2009 Mini-Grant winners have been announced!  Congratulations and our thanks to everyone who applied and has a plan to Celebrate Urban Birds.

Sign up for the project and read your e-newsletter to find out about the opportunity to apply for 2010 mini-grants.

Celebrate Urban Birds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology invited organizations and educators to apply for mini-grants to help fund neighborhood events in communities everywhere, and more than 650 groups applied in 2009. 

Celebrate Urban Birds is a free year-round project that collects information from everyday people about 16 species of birds that may be found in urban areas. Check out the great events planned by the 2009 Celebrate Urban Birds Mini-grant Winners...you may be able to do something similar, or may be inspired to come up with a new idea. 

Participants spend 10 minutes watching birds in their neighborhood and report their observations online at www.CelebrateUrbanBirds.org. This information helps scientists better understand how birds survive in cities and make use of greens spaces, including parks and gardens.

Mini-grants average $100 - $500

What is a Celebrate Urban Birds event?   These are neighborhood events featuring activities involving birds, community service, art, greening, and science.  Celebrate Urban Birds mini-grants could be used to support a bird-activity day at a local museum, afterschool, library, or community center, or fund art and gardening activities at your club, business, school, senior center, or neighborhood. We want to see what new ideas inspire you! 

Why hold a Celebrate Urban Birds event? Connecting the arts, music, dance, and gardening with birds and science leads people into deeper observation of nature, helps them enjoy the magic inherent in birds, and reduces stress. Connecting with nature in YOUR city is good for birds AND good for your neighborhood!

For examples of the mini-grants awarded last year click here.

Girls from Pine Hills Elementary, Albany, NY,  Celebrate Urban Birds in 2008

What is our criteria for awarding mini-grants?

• We like the project
• A local artist or musician is part of the event
• Data collection is part of your plan! (Learn more about collecting data through Celebrate Urban Birds --it's easy)
  
• Small is good, big is good, too.  So is medium.
  
• You are reaching out and staying in your neighborhood...seeing and learning about local birds is more important to us than elaborate field trips.
  
• We feel the project has been well-planned and that it's really going to happen. We like down-to-earth more than pie-in-the-sky
• You can show us how you plan to spend the money you receive.  Break it down a little and show us realistic expenses. Nothing fancy; just show us you've done a little planning and research.
  
• Promise to take pictures and send us your final report; we want to show others what you've done at your event, so we need to hear back from you so we can create a page on the Celebrate Urban Birds web site to show others what you did.  They'll be inspired!  Tell us what you thought was really wonderful and exciting..it might be a quote from a participant, or a photo, or ...anything!