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"Celebrate Urban Birds!" 2007

Birds cover thousands of miles during migration. Like any long-distance traveler, they need a place to rest and refuel.

What do birds do when all they see below are towns and cities?
How can we provide green spaces with adequate food and shelter to help the birds?
What impacts do community gardens, rooftop gardens, parks, green balconies, or even a single tree in a sea of concrete have on birds?

Help the Cornell Lab of Ornithology find out in an exciting and free nationwide event called Celebrate Urban Birds! May 10-13, 2007, www.urbanbirds.org/celebration.

People of all ages and backgrounds can spend from ten minutes to four days learning about city birds, watching birds for science, and engaging in projects to green up their community. Participate on your own or help organize an event in your community through your favorite group, museum, nature center, school, library, business, senior center, community center, club, park, or backyard!

Sign up as soon as possible by visiting www.urbanbirds.org/celebration . Invite others in your community to join us as well. The more the better!

Artist Found!

Urban Bird Studies invited individuals of all ages and backgrounds to submit samples of their work to be considered for a "Birds in the City" poster that will be used in "Celebrate Urban Birds!" events in cities throughout the continent in May 2007.

We received an overwhelming response! Artists of all ages and abilities from across the globe sent in their work for consideration. We felt privileged to receive so many wonderful, creative submissions. It was extremely difficult to select one from among all the top-notch entries. We have now created a database of artists for future projects and will feature selected artists on the Celebrate Urban Birds web site.

After much consideration we chose artist, muralist, and teacher Katie Yamasaki from New York City. We are excited by her incredible work! Click here to learn more about her and see some of her artwork.

The poster will feature illustrations of the 15 target species of birds selected for the Celebration in a colorful urban backdrop. It will be used as an identification guide and educational tool.

Workshop Held at the Lab of Ornithology in December
Educators and group leaders from around the country travelled to the "Lab of O" to learn about, provide input on, and connect with Lab staff on December 14th. Exciting presentations on the science behind urban greening, gardening for the birds in cities, marketing ideas, and facilitated discussions about regional celebration plans were included.

Participants who went on the early morning bird walk were even treated to close views of Pileated Woodpeckers.

Presenters included Vice President for Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society and director of Audubon's Seabird Restoration Program, Stephen Kress, Elissa Wolfson, editor and writer at the Cornell Plantations, Caren Cooper, research associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez, doctoral student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell.

Gretchen Ferenz and Lisa Babcock from Cornell Cooperative Extension in New York City also were an integral part of the day.

You can view selected workshop presentations and see some of the ideas shared by regional partners by visiting the web site.

Interesting Research
The Pigeon Paradox: Dependence of Global Conservation on Urban Nature by Robert Dunn, M. Gavin, M. Sanchez, and J. Solomon.

Read an exciting article in December's issue of Conservation Biology that discusses achieving global conservation by promoting direct experiences with urban species. It is thought that people are more likely to become involved in conservation action when they have direct experiences in the natural world. 80% of people are found in cities, therefore, humans mostly experience nature though much maligned urban species such as pigeons and other introduced species thought of as urban pests. The paper examines the idea that perhaps global conservation will depend more and more on people's interactions with urban ecosystems.

Urban Bird Studies DVD is a Success!
We've had a great response to our new Urban Bird Studies' bilingual DVD. Educators and group leaders tell us overwhelmingly that it is a wonderful tool for introducing groups to citizen science. The bird guides have also been invaluable. All of our introductory and instructional videos are available on the DVD. It also features bird guides with cool facts for each of the projects, navigation in both Spanish and English, PigeonWatch color morph guide, and much more. Included is a handy bird identification guide of five common city birds that you can take with you to watch birds. If you'd like to purchase the DVD please send $5 per DVD to Urban Bird Studies, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 or email us at urbanbirds@cornell.edu. Let us know if the cost is a hardship for you or your program.