Thanks to our BEN Bulletin
sponsor:
The Bird Education Network (BEN) was
created following the February 2007 National Gathering, hosted
by the Council for Environmental Education (CEE). BEN is a CEE
initiative that seeks to connect and support a community of
bird education professionals.
Over 3,000 individuals representing
300 organizations receive communications and engage in
professional dialogue through the BEN-run Bird Education
Listserv.
A BEN Committee has been established to
provide advice and guidance for this important initiative, to
advance "bird conservation through
education." |
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 New
ReportThe State of the Birds -
2010 Report on Climate Change
Earlier
this month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Division of Migratory Bird Management released
its State of the Birds: 2010 Report on Climate
Change. This publication addresses one of the
greatest environmental challenges of our time.
Accelerated climate
change as a result of human activities is altering the
natural world as we know it, diminishing the quality of
our environment. Climate change
threatens to further imperil hundreds of species of
migratory birds, already under stress from habitat loss,
invasive species and other environmental threats. The
report shows that climate changes will have an
increasingly disruptive effect on bird species in all
habitats, with oceanic and Hawaiian birds in greatest
peril.
This report follows
a comprehensive report issue released a year ago showing
that nearly a third of the nation's 800 bird species are
endangered, threatened or in significant
decline.
Information can be
easily translated by bird educators as we continue to
build bird conservation through education.
The
32-page publication can be viewed and downloaded by
clicking
here.
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 New Season for
NestWatch
NestWatch
needs your help to
gather information on nesting
birds from across the continent.
NestWatch welcomes data for all North
American birds. Participants submit data about which
kinds of birds are nesting, the number of eggs laid,
dates eggs were laid, and the numbers of chicks hatched
and fledged. Collecting this information across the
continent over long periods of time is one of the best
ways we have to detect widespread changes in breeding
bird biology.
In addition to its scientific value,
NestWatch is fun, free, and open to
all. Participation is a great way to
connect with nature. Kindergarten students in one New
York classroom collected information about bluebirds
nesting on school grounds. "This was so exciting for the
children and for me too," their teacher Ruth Taylor
wrote to us. "They named the male Skyboy and the female
Bluebell. First we had two eggs and then four eggs in
the nest. What a marvelous experience for all of us to
enjoy and learn!"
NestWatch is a continentwide
citizen-science project and nest-monitoring database of
the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, funded by the National
Science Foundation and developed in collaboration with
the Smithsonian Migratory Bird
Center.
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 Flying WILD Grows
its Flock of City
Partners
The Flying
WILD network is continuing to grow with
the addition of six new City Partners,
bringing its flock up to a total of thirty-three City
Partners nationwide.
Welcome the newest
members of the Flying WILD City Partner
network:
1. Western Kentucky University's Center for
Environmental Education and Sustainability - Bowling
Green, KY
2. Science Central - Fort Wayne, IN
3. Fossil Rim Wildlife Center - Glen Rose,
TX
4. Discovery Center at Murfee Spring
- Murfeesboro, TN
5. Newark Museum - Newark,
NJ
6. Jenkinson's Aquarium - Pt. Pleasant,
NJ
With the arrival of spring, now is the perfect time
to join a Flying WILD workshop. Remember, Earth
Day is April 22 and IMBD is May 8. Both are great
opportunities to use Flying WILD activities to foster
education and dialogue about birds and conservation.
To find a training event near you, visit Flying
WILD's new training event
page featuring a list Flying
WILD training events happening across the
country.
Flying WILD, a program of the Council
for Environmental Education, introduces students to bird
conservation through standards-based classroom
activities and environmental stewardship projects.
Flying WILD encourages schools to work closely with
conservation organizations, community groups, and
businesses involved with birds to implement school bird
festivals and bird conservation projects.
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 Audubon
Features New Online Game on Migration for Student
Learning
In the spring and the fall, many birds fly
long distances in search of food, water, shelter and
space: the same basic things that you need to survive.
Along these routes, they encounter many different types
of habitats, from country and forest to neighborhoods
and big cities, and at times, encounter dangers from
both natural and manmade hazards.
In an effort
to introduce learners to these concepts, National
Audubon has developed a fun and interactive
online game called Mission
Migration. In this game students will
try to help their flock migrate safely by learning
how choices they make each and every day around
their homes, schools, and neighborhoods can affect the
fate of these migrating birds - in both positive and
negative ways. By the time they're done, students
will have the skills and knowledge to help birds
thrive and survive around their
homes.
Mission Migration
is available online by clicking
here.
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For more
information visit:
