Citizen birding lecture wraps up ‘Ding’ lecture series

Rick Bonney, director of program development and evaluation at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in New York State, will make a special guest appearance to speak about "Birds of the Florida Gulf Coast: What Does the Future Hold?" on Thursday, March 18, at 1 p.m. in the “Ding” Darling Education Center.

Florida’s Gulf Coast is home to many species of birds and is a favored birding location for many birdwatchers. Much of what we know about the distribution of birds in the Gulf and throughout the rest of Florida comes from information contributed by birders participating in a variety of citizen science projects. What can citizen science tell us about the status of Florida's birds, past, present, and future? And how can birdwatchers help us learn more?

Bonney, co-founder of the Lab’s Citizen Science Program and co-editor of the Cornell Handbook of Bird Biology, will explain how ordinary citizens can become involved in research projects such as backyard bird counts, NestWatch, and eBird (http://ebird.org/content/ebird). The latter is an online, nationwide bird checklist where birders can enter their sightings.

In addition to offering home computer listing opportunities, Cornell places eBird reporting kiosks in prime birding locations, including J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island. That Education Center kiosk became operational last year.

Admission is free to the event, which is sponsored by the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge, as part of its Thursday Afternoon Lecture Series. Seating is limited and available on a first-come basis.