Data Entry Contest: How do you share your love of birds with others?
For the seventh season in a row, Project FeederWatch and our sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited are rewarding registered FeederWatchers with the chance to win prizes. This year, Celestron is joining the fun and offering one pair of binoculars to each data entry contest winner as well. After entering bird counts (data) into the FeederWatch website, participants have the opportunity to share a story, memory, or tip by clicking the “Enter to Win” button on the Count Summary page. We randomly select two winners per prompt. Our final Data Entry contest prompt this season was:
Do you impart any birding skills learned from Project FeederWatch to anyone? How do you share your love of birds with others?
Congratulations to our winners, Millie Simbeck and Joann Ringelstetter!
Millie shared:
I love to share my knowledge of birds with my granddaughters. They love seeing and hearing all the different species at their home and mine. They’ve even been drawing and coloring different birds and giving them to me as gifts.
Participating in Project FeederWatch, or even simply watching birds can help engage children in the excitement of nature study and the wonder of scientific investigation. The Cornell Lab’s K-12 Education team has created resources for teachers and parents that build science skills while inspiring young people to connect to local habitats, explore biodiversity, and engage in citizen-science projects. Check out the K-12 Education website for lessons and activities for different grades, professional development training, parent resources, and more. You can find resources specifically related to Project FeederWatch such as the new FeederWatch Classroom Guide, applications for PFW classroom funding, and related activites and learning on our Educator Resources page.
Joann shared:
Whenever anyone visits my wooded property, or if I go on a nature hike with anyone, I always stop and ask them to listen to the birds that are singing. I identify the species they point out and tell them a bit about that bird. My absolute favorite thing is sharing birds with children – they are so eager to learn. What I love sharing the most with them is mnemonic [devices], especially for the Warbling Vireo: “If I sees you, I will seize you, and I’ll squeeze you ’till you squirt!”
A mnemonic device is a memory technique used to more easily remember difficult material. In this case, Joann is referring to phrases that people use to help them remember bird songs and calls. For example, similar to the Warbling Vireo song she references above, you might hear a Carolina Wren singing, “Tea kettle, tea kettle, tea kettle,” or a White-throated Sparrow singing, “Oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada.” If you wish to practice learning your bird songs, you may find Cornell’s Merlin Bird ID app very helpful. Merlin Bird ID is a free app that acts as a pocket field guide. You can explore a list of birds that live near you, learn their songs, view their range maps, and more. The app also has a Sound ID feature that listens to the birds around you and shows real-time suggestions for who’s singing. Learn more or find out how to download the Merlin Bird ID app here.
Thanks to everyone who participated and shared their stories over the 2022-2023 season – we wish we could share all of your submissions! Email feederwatch@cornell.edu with questions, and read the stories from past winners on our blog.
Interested in becoming a FeederWatcher? Join the fun now!
7 comments on “Data Entry Contest: How do you share your love of birds with others?”
I can’t find the count summary page or “enter to win.” Have searched all over site.
Hello Gayle, thanks for reaching out! As our article mentions, once participants submit data online, they have a chance to enter to win. When a checklist is submitted, participants are brought to a count summary page. Here, at the top of that page, is a pop-up that says “Share Your Story,” and shows an Enter to Win button. Then, you will be brought to the contest page where the prompts are available. Our 2022-2023 data entry contests have ended for the season, but stay tuned for next season, as we will have new prompts to answer.
Hi, I have some photos to enter. The website says the contest is over even though it says there will be 2 chosen winners for April.
Hello Rocco, if you are referring to our Data Entry Contest, the winners that were chosen for April were mentioned in this blog post.
This contest is a written word contest, not a photo contest, but if you would like to submit photos to our Participant Photo Gallery, you are more than welcome to do so. On Your Data Homepage, you can scroll all the way to the bottom to see directions on how to submit different types of photos. Please feel free to email us at feederwatch@cornell.edu with any questions.
Hey Joanne,
Congratulations on your win! I love that little rhyme – I bet the kids can’t stop repeating it 🙂
Hugs,
Joy
The joy of sharing my love of birds with others lies in the way it fosters a sense of community and a deeper connection to the natural world. Whether it’s through outings, social media, or conservation efforts, the shared love of birds has the power to bring people together and inspire a greater appreciation for the avian wonders that surround us.
New to FeederWatch, but a longtime birder (and a multi-agency natural areas biologist since 1979).
Noticed grapes were missing from your feeder suggestions. Everybody loves them (well, maybe not buntings)! But many birds rarely seen at any other feeders adore grapes. Sure, I have to “open” them for the smallest warblers (Northern Parulas, Black-throated Blues, etc.), as they can’t get through the tough skins of our larger “table grapes.” I impale mine on dead stems. Sure, larger songbirds and woodpeckers tend to grab a grape and leave. But, I get lots of time observation time with smaller species, especially warblers and vireos. There is no mess of empty seed husks, and the Gray Squirrels inevitably remove the empty “chalices” (hollowed-out grape skins).