BE A BIRDER

BE A BIRDER

Tips

Winter offers some of the best chances to observe and get to know birds. For starters, birds are easier to spot and watch when trees are bare. Regularly stocked feeders in your yard also bring them closer to you. Here are some opportunities for getting to know songbirds better.

COUNT THEM

Now through Jan. 5 is Audubon’s 110th Christmas Bird Count, a time when volunteers record what they see for scientific purposes. Learn more at www.audubon.org/Bird/cbc/.

STUDY ONLINE

Learn how to observe and interpret behavior and communication among birds during a five-week online session offered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology beginning Jan. 6. A basic principle of bird behavior, including courtship and rivalry, is explored each week. You can purchase this as a gift for someone, too. Another session begins Feb. 17. Cost is $295 with a $30 registration fee. Visit www.ecornell.com/birds for a video that describes the course content.

GET AN IPHONE APP

Birds in the Hand LLC of Virginia and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have introduced a new birding app — BirdsEye — for the iPhone and iPod touch. “It’s like having thousands of local bird experts in your pocket,” says Kenn Kaufman, author of the “Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America.” If you are searching for a particular bird, BirdsEye shows you where it’s been observed and gives you directions. If you are a birder on the road, the app gives you a list of birds seen nearby and a map of birding hotspots for any location in the contiguous 48 states, Canada and Alaska. Bird sounds and images are included, too. BirdsEye also provides real-time access to the eBird.org database, a joint project of Cornell Lab and Audubon to compile the 1.5 million to 2 million observations reported monthly from birders everywhere. Learn more about the helpful birding app at www.getbirdseye.com.

Source: McClatchy Newspapers