by Brete Griffin
THE ANNUAL MIGRATION of millions of birds is considered by
many to be one of nature's most enigmatic and awe-inspiring
phenomena. Over the last several hundred years, intensive efforts
have been made by scientists and amateur ornithologists alike to
understand the "hows" and "whys" of the
complex migratory patterns exhibited by birds. Initially, people
realized that one of the best ways to do this was to document the
kinds and numbers of birds in a given area over an extended
period of time. Field observers began keeping lists, or informal
counts of the bird species seen along with their abundance at a
selected site. During the 1900s, in part because of growing
interest in the study of birds, more formal counts were organized
at a regional level: the annual Christmas Bird Count began in
1899, the Breeding Bird Census in 1937, and the Breeding Bird
Survey in 1965. As the database of observations expanded and
information was collected over longer periods, it became apparent
that populations of some migratory birds were in decline.
Recognizing the importance of long term data in studying
population dynamics, the scientific community collaborated with
birding groups to develop a more standardized methodology for
collecting this information.
Today, serious birders and scientists continue to work together
to achieve a more systematic and rigorous approach to studying
bird populations. Many public and private organizations rely
heavily on dedicated volunteers to monitor migration and to
maintain operations at banding stations. Organizations such as
the American Birding Association, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird
Center, the National Audubon Society, Partners in Flight, and
Conservation International realize that public aware-ness and
education campaigns are of critical importance if migratory birds
and their habitats are to be preserved.
One way you can educate your students about migratory birds and
at the same time contribute to monitoring and conservation
programs is to organize a "birdathon" at your school. A
birdathon is an annual bird count, usually done during spring
migration, which serves as a major fundraising activity to
sustain bird monitoring and conservation programs across North
America. Several bird observatories that are part of the
Migration Monitoring Network (such as the Long Point Bird
Observatory in Canada and the Point Reyes Bird Observatory in
California) use birdathons to educate the public about the plight
of many migratory bird species. Similar regional bird counts,
such as the World Series of Birding (New Jersey Audubon Society)
the Great Texas Birding Classic (Texas Parks and Recreation) and
the Space Coast Flyway Festival (Titusville, Florida) operate
with the same aim, to encourage support for bird conservation
programs in their respective regions. The SEEDS Foundation in
Canada has a Bird Identification and Tally activity for home and
school as part of their Challenge Program for schools.
By organizing a bird count as a class or club project in
collaboration with one of these organizations, you will not only
raise students' awareness of migratory bird conservation but may
also be able to raise money for school environmental projects.
Birdathon participants gather pledges from their friends,
families and other sponsors, either as a flat rate or as a
specific amount per bird species recorded (e.g., one dollar per
species). The funds collected are used by sponsoring
organizations to sustain long term bird-banding projects, support
scientific research by graduate students, assist community
habitat restoration projects, and develop educational materials
for the public. Depending on the policy of sponsoring
organization, a percentage of the total proceeds raised by your
class or club may be returned to your school to subsidize a
variety of environmental projects and activities. In addition,
corporate sponsors often donate prizes to organizations
conducting birdathons; prizes given to school groups who
fundraise for bird conservation have included reference books
(bird identification, of course!), telescopes, and class sets of
binoculars.
Birdathon logistics
Fitting it in: A birdathon can be organized as a field trip by
your school environment club during a school-wide celebration of
an event such as Earth Week or Wildlife Week. Alternatively, a
bird count can be done in conjunction with another regularly
scheduled field trip in environmental science or geography. For
example, a Grade 10 science class visiting a local conservation
area to conduct an ecological analysis of aquatic or terrestrial
ecosystems could incorporate this activity into the study. All
you need is a bird species checklist, binoculars and/or a
telescope, and a field guide to help with identification. If none
of your staff members, parent volunteers or students has
expertise in bird identification, you may wish to contact a local
naturalists' club for help. As part of their education outreach
programs, many birding organizations encourage members and
affiliated groups to assist schools.
