We've  received national endorsement for a new project to reconnect kids with nature!

The National Forum on Children and Nature has endorsed The Birds and the Bees Challenge, a project to be administered by Celebrate Urban Birds. It is one of 30 projects chosen nationwide to creatively reconnect kids with nature, benefiting their overall health and appreciation for the outdoors. Formed in 2007 by The Conservation Fund, the National Forum on Children and Nature recognized an urgent need to reconnect kids with nature. The Forum chose 30 out of 560 proposals through a year-long process to cull the best ideas to improve children's health through nature. We are thrilled to receive this important recognition of our work! 

Learn more!

To learn more about all chosen projects, visit the National Forum on Children website

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Art in Birds/Birds in Art contest under way
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, video of a bird perching on your window, something that makes you pause, look twice, laugh, 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 HERE.

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 January 31, 2009.   

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Celebrate Little Green Places contest
We received fantastic entries for our "Celebrate Little Green Places" contest. See some of the contest entries and recognized photos . Outstanding photos and ideas will soon be awarded prizes including a $100 gift certificate from Johnny's Selected Seeds, "bird and butterfly attractor station" from Ion Exchange Native Seed and Plant Nursery, subscriptions to Mother Earth News, plus great books, sound recordings, and more.

Entries received our "Little Green Places for Birds" poster.

Thank you for participating!

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Where's my kit?
If you ordered your kit after mid October you should receive it within the next few weeks. Our printed materials took a bit longer to arrive than anticipated, but we are mailing kits out again this week. We are including improved sunflower seeds after participants told us that germination rates were low. We've gone back to the Dwarf Sunspot variety.

Beginning in January we may need to ask participants to pay a small shipping /handling fee for each free kit we mail.

Thank you for your support.

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Avian reptiles

Did you know that birds are the sole remaining descendants of the so-called theropod dinosaurs, a group that included Tyrannosaurus rex and many other dinosaurs, large and small? ***********************************************************************

Celebrate Urban Birds website redesign
Come see our newly redesigned website. You'll find great new activities in the arts, gardening, wellness, and community. Learn how easy it is to contribute to conservation efforts and have fun doing it.
www.CelebrateUrbanBirds.org

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Holiday gifts
Celebrate Urban Birds posters, seeds, and  special kits for group leaders, corporations, educators, and homeschoolers are unique, meaningful gifts. Purchase special packages with resources, CDs, ideas, and posters and help our project connect people with nature everywhere.

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Kevin's Crows
Anyone who spends time in Ithaca, New York, will eventually spot one of Kevins crows sporting colored leg bands and shoulder tags. Kevin has been keeping track of the crows in the Ithaca area since 1988. Read a short interview with Kevin about his work, including one of the most thrilling things that ever happened to him while he was measuring an egg in a a crow's nest

Find more information about Kevin, his research, and FAQs about crows at www.birds.cornell.edu/crows.
 
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Video conference with students at Loyola Village Performing Arts Magnet School
Students at Loyola Village Performing Arts Magnet school in Los Angeles participated in a Celebrate Urban Birds video conference in November. Students learned about citizen science, how to collect data for Celebrate Urban Birds, and asked great questions about birds. Do you know how you can tell how old a bird is?
See photos of the video conference and answers to their questions here: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/community/Spotlight/Partners/loyola-village-performing-arts-magnet

Do you want to arrange a video conference between your students/youth and staff at Celebrate Urban Birds? It's easy, fun, and free! Email urbanbirds@cornell.edu to set it up.
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What do you want to do when you grow up?
Do you know any restless young people who would love to get out of the classroom? Maybe they should plan a career in the natural sciences! We've put up some new pages about people who work at the Lab of Ornithology and how their special interests and abilities led them to where they are now. Read about their diverse and sometimes rocky paths to their current careers.Your most active and adventurous friends may enjoy a look at the Gran Pajonal web site, which tells about a team of three young men who are working in a previously-unexplored region of Peru looking for birds. Find a great picture of two young Peruvian boys with their baby coati! 

We recently heard a talk given by the founders of Proeval Raxmu. They are training local farmers and residents in Guatemala to be citizen scientists.This can benefit tourism, economic development, and contribute to science. Citizen scientists (yes, you're a "citizen scientist" when you do the Celebrate Urban Birds observation) come in all shapes, sizes, and countries.   
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Mini-grants available
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 to hold a Celebrate Urban Birds Event in 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

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We provide the Celebrate Urban Birds kits for free to community organizations working with under-represented audiences. We need your help to continue. Every donation counts. Please help us meet our goal to distribute 150,000 kits by June 30, 2009!

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.

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Join our Facebook group so you can easily share photos, events, and ideas. Help us make it a great success!

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