Thousands of "Celebrate Urban Birds!" Kits Have Been Mailed.
We received an overwhelming response!

At the time of this email more than 7,000 "Celebrate Urban Birds!" kits have been mailed and we continue to mail them out as quickly as we can. We have participants in nearly every state and Canada, as well as 10 other countries. Your descriptions of your planned events are full of creativity and enthusiasm. Thank you!

We would like to extend a special "thank you" to those organizations and individuals who are distributing kits to the general public. We want people everywhere to have the tools to observe birds and collect data. We cannot learn about urban green spaces without the public's involvement. It is a great help to us!

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Lyric Giveaways
Lyric has sent us bird feeders and other goodies to use at celebrations across the country for raffle giveaways, as incentives for collecting data, door prizes, etc.
If you are interested please email us at  urbanbirds@cornell.edu and we'll send your organization or group some Lyric prizes. We have only a limited supply, so let us know soon.

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Join Us!
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology along with Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC, and Central Park Conservancy will be Celebrating Urban Birds in Central Park on May 12 from noon to 4:00 . Come to the Harlem Meer and Dana Discovery Center to participate in activities including: a live raptor demonstration, mural creation with Youme Landowne and New School students, bird walks, public arts project with 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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First Bird Watch Data Received
We've begun to receive data already! The first data form received was from The Centers for Nature Education at Baltimore Woods in Marcellus, New York.
Thank you. Keep it coming!

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Share Your "Celebrate Urban Birds" Stories
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 Lab publications.

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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.

Do we have to hold our Celebration on the weekend of May 10-13?
No! You can celebrate anytime! Many organizations and individuals are having celebrations between Thursday, May 10 through Sunday, May 13, 2007, but you can Celebrate Urban Birds and submit data any time during the summer or fall months. Spend 10 minutes or become much more involved! It's up to you.

I'm having a large event and would like to order enough kits to distribute to the public. Is it possible to order large numbers of kits for free?
Yes, as long as supplies last. We want the kits in the hands of the public! We can only collect enough data with your help.

Why are the kits free?
Because we want to make sure that EVERYONE can participate in the celebration and have the tools needed to watch birds in their neighborhood. However, if you are able, please send us a donation to help cover our materials and shipping costs. We would definitely appreciate your help.

Why do we collect data only on 15 species?
To include anyone who wants to participate, we have limited the number of focal birds to observe. The challenge was to design a simple project that everyone can do that would also answer questions about the relative use of small versus large patches of habitat for birds. By picking a handful of species that people can easily recognize, we can ensure that the quality of the data will be robust and also achieve participant levels sufficient to investigate the effects of habitat patch size and location at multiple scales. If you'd like to share more information about what you saw or anecdotes about your birdwatch simply send us an email at urbanbirds@cornell.edu.

Is this an ongoing project?
Yes. You can participate repeatedly throughout the spring, summer and fall months.

How urban is urban?
As long as you fill in all the required information about your bird watching area on your data form, we will gladly accept data from all locations, including suburbs, small towns, small cities, as well as large cities. It is exciting for us to receive data from a large variety of  "Green Spaces".  Don't be shy -- send in your data!

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Celebrating Youth
Do you know any enthusiastic youth participants? We want to highlight young people who are excited about birds, nature, and 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 on our web site and Cornell Lab of Ornithology publications. We'd like to highlight and share their personal stories of involvement with others.

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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.