Where to go: The basic idea of a birdathon is to maximize the
number of bird species seen or heard during a 24-hour period. An
ideal strategy is to visit a number of sites representing
different habitat types in order to increase the diversity of
bird species observed. As an extreme example, participants in the
World Series of Birding can go anywhere in the entire state of
New Jersey to find the most bird species in a 24-hour period!
This is obviously not a practical plan for student groups, but
with a little prior research you can choose a site that has a
good mixture of habitat types. Not everyone has a Point Pelee or
a Cape May nearby, but a local park or conservation area can be
very productive. An area that combines both aquatic habitats
(lake or marsh) and terrestrial habitats (open fields, shrubby
areas, stands of mature woodlands) will likely support a good
diversity of species, fragmentation effects notwithstanding.
When to go: The best time for a birdathon is any day during the
peak period of spring migration, which in North America occurs
from mid-April to the end of May, depending on geographical area.
Try to choose a day that corresponds to the period of migration
in which the greatest bird species diversity is usually recorded
in your area or latitude. A local naturalists' club or bird
observatory can provide this information or, better yet, you
could start a database of migratory bird surveys to answer this
question for yourself. If planning your outing for early May,
consider scheduling it to coincide with International Migratory
Bird Day which takes place on the second Saturday in May.
Weather is an important factor in a successful birdathon and it
is a good idea to schedule an alternative rain date in case of
inclement weather. The ideal time to observe birds is just after
a front has moved through the region, as bad weather often forces
migrating birds to the ground to find food or shelter.
Unfortunately, most school field trips must be planned well ahead
of time and even our best weather-sensing technology cannot
predict ideal weather too far in advance, so pick a date and
cross your fingers!
Fundraising details: If you intend to use your birdathon to raise
funds for a bird conservation organization and/or to support
school environmental projects, have students begin gathering
pledges a few weeks before the event. Most organizations provide
pledge forms to participants, but students may also create their
own. If the organization is officially designated as "not
for profit" (most of them are), all contributions from
supporters are tax-creditable and receipts can be issued.
To be fair to your sponsors, let them know how many species you
expect to see during your birdathon, as your total could range
anywhere from 20 to over 100 species depending upon local
conditions. Most sponsors prefer the flat-rate strategy so they
don't have to worry about your group having "too good"
of a day!
Curriculum integration
Birdathons are adaptable for both elementary and secondary school
students and have several cross-curricular applications.
Elementary students: For younger students, simple tallies of
species abundance and diversity can be made through participation
in a program such as Cornell Laboratory's Project Feederwatch or
Classroom Feederwatch in which daily or seasonal changes in bird
numbers are monitored right on the school grounds. If you have
done a little homework on the habitat variety in a local park, a
well-planned walk for even one hour through different areas of
the park could be very productive in terms of both bird numbers
and species diversity.
In Canada, the SEEDS Bird Identification and Tally (BIT)
Challenge is an excellent format for doing surveys with younger
students. In addition to providing survey forms for
recordkeeping, the project also allows for a large-scale online
summation and comparison of your students' bird data with that of
other schools in the region or across the country. As examples of
cross-curricular applications, the SEEDS website also offers a
creative writing assignment as a language arts activity, and the
bird count data is amenable to simple descriptive statistics and
other mathematical operations.
The American Birding Association has developed educational
programs such as the Youth BirdQuest to encourage younger
students to learn about birds and develop a sense of stewardship
for the natural world. A corporate sponsor of this event gives
prizes for different categories of achievement for participating
students. The association also sponsors students for summer
birding camps and publishes a bi-monthly newsletter for and by
young birders as part of their youth education program.
Secondary students: A birdathon will naturally integrate with
secondary science or environmental science curriculum units that
include sections on ecology or animal behaviour. Ecological
topics and concepts which can be addressed include food webs,
predator-prey relationships, niche characteristics, succession,
habitat, trophic levels, carrying capacity, competition, natural
selection, population dynamics, adaptation, migration, phenology,
biodiversity, biomagnification, and wildlife at risk.
