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> December 24, 1999:
Hour Two: Birdwatching Bonanza
They're making a list, and checking it twice... going to find out what birds are in town... Ok, so it doesn't rhyme. In our annual salute to birdwatching, we're going to check in with two groups of birdwatchers who are keeping tabs on the state of their feathered friends.
| One, Audubon's Christmas Bird Count, has been going for a hundred years. It uses data that birdwatching volunteers across the country have collected for ten days on either side of Christmas. That data, compiled by the Audubon Society, is used to help identify population trends caused by changes to birds' food, predators, or habitat.
Another example of citizen science in action is Project Feederwatch, which asks people to keep track of the birds that they see at their bird feeders throughout the winter months. This program, which grew out of a project in Ontario in 1976, now boasts over 14,000 members throughout the U.S. and Canada, ranging from life-long birders to school groups just catching the birding bug.
|  | On this hour of Science Friday, join guest host David Baron to find out what these two groups are up to, to learn how you can get involved, and to get a chance to play "name that birdsong" with contestants around the country. Tune in!
Guests:
Geoff LeBaron
Director
Audubon Christmas Bird Count
Williamsburg, Massachusetts
Wesley Hochachka
Assistant Director, Bird Population Studies
Laboratory of Ornithology
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
Science Friday, July 1999: The Life of Birds
Science Friday, January 1998: Christmas Bird Count
BirdSource
Audubon Society
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
PetersonOnline
American Birding Association
- This segment produced by:
Annette Heist
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist |