For our November challenge the #BigYearAtHome Team encourages participants to:
- Learn more about #UrbanBirding Hotspots and Urban National Wildlife Refuges near you, and
- Go and visit one of your local #UrbanBirding Hotspots or Urban National Wildlife Refuges.
WHAT IS URBAN BIRDING? SIMPLY PUT, WATCHING BIRDS IN AND AROUND OUR CITIES AND TOWNS
David Lindo has become internationally known as the Urban Birder. From his perspective #UrbanBriding couldn’t be easier — you start by simply looking up. David shares, “It’s amazing what you can see when you look up — swirling swifts, migrating thrushes, raucous crows, birds of prey. It’s a beautiful world up there.” CLICK HERE to learn more about David Lindo and his advice about #Urban Birding in this article titled Birding in the City — How to Be an Urban Birder, by Kelsey Roseth.
“Cities can offer some of the easiest and most efficient birding. Many places are quickly reached by public transportation so they are available to everyone.” CLICK HERE to learn more from Deborah Rivel in her article 5 Tips for Urban Birding. She offers suggestions for making your #UrbanBirding experience as fun and convenient as possible.
Our #UrbanBirding challenge celebrates the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Urban Bird Treaty Program. This program supports partners in U.S. cities to conserve urban bird habitats, reduce urban bird hazards, and educate and engage urban communities in bird appreciation, recreation, and conservation. Cities can become more healthful, beautiful, and bird-friendly when partners carry out community-based solutions to urban bird conservation. CLICK HERE to read more about 30 Urban Bird Treaty cities through this interactive story map.
PARTICIPATE IN THE NOVEMBER #BIGYEARATHOME #URBANBIRDING CHALLENGE
First, learn more about eBird Hotspots and Urban National Wildlife Refuges near your city or town
A Hotspots is public birding location created by eBird users. Multiple birders regularly visit Hotspots and share their observations for that location, resulting in aggregated results that are available for all of us to explore. To explore eBird Hotspots near you:
- CLICK HERE to access the global eBird Hotspots map
- In the location field to the upper right enter your city or town
- From there click on the different Hotspot locations to see details about birds seen at that Hotspot, including bar charts that tell you when you might see each species at that site and directions to the Hotspot
There is a national wildlife refuge within a one-hour drive of nearly every metropolitan area. To learn about a refuge near you:
- Explore a list of Urban National Wildlife Refuges by CLICKING HERE
- Next, CLICK HERE to learn more about a refuge interest on the Find a Refuge map
- Lastly, head back to the eBird Explore Tool by CLICKING HERE — click “National Wildlife Refuges” under the “Enter a Region” field to the upper right, and enter your refuge of interest and check learn more about the birds that have been seen there.
Now, head out to an eBird Hotspot or Urban National Wildlife Refuge near you, and explore!
- Please consider sharing your observations by entering an eBird checklists (CLICK HERE to learn about getting started with eBird)
- Remember to share your checklist with our #BigYearAtHome eBird account, eBird account name “bigyearathome” (CLICK HER to learn how to share an eBird checklist)
Thanks for participating in our #BigYearAtHome November Challenge — #UrbanBirding. Please share your stories on social media — be sure to use the #BigYearAtHome and #UrbanBirding hashtags. You can also share your #BigYearAtHome stories with us directly using the Contact Form found at the bottom of our #BigYearAtHome webpage (CLICK HERE).