Observations made and data collected during the birdathon can
reinforce concepts covered in the classroom and bring to life the
connections between and among different species of organisms (not
just avian ones!). For example, a sighting of a Peregrine Falcon
or a Bald Eagle could bring to light recovery programs designed
to bring back bird species formerly extirpated because of
chemical- or pesticide-induced reproductive failure. A sighting
of a Kirtland's Warbler is an opportunity to emphasize the need
for forest management practices that use controlled burning to
maintain large tracts of Jack Pine in an early successional
state. Catching a glimpse of a Prothonotary Warbler will remind
everyone of the need to keep swamps from being drained and of the
value of providing artificial nesting sites for those threatened
species that cannot "excavate" their own and are thus
dependent upon the availability of tree cavities. The use of nest
boxes to help the Eastern Bluebird population recover is an
example of a success story using this particular strategy.
The study of migratory wildlife is an excellent way to learn
about how organisms adaptively respond to changes in their
environment. Students could research and draw range maps for
migratory species and investigate factors that cause and
influence the evolution of migratory behavior. If birdathon data
can be collected over several years in a given location, students
can analyze variations in species occurrence and abundance, and
assess the possible causal factors by monitoring changes in
weather patterns. Comparisons could also be made between
locations (using surveys done by other schools) to determine the
effect of habitat changes on bird species abundance and
diversity. Through statistical analysis and graphical
representation of the data, students can detect and analyze any
patterns in the comparative study over time or between sites.
Recent developments in both tracking and monitoring technology,
such as satellite-linked tracking devices and radar detection,
have greatly contributed to our understanding of the navigational
mysteries of bird migration. Many conservation and educational
organizations now have websites for the online tracking of some
migratory bird species (Coulter, 1997). Journey North, for
example, has online data pertaining to the northward progression
of spring, and invites students and others to contribute data on
first sightings of migratory wildlife and first blooms of plants.
Although the use of computers in environmental education
continues to be a concern (Thompson 1995, 1997), if used in
conjunction with ongoing field research a computer can be a
powerful analytical tool for the large-scale collection and
processing of ecological data.
If conducting a birdathon generates interest in doing further
work to help protect and conserve habitat for migratory birds,
you and your students may wish to follow up by checking out the
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's Citizen Science Projects.
Examples of projects currently being run are the Nest Box
Network, Warbler Watch, Forest Bird Monitoring, and the Cerulean
Warbler Atlas Project. The results of various monitoring projects
o rganized by the Cornell Laboratory are being used to help
achieve specific goals of the North American Bird Conservation
Plan such as the purchase of land that hosts breeding populations
of declining species. Such projects also help people better
understand the complex issues surrounding birds and conservation
and thus become more effective stewards within their own
communities.
Participating in a birdathon truly has multiple benefits for
students. It is a valuable educational tool through which
students will apply ecological concepts learned in the classroom,
gain experience in an environmental monitoring technique, and
develop an environmental ethic while carrying out meaningful
fieldwork. It is also a means of helping to raise community
awareness of the local habitat needs of migratory birds, while
helping to support regional and international efforts to help
save and preserve migratory wildlife.
At the time of writing, Brete Griffin taught science at T.L. Kennedy Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario. He is currently Education Coordinator for the American Birding Association in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This article was published in Green Teacher 60, Winter 2000, pp. 31-35.
Anglin, Lise. Birder Extraordinaire: The life and legacy of
James L. Baillie. Toronto: Toronto Ornithological Club, 1987,
ISBN 0-9695562-0-9.
Bonney, R., S. Carlson and M. Fischer. Citizen's Guide to
Migratory Bird Conservation. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Laboratory of
Ornithology, 1995.
Coulter, Bob. "Tracking Migratory Animals: Going Online for
Environmental Education." Green Teacher 53, Fall 1997, pp.
20-21.
Green, Paul. "Early Birding: The American Birding
Association and Education." Winging It, 9:2, 1997, pp. 1-6.
Greenberg, Russell and J. Reaser. Bring Back the Birds.
Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1995, ISBN 0-8117-2519-7.
Hameister, Roxine dePencier. "Surveying Biodiversity."
Green Teacher 55, Spring 1998, pp. 32-36.
Laughlin, Sarah and Diane Pence. A Guide to Bird Education
Resources. Washington, DC: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation,
1997.
