Belted Kingfisher photo by John Benson.
Help set a new birding record this Saturday! May 5th is the Global Big Day, a 24-hour event seeking to document as many bird species as possible across the world. Participation is easy – on May 5, get outdoors and do some birdwatching. Identify and count the birds you see around your home, your neighborhood, or at your local Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail site, then enter your bird observations into eBird. By counting and documenting the bird species you see here in Virginia, you will ensure Virginia birds are well represented in the count, plus you’ll be joining bird enthusiasts around the world in a quest to break a new Global Big Day record. Last years’ Global Big Day set a record of 6,659 species of birds seen in one day. Visit eBird’s Global Big Day web page to find more information and watch this year’s results roll in live.
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- Scarlet Tanager photo by Alan Schmierer.
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- Indigo Bunting photo by Dawn Scranton.
Participating in this event is one simple thing you can do to help birds during the 2018 Year of the Bird, a celebration of birds and a call-to-action for people to help birds in simple yet meaningful ways. The checklists you submit into eBird on May 5 will provide data on bird populations that scientists can use to better understand birds.
Add to the fun of your Global Big Day by bird watching with a friend, your spouse, your children, or grandkids. You may even want to check your local bird club to see if they are having a special field trip for the event. Find your local club at: Audubon.org or Virginiabirds.org.
Pileated Woodpecker photo by Jerry McFarland.
If you enjoy observing birds during the Global Big Day and don’t want the fun to end, consider participating in the Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas (VABBA2), a citizen-science project of DGIF, the Virginia Society of Ornithology and the Conservation Management Institute at Virginia Tech. Data collected from this project will help map the distribution and status of Virginia’s breeding birds. Find everything you need to get started at VABBA2.org.
This article is brought to you by Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries (DGIF), in support of the Year of the Bird, a celebration of birds that marks the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), one of the first laws passed to protect wildlife and one of the most important for birds. DGIF asks you to join your fellow wildlife-enthusiasts in this celebration by taking simple, meaningful actions to protect birds in 2018 and beyond.