BRIEFS

Great Backyard Bird Count: Feb. 13–16

The 2009 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is coming up! This annual event, sponsored by Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, provides an important glimpse into birdlife across the continent in mid-February. Lab director John Fitzpatrick notes, “With more than a decade of data now in hand, the GBBC has documented the fine-grained details of late-winter bird distributions, including some truly striking changes just over the past decade, better than any project in history.”

Anyone can take part by counting birds for as little as 15 minutes or as long as they wish on one or more days between February 13 and 16, and reporting their sightings online at www.birdcount.org, where participants are also invited to submit digital photos and YouTube videos. This year’s results promise to be especially interesting thanks to an invasion of crossbills and siskins in many states, and an influx of Snowy Owls as far south as Virginia. Come join the fun!

Snowy Egret—winner of the Habitat category in the 2008 GBBC photo contest.

Photo by Marianne DiAntonio

New Classroom BirdScope

The newly redesigned student research journal Classroom BirdScope highlights the best original student reports from BirdSleuth classrooms and homeschool groups nationwide. Featuring original student research reports, nonfiction science writing, and bird-inspired creative writing, poetry, and art, CBS now adds a focus on guided critical analysis through the inclusion of discussion questions and talking points.

Project leader Jennifer Fee says, “BirdSleuth gets kids outside to truly experience the excitement of science! Each year we are impressed by the wonderful research kids do. By publishing their results, we can give attention to the importance of their scientific thinking.” BirdSleuth curriculum kits highlight several citizen-science projects and encourage students to do what “real” scientists do: ask questions, collect data, look for patterns and evidence, test ideas, draw conclusions, and share results.

Classroom BirdScope is included in the winter mailing of BirdScope. Perhaps you can share your copy with children or teachers in your part of the world.

Photo by Gregory F. Budney

Sound Recording Workshop
June 6–13

Imagine a week in the Sierra Nevadas among Spotted Owls and White-headed Woodpeckers. And imagine bringing home excellent sound recordings of many of the birds you heard—recordings that you yourself made!

Every year the Macaulay Library teaches state-of-the-art techniques for recording the sounds of wildlife with experts from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Participants learn through daily field recording sessions, lectures, and discussions. The workshop takes place at San Francisco State University’s Sierra Nevada Field Campus in the Tahoe National Forest. The station, located at 6,000 feet amid Ponderosa and Jeffrey pines, affords a wide range of recording conditions in spectacular surroundings.

This year’s workshop will take place from June 6–13, 2009. The $895 fee includes tuition, class materials, ground transportation, food, and lodging. Loans of recording systems are available at no additional cost to the first six participants who request them. Class size is limited to 20, and registrations must be received by April 10. Find out more at www.birds.cornell.edu/MacaulayLibrary.

Free Clements Workshop Now Online

The electronic version of the Clements Checklist of Birds of the World is now available for free online at www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist, where it will be regularly updated. We are also introducing a new feature—the addition of an “unofficial” hierarchical level between the species and subspecies rank. These are the “field identifiable” groups that many birders already keep track of, either because they are the residue of past lumps (e.g. “Myrtle” and “Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped warblers), because they represent potential future splits (e.g. the various groups of Fox Sparrows), or just because they provide an extra challenge.