Wednesday, April 22, 2015

New Jersey Audubon 32nd Annual World Series of Birding, May 9

Bernardsville, NJ – April 21, 2015 – On Saturday, May 9, 2015, more than 70 teams are expected to participate in the 32nd annual World Series of Birding, hosted by New Jersey Audubon (NJA).

The World Series of Birding is a fun and competitive "Big Day" for birding and nature enthusiasts. Teams have up to 24 hours (from midnight to midnight) to count as many bird species as they can identify by sight or sound within the state of New Jersey. Each species seen or heard counts as one. NJA lays the groundwork and gives participants the playing field and rules to follow – and the rest is up to the teams.

This event creates a great day for birders of all levels of expertise – an event where local conservation groups, schools and youth birding teams come together to share their unique interest.

There are several ways to participate:

  • Level I (Bird Conservation Challenge) – for competing teams who vie for awards in several categories.
  • Level II (NJ Audubon Ambassador Challenge) – for non-competing teams, who are raising money for NJ Audubon.
  • Level III (Zeiss Youth Challenge) – for ages 6-18 within their respective youth groups – our fastest growing category.
  • Level IV (Senior Challenge) – for ages 60 and older.
  • In addition, Level I teams can elect to canvas the entire state; or limit their search to a "Limited Geographic Area" of a single county (LGA); or forego travel entirely and do a Big Stay, or go "powerless" for the Carbon Footprint Challenge. And returning this year, they can compete using their photographs of birds throughout the day as their only form of identification of a species.


NEW! The Big Photo Day Returns
This year is the return of "The Photo Big Day" category. The World Series of Birding hasn't hosted this category for a few years and this year it's back. Given the exponential increase in use of digital photography, quality of photo documentation and great interest in photography as a means to enjoy, share and identify birds, the "Photo Big Day" category will challenge participants to count only those birds that can be identified solely from photographs. Only one team member needs to photograph a bird for it to be countable. Any still photography method is acceptable, including iPhones, digiscoping, SLR and point-and-shoot. Separate start and finish times apply to the "Photo Big Day" in order for the species list and photo submissions to be reviewed.

NEW! Team Communication/Sharing of Sightings
The rule that did not allow teams to share their sightings throughout the Big Day has been reversed. 2015 teams may share their sightings on open-source or globally accessible information platforms during the competition. The NJA encourages 2015 teams to share their sightings and progress with team followers and donors on eBird, Twitter, Facebook, and other non-pay-for service listserves and bird alerts. This benefits the teams overall as they help each other to succeed; and allows their donors/supporters to keep abreast of their progress. Furthermore, it reinforces the camaraderie and fun of the event.

The new rule further notes that no team shall pre-arrange to have someone scout ahead on the day of the event to tell them about stake-out birds; and that personal communications between individuals on different teams, whether by mobile phone or text, is not allowed. If a team has a sighting it wants to share, it should be shared in the broadest possible way, not amongst a small group.

NEW! Website/Online Registration
There is a new website and new online registration platform at www.worldseriesofbirding.org that allows registered teams to create their own web page and registrant that they can use to solicit donations and sponsors for their conservation initiatives via social media. It's easy and many teams are using it very effectively in their fundraising efforts.

The New Jersey Audubon World Series of Birding has changed the birding landscape, drawing attention to the habitats of migrating birds and giving birders a chance to put their bird watching skills to use for a good cause by focusing global media attention upon the challenge, adventure, and fun of bird watching.

Most importantly, the event generates a great deal of money for conservation causes. People donate to support the event or pledge an amount per bird species seen/heard to their favorite team during the event, which raises over $600,000 annually – a total of $9 million over its 32-year history. The money raised is put back into our surrounding environment in ways that protect resources and preserve the habitats that the birds need.

"Birders are constantly challenging themselves, whether it's building a large life list, working out the nuances of bird identification of a single species, or predicting the outcome of bird migration using their understanding of weather patterns and bird distributions," stated David La Puma, PhD, and Director of the Cape May Bird Observatory. "The World Series of Birding caters to all the various modes of birding, with the love of birds being the connection between them."

This year's event sponsors include Swarovski Optiks (Carbon Footprint Challenge), Carl Zeiss Sport Optics (Youth Birding Challenge), Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Shop Rite Food/Wakefern, and Estee Lauder Inc. Individual teams are sponsored by Birds & Blooms magazine, Cape Resorts, Vortex Optics, Cape May-Lewes Ferry, South Jersey Gas, Hudson Farm, Ernst Seeds and Trump National Golf Course, with more still coming on board.

What does NJA get out of this? "The pride and prestige that comes from hosting a world-class event," said Pete Dunne, founder and soon to be 32-year veteran of the World Series of Birding. "We're a mission driven organization," he added, speaking on behalf of the NJA. "In this day and age, bird protection demands a global perspective. What benefits organizations working in concert with us, also serves our mission."

The first official World Series of Birding began at midnight on May 19, 1984, when just 13 teams set out on a 24-hour treasure hunt. Today, hundreds of participants take part in the event.

Total bird species sightings/hearings can vary according to weather conditions, the experience and skill of the teams, the complexity of the route, the amount of scouting, and a bit of luck (good and bad). Competing team totals have ranged from a low count of 48 to a high count of 229, with an average of 165 species overall. The total cumulative number of species tallied by all teams in a given year ranges from a low of 245 to a high of 270. The cumulative total since 1984 is 330 species.

The registration deadline for teams wishing to participate in the World Series of Birding is Friday, April 24. Visitwww.worldseriesofbirding.com for a registration form and all the details.

For more information, call Lillian Armstrong at 609-861-0700 ext. 33, or René Buccinna at 609-861-1608 x13 or e-mailwsb@njaudubon.org

Also visit www.birdcapemay.org for information about CAPE MAYgration, Cape May Bird Observatory's annual spring birding festival, which follows on May 14 – 18.

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About New Jersey Audubon

New Jersey Audubon is a privately supported, not-for profit, statewide membership organization. Founded in 1897, and one of the oldest independent Audubon societies, New Jersey Audubon has no connection with the National Audubon Society.

New Jersey Audubon fosters environmental awareness and a conservation ethic among New Jersey's citizens; protects New Jersey's birds, mammals, other animals, and plants, especially endangered and threatened species; and promotes preservation of New Jersey's valuable natural habitats.

New Jersey Audubon Society Headquarters is located at 9 Hardscrabble Road, Bernardsville, NJ 07924. Call (908) 204-8998 or e-mail: hq@njaudubon.org.