Latest Birdwatching Stories

HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Game Commission officials are encouraging bird and nature fans throughout the state to join tens of thousands of everyday North American bird watchers for the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), Feb. 12-15. A joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, this free event is an opportunity for families, students, and people of all ages to discover the wonders of nature in backyards,...

CHICAGO, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- If the blustery fall weather is reminding you that your favorite birds are going to be gone with the wind until the first breath of spring, take a virtual hike over to Two-Fisted Birdwatcher for eclectic observations loosely inspired by years of avian appreciation. These tales of life, wildlife and the pursuit of happiness roam freely over everything from Scarlet Tanagers to banjo teachers and two-fisted characters like Indiana Jones, extracting life lessons...

CHICAGO, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Where can you find a story about a guy who avoided a traffic ticket by explaining that he was chasing a Pileated Woodpecker, a tale about Art Carney one-upping Jackie Gleason over a bird name, a yarn about an ailing crow whose would-be rescuer unwittingly fed him to the neighborhood raccoons, and a reflection about the commonalities between banjo teachers and birders - all in one location? Pop open a beer and point your browser to Two-Fisted Birdwatcher, a...

British organizations that seek to protect birds say they have begun a $414,000 effort to save endangered species. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Bird Life International will pay for scientific expeditions to wherever endangered species are seen, whether in jungles or on remote islands, The London Telegraph reported.The money will also go toward conservation of birds' habitats. The groups asked British birdwatchers to be on the lookout for endangered species at home and...

 Once upon a trash heap dreary, while he wandered, weak and weary, University of Illinois English professor and birding enthusiast Spencer Schaffner raised his binoculars, focused and had a eureka moment.In his sights, not a raven, nor even the Tamaulipas crow, a once-common inhabitant of the Brownsville, Texas, city dump. Rather, Schaffner identified the rarely spotted fowl irony.The U. of I. professor, who also watches and studies bird-watchers, suggests that the popular pastime known as...

A federal study indicates one of every five U.S. citizens was involved in birdwatching during 2006, contributing $36 billion to the nation's economy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report indicates total participation in bird watching during 2006, the latest period for which statistics are available, totaled 48 million people -- remaining at a steady 20 percent of the U.S. population since 1996. Participation was generally greater in the northern half of the nation. The five top states...

Bird watchers are migrating thousands of miles to Florida for a chance to see an Asian bird that has shown up in a Jacksonville park. Volunteers doing a census in Huguenot Memorial Park spotted the greater sand plover last week, The Orlando Sentinel reports. The species breeds in Turkey and central Asia and winters on Mediterranean and Indian Ocean beaches. A greater sand plover was spotted in California in 2001, the first time it was reported in the Americas. Reports of the Florida bird...

A couple of ivory gulls, which usually live in the high Arctic, have been spotted in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Audubon Society said birders are flocking to Gloucester, Mass., where an ivory gull was spotted Saturday -- the first sighting of the species in the Bay State in two decades, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday. A second ivory gull was spotted Tuesday in Plymouth, Mass. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Web site said the bird is rarely seen south of the Bering Sea or Canada's...

Most of what we know about bird populations stems from surveys conducted by professional biologists and amateur birdwatchers, but new research from North Carolina State University shows that the data from those surveys may be seriously flawed "“ and proposes possible means to resolve the problem.Bird populations are the focus of thousands of environmental research and monitoring programs around the world. A group of researchers led by NC State's Dr. Theodore Simons has been evaluating...

THE RSPB is inviting farmers in the North East to join a successful scheme which can boost farm incomes while helping the wildlife on their land. The "Volunteer & Farmer Alliance" is organised by the RSPB and offers farmers a free survey of the breeding birds on their land, carried out by a local volunteer. Taking part is completely free with no-strings attached, and it's a great way for farmers to find out valuable information about birds on the farm. A trained volunteer visits the...