Ready to participate in Bird-a-thon? Here’s some more information to keep in mind and get you started!
Greenburgh Nature Center Goals for 2021 Bird-a-thon
- Inspire a new generation of birders to get outside and explore the beautiful wildlife we share our ecosystem with in a covid-safe way.
- Work collectively as a community to count the different species of birds in our area.
- Raise funds to support the Nature Center’s bird collection, nature education programs, and wild bird conservation efforts.
Birding Rules
- Participants will have from 9am on April 26th until 10pm on May 2nd to identify as many birds as they can.
- Birding can be done from anywhere outside—your home, school, local park, etc.
- We invite you to use the Nature Center grounds as your birding location as much as you’d like. We will have feeders set up everyday.
- Participants will keep track of the species they see on their official species checklist and submit ONE sheet per team to Danielle at birdathon@greenburghnaturecenter.org on the last day.
- The sheet will be a compiled list of all the birds team members saw.
- Each species will count only once. For example, if each team member sees a flock of 10 Canada Geese, it only counts as one bird on the list.
- You may bird solo or with other members of your team.
- If you are unsure of a species, try using the Merlin or eBird apps to help you identify the bird. If you are still unsure, snap a photo and send it to Danielle at birdathon@greenburghnaturecenter.org
- We encourage participants to take photos during their birding journey and share them with us!
Fundraising Guidelines
- Each registered team must contribute a minimum of $50 at the end of the bird-a-thon.
- Ask your friends, family, neighbors, and more to contribute to your fundraising page online or by using a pledge card. No gift is too small!
- We suggest birders ask sponsors to donate per bird species. A recommended donation range would be $1-$5 per species. One time donations are appreciated as well.
- The team that raises the most money will receive a prize!
Birding Code of Ethics
- Promote the welfare of birds and their environment.
- Keep a safe distance between yourself and birds or their nests.
- Make sure flash is disabled when photographing birds.
- Stay on roads, paths and trails to keep habitat disturbance to a minimum.
- Do not promote the presence of a rare bird if it could be harmful or disturbing to the animal.
- Respect the law and rights of others.
- Do not bird on private property without permission.
- Follow CDC guidelines for covid-19 safety.
- Ensure that feeders and artificial bird environments are safe.
- Keep dispensers, water, and food clean and free of disease.