Thank you!
Hundreds of events across the nation are focusing on urban birds and conservation awareness in cities. Some "events" are small, such as a grandmother watching birds from her apartment window in the Bronx. Other events involve entire communities. Thank you to all.

To see a few featured events visit the website at: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/urbanbirds/celebration/showcase-of-events

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Help us Improve
Please take a few minutes to answer our online evaluation survey. Because Celebrate Urban Birds! is entirely grant-supported it is helpful for us to know who is using and benefiting from the program and how we can improve.

Organizations and group leaders please click here.
Individuals please click here.

We will randomly select ten participants who respond to this short survey by August 15th to receive Lab of Ornithology prizes.

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49 states and counting ... Hawaii we need YOU!
People from 49 states and Puerto Rico have registered for Celebrate Urban Birds! We only need participants in Hawaii to register. If you know someone in Hawaii who would be interested in being a part of Celebrate Urban Birds! tell them to register by visiting the website: www.CelebrateUrbanBirds.org to get their free kit.

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Bird Observations and Online Data Entry
We are receiving data from across the country and are excited to see more and more observations appearing on the online map.

Please take a few minutes to view participant observations on-line. You now can see information about the 16 focal species and 'other' species reported as well.

Online Data Entry
Thank you for your help and comments in helping us make the data entry system friendlier and easier to use. We are making improvements based on your comments.
Go ahead...try it again and let us know how we're doing!  If you experienced trouble with the on-line system, we have developed a Frequently Asked Questions page to help you. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any trouble or just send your form by mail.

Apologies to our Canadian participants. We goofed! You can now obtain data forms that are Canadian Postal Code friendly -- and the online data entry system now accepts Canadian postal codes as well. Please let us know if you need a Canadian Data form or simply download it from the website.

Other improvements we are working on include: all participants will able to enter observations for multiple days more easily; observations from paper forms will appear on the on-line map; the data entry system will be even friendlier and easier; and much more.

Bird Watch Data Rewards!
Please don't stop watching birds and sending in data. We need your help! Watch birds while on vacation. Show your neighbors and friends across the country how easy it is to go outside and spend just 10 minutes watching birds.

Need data forms? You can download a data form from the web site or we can send you a kit. If you think you can get others involved in collecting data, we'll be happy to send you data forms and/or kits to distribute. We can't learn about urban green spaces without your involvement.

To encourage more data collection we will randomly select five participants who enter data online by August 15th to receive exciting prizes (bird seed, bird sound CD, bird identification poster, and more). Let's cover the online map with your bird observations!!
 
Thank you. Keep it coming!


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Celebrate Urban Birds in NYC
Our "Celebrate Urban Birds!" event in Central Park was a huge success. Read all about the event in the Cornell Chronicle at: http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/archive.shtml (click on the May 17th, 2007 issue).

The event featured a live raptor demonstration by the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center; mural creation with Youme Landowne, New School students, and TRUCE Children's Harlem Zone students; bird walks with data collection led by Central Park Conservancy volunteers; large, colorful cardboard bird creations and parade led by artist James Grashow; native bird habitat workshops by Solar One; dance performance with Kristin McArdle and dancers; Birds of Central Park book signing by Cal Vornberger; and learning about citizen science and urban greening with Cornell Cooperative Extension in New York City and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology!

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Share Your "Celebrate Urban Birds" Stories
Did you collect data alone? Did you watch birds with your grandchild? Did you hold a community event or distribute kits at your library? Don't forget to send us your photos and descriptions of your events and experiences. We'd like to share your stories with others on our web site and in Lab publications. Haven't celebrated yet? There's still lots of time. Leave your computer, turn off your TV, and go outside to watch birds.

Celebrating Youth
Do you know any enthusiastic youth participants? We want to highlight young people who are excited about birds and nature, and who are open to the wonder and fun of the outside world. Send us a  paragraph and photo (if possible) of an outstanding young scientist/naturalist (no age limit) and we will select a few to highlight as peer role models.
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Your Questions Answered
We'd like to share with you the most common questions asked, just in case you also wanted to know.

--I've already registered for the celebration, why do I need to 'register' again when entering data online?
The information you entered when you registered is kept in a separate system from the data, in order to keep the data safe. Once you register to enter data online, you'll be able to enter data for many citizen science projects at the Lab.

--Why do I have to fill in a NO if I didn't see a bird?
As the instructions state: "Record which birds you see in your bird-watching area, as well as the ones you didn't see." This field is required so that our researchers can interpret the data we receive to know if an answer is negative, that is, not seen, or blank, that is, not entered. This distinction will affect the results. Since we are collecting information on the birds that you did not see, we ask that participants select an oriole species (Baltimore or Bullock?s).

--Is this an ongoing project?
Yes. You can participate repeatedly at any time.

--Do I need to hold an "event" to participate?
No! You can celebrate by simply collecting data. Many organizations and individuals are having very simple celebrations by simply distributing kits and/or collecting data. Spend 10 minutes or become much more involved! It's up to you.

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Anyone can sign up to receive updates by registering for Celebrate Urban Birds! or by sending us an email at urbanbirds@cornell.edu.