Jan 19, 2021
Event has passed
MARION In February, the Marion Natural History Museum will teach anyone who is interested how to participate in a free backyard bird watching event for bird watchers of all ages.
During an hour-long Zoom event on Feb. 10 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., participants will learn how to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count a free, fun and easy annual citizen science event where people count birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations.
Those who attend the virtual event will learn how to identify birds and record their findings. Participants will become citizen scientists while having fun in their own backyard or local park! The Marion Natural History Museum will share resources, apps, tips and tricks on how to identify birds.
Editor’s note:
If you set out bird feeders, you are not alone. estimates that there are 50-60 million people who feed birds. That is around 50% of households. They spend a total of around $4 billion on bird food annually. That buys 1 billion pounds (500,000 tons) of seeds, suet and other types of bird food.
Why do people get into bird feeding? Most people say they enjoy watching nature and enjoy the sound of birds in their yard. Some do it because they want to help birds. Others wish to learn bird behavior and also learn how to identify them. Some parents want to provide an educational experience for their children. I have also spent a lot of time photographing birds at my feeders. To date I have photographed 32 different species of birds.
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MNLARS has since been replaced, and the new plates are now available wherever residents renew their plates or tabs, online or in person.
The winning license plate design, by artist Timothy Turenne, depicts the state butterfly – the monarch – and rusty patched bumblebee, recently designated as the state bee. Pollinators, including the two species featured on the license plate, have been generally declining across the U.S. because of habitat loss and likely issues with pesticides.
Vehicle owners who want the new plates pay an extra fee of $30 per year, with the money going to critical habitat acquisition projects through the Reinvest in Minnesota program. In 2019, the plates generated $5.3 million to help buy and manage critical habitats for all types of species.
Melody Arnold, President of the Macon Co. chapter of the Audubon Society, will describe the annual Great Backyard Bird Count, happening February 12-15 this year. She will talk about a few of the birds that we are most likely to see in this area and how we can participate.
Melody Arnold was in the first class of Master Naturalists in Unit 17, now the Glacier s Edge MNs. She holds a B.S. in Education from Eastern Illinois University. She is retired from the Macon County Conservation District where she was the Education Specialist. Melody is the current President of the Macon Co. chapter of the Audubon Society.
The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected our day-to-day lives. It may be influencing citizen science, too. Case in point? During lockdown periods, there were fewer cars on the road and less traffic noise as a result. Those quieter streets actually helped to put nature especially birds back on our collective radar.
People increasingly noticed birds and their accompanying songs, which sounded louder in the quiet. As Elizabeth P. Derryberry and colleagues, writing in September 2020’s
Science magazine, noted, “Despite a reduction in song amplitude, communication distance more than doubled during the shutdown, further indicating the impact of noise pollution on communication during normal conditions.”