermarkets to provide local expertise, products, and refreshments
  
  Helpful Resources:
  *Art activities for groups
  *Book recommendations
  *Find information on nestboxes and nesting platforms
  
  

 
2. Focus on a goal  (Challenge Approach)

• Involve local schools/teachers in a seasonal challenge or quest:
  -create a container garden for the birds
  -scavenger hunt in the park, with or without binoculars
  -themed essay
  -photo journal of local green spaces
  -collect and submit data using Celebrate Urban Birds...on one day with lots of people or many times in one day, or over many days.
  
• Highlight existing conservation work and habitat at the park
• Select children/classrooms to honor: Top Birder, Best Bird Scrapbook, Learned most bird sounds,
  
• Work with local businesses to provide prizes/incentives
  
  Helpful Resources:
  *See an example of this kind of approach: Walmart
  *Download the Celebrate Urban Birds Certificate of Appreciation
  *Find power point presentations on focus birds: EAST and WEST
  *Find greening ideas for the birds
  
  

 3. Focus on getting outdoors  (Wellness Approach)

• Create a campaign on the benefits of getting outside into nature
  
• Encourage the public to take a 10 minute 'observation break' to watch birds with a purpose of collecting data for Celebrate Urban Birds
  
• Create a photo/art contest that highlights the benefits of spending time outdoors
• Partner with local hospital or fitness center to provide workshops and information on reducing stress by spending time in nature

Helpful Resources:

Why are green spaces in urban locations so important to people?

-Aggression is significantly lower among people who have some kind of nature outside their apartments versus those who don't.

-Green spaces foster a sense of community.

-Green outdoor spaces tend to allow for more creative play and more adult interaction.

-Girls who grow up with greener views from home show less impulsive behavior.

-Residents living in greener surroundings report lower levels of fear and less violence. 

 
These are some of the recent findings of the Landscape and Human Health Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Learn more at the Landscape and Human Health Laboratory web site: http://www.lhhl.uiuc.edu/

4. Focus on education (Teaching Approach)

Use Celebrate Urban Birds kits and materials to support, build on, or expand a current program or educational activity you've already undertaken.

• Discover local nature through observation and data collection
• Teach sustainability by making a connection to birds
• Support science education by engaging the public in 'citizen science' where everyone's observations are important and help scientists
  
• Support literacy by reading books such as Urban Roosts by Barbara Bash  or Henry Cole's On Meadowview Street, provide cross curricular activities (including data collection), and connect with related outdoor experiences and crafts...learn more about plants that feed birds, or learn what birds need for safe nesting and shelter.
  
• Explore themes such as threats to birds in cities, what you can do to help birds and nature, and more.
• Encourage technology use by supporting the creation of podcasts by the public and photos taken with cell phones.  Participants can create guided Nature Tours in your park, slide shows, photo exhibits, powerpoint displays,  podcasts, quick little videos about birds they saw; nature blogs, twitter messages; fun stuff! 
  

Helpful Resources
*Explore ideas for greening for the birds
*Learn how to make a podcast and see model examples
*Learn about threats to birds in cities
*Learn how you can help birds
*Learn how to create your own Nature Blog and learn about great bird blogs