Celebrate Urban Birds Updates

Find out the latest Celebrate Urban Birds news by reading regular updates sent to all Celebrate Urban Birds! participants via email.

Sharing Guatemala. A small rural community in Guatemala shares their knowledge of conservation practices. View videos from La Reserva Natural Privada El Patrocinio and get inspired! (In Spanish only).

Cornell University Cooperative Extension in NYC
Check out their 2009 events and activities.

India losing House Sparrows?
Not if Mohammed Dilawar has anything to say...in fact, he has been named one of Time Magazine's Heroes of Environment for his efforts to get Indian citizens to realize their House Sparrow population is declining and make efforts towards conservation.

And in Pakistan, meet Sakhawat Ali and read his list of fifteen focal species found in urban areas in Rawalpindi...

Funky Nests in Funky Places is the current challenge...send us your entry!  Send entries 'til July 31; about the most surprising nest you've seen . Entries can include text, digital images of photographs, sculptures, poetry, drawings, paintings...let your imagination fly!  

Great prizes including a Leica camera, signed books by John Robinson (see above) and Birdscope editor  Laura Erickson, non-toxic Bug Bam mosquito repellent wrist bands, and more!   

2009 Mini-grants have been awarded
Celebrate Urban Birds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology invited applications for mini-grants to hold Celebrate Urban Bird events across the US. Learn about what the winners have planned...it may help you plan a Celebrate Urban Birds event in your community!

Birds in Art/Art in Birds challenge/contest
Take a look at over 200 creative artistic entries submitted by children, retirees, professional photographers, sculptors, poets, writers, painters. Explore how birds inspire art...great material for inspiring conversation in your classes, workshop, club, neighborhood, or home! Share the link with others.

I’ve never met a black bird watcher before!”
Biologist, author, and birder John C. Robinson says he’s heard that a lot over the years. It got him wondering why there were so few minorities involved with birding. It’s a topic he explores in his new book "Birding for Everyone, Encouraging People of Color to Become Birdwatchers." Many thanks to John for his generous donation of signed copies of the new book for the Celebrate Urban Birds project.   Watch our video to learn more about how Robinson got hooked on science and bird watching. View video here.

Little Green Places Photo/Video/Art Contest
Our second photo/video/art contest ended on October 31. View contest entries to see great examples of the Little Green Places that can be found and created in all our neighborhoods to help birds. 

Urban Gardening. Find resources to garden for the birds in cities. City residents can create quality food and water resources, shelter, and nesting sites for birds in small spaces, often at little cost. Poster will be ready soon!

Find inspiration in the arts! Watch Pedro Fernandes as he illustrates a new poster for NestWatch a new Cornell Lab of Ornithology citizen science project. Watch the video

Bird and Nature Blogging

Learn how to create your own blog and learn about great nature blogs. Blogging is a great way to let people know what you've been seeing and how you feel about birds, gardening, and anything else you might think of.

Pigeon Neighbors by Decoy. Check out a fantastic art activity that gets you looking at birds, connecting with nature, building community spirit, and is fun! Decoy, a wonderful artist from Washington, DC created the activity and presents this neat project  to get your whole neighborhood thinking about birds, community, and the arts. Learn more!

 

 Pigeon scrapbook

Susan Kerslake is from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada created a beautiful scrapbook inspired by the arrival of an egg. Page through her wonderful book.

"Beautiful Birds in Urban Places".
Marian Mendez was the first place winner of the Beautiful Birds in Urban Places Photo Challenge. View winning photos. Many thanks to Leica Camera, North America, Inc. for their donation of a camera for our First Prize Winner.

Science in the City
Is it possible that observing a pigeon with curious and open eyes could change our world or a child's future? Could the antics of roosting crows make a difference? Find out more about how people everywhere are connecting to nature and science through birds..

The Great Sunflower Project
Bees are responsible for pollinating a lot of food plants.  We know that some bees have had severe declines which may be affecting food production.  No one has ever measured how much pollination is happening over a region, much less a continent so, we don't know anything about how these declines in bees influence gardens.  The only way to do this is to get as many people as possible collecting information from as many places as possible.  You can help. 

YouTube Bird Girl
Watch Bird Girl in Ithaca NY asking Youtubers to get out of the house this cold winter to take videos of the weirdest, ugliest, most bizarre places they've seen birds in their cities and towns!

Celebrate Urban Birds Workshop 2008
We held a Celebrate Urban Birds Workshop on March 14th 8-3pm at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Participants learned how to Celebrate Urban Birds  in their neighborhoods, integrate the arts, and  gardening.

Artist Wanted 2008!  Artists are invited to submit exciting out-of-the-box ideas to be considered for our “Wild Idea” competition in both adult and youth categories

Chilean Students Honored at Science Fair
Students from Talca, Chile have designed award-winning scientific projects. The power of citizen science is reaching far and wide!

Kids Count: Young Citizens Learn Environmental Activism
Read a wonderful article by Evantheia Schibsted in Edutopia Magazine for educators. Learn how students are becoming the eyes and ears of environmental scientists.

Go out and Play!
Celebrate Urban Birds is a great excuse to get kids outdoors! Learn about a national movement that is drawing attention to kids and nature.

European Starlings Fighting
Watch an remarkable slide show from the Monterey County Herald slide show Photos by Orville Myers.

A Powerfully Simple Idea
“Celebrate Urban Birds!” provides impetus for international projects.

Starlings In Art

A recent article in Orion magazine caught our eye, as it mixed science and art in a fanciful way. 

The Pigeon Paradox

Could pigeons and other common species provide one of the keys to global conservation awareness?

Celebrate Urban Birds at Central Park

Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Central Park Conservancy celebrated urban birds at the Harlem Meer and Dana Discovery Center on May 12th, 2007...to help kick off the whole Celebrate Urban Birds project!

Artist Found!

Celebrate Urban Birds partners with Katie Yamasaki, the artist behind the lovely bird ID poster in the Celebrate Urban Birds kit. 

Workshop a Success

Cornell Lab of Ornithology holds a Celebrate Urban Birds! planning and training workshop in December.

 

Photo by Robert Barker, University Photography