You'll begin to notice things you've never seen before because you'll be making the time to watch nature in your community.

If you are nervous about the accuracy of your observations, please know that:

*You can always check "unsure" on your data sheet when you are unfamiliar with a bird species. Your data is valuable even if you only send us data for one or two species and check "unsure" for all the others!

*Zero means a lot! If you don't see any birds when you conduct your ten minute observation, it is essential information. It is important to know where the birds are not as well as where they are!

*We review the data before it goes into our database, so if you've made a mistake you can be confident that we'll catch it.

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Free Urban Bird Sounds CDs: An Audio Guide to Urban Birds produced by students of Codman Academy Charter Public School

Be inspired, learn about birds, and discover the awesome things that youth can do when they are hooked on birds. Their pictures, narratives, and audio will teach you how to identify common city birds by bird song and physical appearance. This project is a model example of how to integrate technology with nature. Youth researched urban birds and created podcasts focused on the songs and calls of city birds. To get your free CD, please send an email to urbanbirds@cornell.edu.

Learn more about the project and download an easy step-by-step guide to make your own audio guide to animal sounds. (Courtesy of Regan Brooks, Teacher, Bird Nerd, and leader of the Urban Bird Sounds Project) 

Find other great teaching materials at: http://www.urbanbirdsounds.org/Site/Teaching_Materials.html

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Great Backyard Bird Count -- Another great project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Make sure your neighborhood birds are counted for the 12^th annual Great Backyard Bird Count! Keep track of the birds you see for at least 15 minutes from February 13 through 16 and report the highest number of each species you see on the GBBC website.  You can count in your yard, balcony, or city park-anywhere you see birds. Watch reports come in from around the continent on the website, upload images for the photo contest, and take our new survey. Just by participating in the GBBC you'll be entered into a drawing for great prizes donated by the National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Wild Birds Unlimited, and Droll Yankees. Join the Great Backyard Bird Count this year and Count for Fun, Count for the Future!


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Helping Ships Avoid Endangered Whales
Did you know that the world's last 350 North Atlantic Right Whales live along the East Coast. Collisions with ships are a deadly hazard, but new listening buoys designed and monitored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are helping. Here's how: http://www.listenforwhales.org/
This is a fantastic resource for educators who want to show students conservation in action. Find out more about the lives of Atlantic Right Whales: where they live, what they eat, why they're endangered, and why there's still hope.
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Shipping Fees
Unfortunately we can no longer offer to ship Celebrate Urban Bird kits for free. As of February 10 we will ask you to pay a small shipping fee for kits if you are able.
We will return to shipping kits for free as soon as we are able. Donate today! Help us get everyone involved! Donate here.

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David Lindo: A Very Cool Urban Birder
David's been a birder since his days in the womb. His website is inspiring and includes great places to watch birds around the world, wonderful images, and great advice. David was born in London, England. He visits a lot of cities, worldwide, and sees great birds in the most unlikely places. Learn more http://www.theurbanbirder.com/

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City Birds/Country Birds by Sharon Stiteler
Wonderful, easy to read book will teach you how to attract birds no matter where you live, even in an urban environment. "Apartment Tips" for people who live in shared living spaces and is chock full of doable information for anyone who wants to get to know birds better in cities. You'll learn about threats to urban birds, and get clear information about feeding birds and providing water and shelter.

Sharon Stiteler also writes a great blog "Birdchick": http://www.birdchick.com/blog.html. Sharon is a real inspiration!

Learn more here.

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Art in Birds/Birds in Art contest ends on February 28th
Join us for our newest challenge/contest. Go outside and look for art in birds. It could be a broken down nest in winter, a song recording, a video of a bird perching on your window--something that makes you pause, look twice, laugh or cry. Get creative. Take photos, do some painting, write a story, create a sculpture. What do you see in birds that is beautiful, stirring, or inspirational? The first fifty entries will receive a copy of our "Doves and Pigeons of North America" poster by Julie Zickefoose. We'll also post selected entries on the Celebrate Urban Birds website.

How do you enter?
First, learn more at: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/challenge/birds-in-art/

Then, email your entry to urbanbirds@cornell.edu. 

1. Write "Art in Birds/Birds in Art contest" in the subject line.
2. Include your name and mailing address in the email.
3. Tell us why you submitted your entry to the Arts in Birds/Birds in Art contest.
4. Send us your entry before February 28, 2009

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John Robinson to Speak at The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes (Cleveland, OH)

Friday, February 13th, 2009  7:30pm at The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes in Cleveland, OH. Take part in A Conversation with John Robinson. A wildlife biologist and ornithologist for the US Department of Interior and the US Department of Agriculture and author, Robinson will discuss his newest book, "Birding for Everyone: Encouraging People of Color to Become Birdwatchers."  He is a national expert on birding --studying birds and the social dynamics of the bird-watching community. Learn more.
John C. Robinson will also lead a bird hike at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes as part of the Great Backyard Bird Count, on Saturday morning February 14^th, 2009, at 9:00 a.m.

Watch a video interview with John Robinson when he visited the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Special Celebrate Urban Birds Kits for Educators, Gardeners, Homeschoolers and Businesses
Celebrate Urban Birds posters, seeds, and  special kits for group leaders, corporations, educators, and homeschoolers are available for sale. Purchase special packages with resources, CDs, ideas, and posters and help our project connect people with nature everywhere.
Learn more. 
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Mini-grant application deadline is Februay 15, 2009
Celebrate Urban Birds invites organizations and educators to apply for mini-grants to hold Celebrate Urban Bird events across the US. Mini-grants average between $100 and $500.

To apply for a mini-grant,  please:

*Plan a Celebrate Urban Birds Event for 2009

-Introduce the public/students to birds (especially the 16 focus species)

-Collect Celebrate Urban Birds data and inspire others to collect data

 -Distribute Celebrate Urban Birds kits to participants/students

 -Integrate the arts

 -Integrate gardening/habitat creation

 -Get people outside

*Submit the application for funding (link below) by February 15, 2009
*Stay in contact with the Lab of Ornithology
*Agree to  complete a post-event survey
*Agree to have photos, videos, summary of events, and participant comments posted on the Celebrate Urban Birds web site to inspire others

To see 2008 mini-grant recipients please click HERE.
To apply, please click HERE.

Questions? Email urbanbirds@cornell.edu

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We need your help to keep going!
Please donate! Over eighty percent of the organizations we work with are reaching under-represented audiences and people who are new to birds. For every kit we give to someone who has not had the opportunity to connect with nature, we get a bit closer to creating a world that cares about conserving and interacting with nature. It's good for kids, it's good for families, it's good for seniors, it's good for birds! We promote healthier neighborhoods, habitat improvement for birds, kids getting outdoors, and connection with nature.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/donate

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Join Celebrate Urban Birds on Facebook
Join our Facebook group so you can easily share photos, events, and ideas. Help us make it a great success!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5487246308

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Please feel free to forward this message to anyone you think would be interested. Anyone can sign up to receive updates by registering for Celebrate Urban Birds or by sending us an email at urbanbirds@cornell.edu.