Quanz, Ken and Edward Cheskey. "Avian Attraction."
Green Teacher 47, April-May 1996, pp.15-17.
Terborgh, John. Where have all the birds gone? Princeton, NJ:
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------ "Sharing and Finding Information on the Web: A Second
Appraisal."Interactions 9:5, 1997, pp. 23-26.
THE following organizations provide assistance in conducting
research on migratory birds and planning for birdathons. Some of
the listed websites have online migration tracking features and
others are included to provide extended learning opportunities or
to help teachers and their students get more directly involved
with local and international migratory bird conservation efforts.
National and International Birdathons
Bird Studies Canada holds the international Baillie Birdathon
each May; 25% of funds raised go to a nature or conservation
club/project of participants' choice. Contact Bird Studies
Canada, PO Box 160, Port Rowan, ON N0E 1M0, (888) 448-BIRD,
website http://www.bsc-eoc.org/brdathon.html
SEEDS Foundation sponsors the Canada-wide Bird Identification and
Tally Challenge each year on the May 24th weekend. Elementary
school classes receive tally sheet masters and curriculum
packets, and enter and compare bird counts with other classes
through an online database. Contact SEEDS, (800) 661-8751, email
seeds@telusplanet.net, website
http://www.greenschools.ca/seeds/May/Maystart.html
Point Reyes Bird Observatory organizes an international birdathon
each year in September. Participants receive tally sheets and
information; all funds raised are used for programs of the
observatory. Contact Point Reyes Bird Observatory, 4990 Shoreline
Hwy, Stinson Beach, CA 94970, (415) 868-1221, email
prbo@prbo.org, website http://www.prbo.org
The American Birding Association helps school groups organize
Youth BirdQuests, birding competitions and fundraisers which can
be held any day of the year; 50% of funds raised go to local
projects/50% to the ABA. Contact: ABA, PO Box 6599, Colorado
Springs, CO 80934, (719) 578-1614, website
http://www.americanbirding.org/ygbqstann.htm
National Audubon Society: Regional birdathons are organized by
many state chapters. For general information, contact National
Audubon Society, 700 Broadway, 6th floor, New York, NY 10003,
(212) 979-3047, website http://www.audubon.org/sa/ birdathon/
Regional Birdathons
Arkansas: Audubon Society of Central Arkansas,
http://www.aristotle.net/~asca/birdathn.htm
California: Madrone Audubon Society,
http://audubon.sonoma.net/newsletter/v30n8/youngsters.html
Florida: Space Coast Flyway Festival. This annual November
birdathon is limited to a single county in Florida, but the
website offers good examples of pledge forms and a set of birding
rules and ethics that would be useful in organizing your own
birdathon. Website: http://www.nbbd.com/fly/
Iowa: Loess Hills Audubon Society,
http://www.avalon.net/~yiams/birdaudadv.html
Maryland: Audubon Naturalist Society,
http://www.wildplaces.com/bbthon.htm
New Jersey: World Series of Birding, NJ Audubon Society,
http://www.njaudubon.org/wsb/wsbschls.html
New York: National Audubon Society,
http://ny.audubon.org/birdathon.html
Texas: Great Texas Birding Classic,
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/nature/birding/bclass/
Washington (state): Audubon Society of Washington,
http://www.audubon.org/wabat.htm
Other Projects and Organizations
Cornell Lab of Ornithology sponsors bird-monitoring projects such
as Project Feederwatch, Classroom Feederwatch and Nest Box
Network, through which students contribute to scientific
research. Website http://www.ornith.cornell.edu/
Journey North: An online education initiative through which
students track the northward progress of spring, entering data on
first sightings of birds and other animals and first blooms of
plants. Website http://www.learner.org/jnorth/
Partners in Flight: An international coalition of organizations
working to reverse population declines of migratory birds,
co-sponsor of International Migratory Bird Day on the second
Saturday in May. Website http://www.PartnersInFlight.org/
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center: Education initiatives include
co-sponsorship of International Migratory Bird Day and an
International Pen Pal program that pairs North American classes
with Latin American counterparts who "share" the same
migratory species. Website http://web2si.edu/smbc/start.html