Birdstack's Notes
Birds of the Solstice is a project to document birdlife around the world during the December solstice, which is this coming Monday or Tuesday (depending on your location) — 21 December at 5:47 p.m. UTC (that’s Monday at 12:47 p.m. in New York and Tuesday at 4:47 a.m. in Sydney). We want to hear from you, wherever you are that day! Here’s how.
Depending on your cultural outlook, solstice marks either the beginning or the midpoint of a season. Depending on your hemisphere, that season is either winter or summer.
It’s an excellent time to stop and reflect on the birds around you. For me, few things say “winter” as eloquently as the burry call of a chickadee on cold, frosty air.
At some point within 12 hours either side of the solstice, go birding — even if it’s just by looking out your window for 10 minutes. Record your observations in a trip on Birdstack. Take pictures. Blog your thoughts. Here are more ideas, an official timetable for participation, and the rules.
There are Birdstackers on six continents, and we’d love to have participation from Tasmania to Finland and from Capetown to Gujarat. By December 31, we’ll post a compilation page with your observations, pictures, and thoughts.
If you would like to promote Birds of the Solstice on your blog, you can copy and paste either of these code snippets:
Banner (500px by 110px):
<a href="http://birdstack.com/solar
or
Button (165px by 165px):
<a href="http://birdstack.com/solar
Good birding!
The Birds of the Equinox: September 2009 compilation has been posted! Enjoy.
And mark your calendars for December 21, the solstice.
Birds of the Equinox is a project to document birdlife around the world during the September equinox, which is next Tuesday — 22 September at 9:19 p.m. UTC (that’s 10:19 p.m. in London and 2:19 p.m. in Vancouver). We want to hear from you, wherever you are that day! Here’s how.
Depending on your cultural outlook, equinox marks either the beginning or the midpoint of a season. Depending on your hemisphere, that season is either autumn or spring.
It’s an excellent time to stop and reflect on the birds around you. What’s changing? Are birds returning or passing through? Are they departing? Are they singing or molting?
At some point within 12 hours either side of the equinox, go birding — even if it’s just by looking out your window for 10 minutes. Record your observations in a trip on Birdstack. Take pictures. Blog your thoughts. Here are more ideas, an official timetable for participation, and the rules. (And for further inspiration, check out Birds of the Equinox: March 2009).
There are Birdstackers on six continents, and we’d love to have participation from Tasmania to Finland and from Capetown to Gujarat. Entries are due by 28 September, and by 2 October, we’ll post a compilation of your observations, pictures, and thoughts.
If you would like to promote Birds of the Equinox on your blog, you can copy and paste either of these code snippets:
Banner (500px by 110px):
<a href="http://birdstack.com/solar
or
Button (165px by 165px):
<a href="http://birdstack.com/solar
You can also RSVP/promote Birds of the Equinox on Facebook.
Good birding!
We’ve just finished updating the Birdstack database to conform with version 2.2 of the IOC’s world bird list. If your data was affected by any splits or lumps, you will have a notification. For help with the upgrade process, check the taxonomic updates help page and the taxonomic updates screencast.
Highlights include addition of 13 species, 108 English name changes primarily for endemic and near-endemic birds of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, and resequencing of New World trogons.
You can explore further at IOC World Bird List Updates.
On June 11 at 9:30 a.m. EDT (UTC: 2009-07-11 at 13:30) we will be taking the main Birdstack server down for up to 3 hours in order to perform routine maintenance and upgrades. That means there will be no way to access the site during this time, and your stacks will not load on other websites. We’ll do our best to get it back up as quickly as possible (hopefully less than three hours).
These upgrades will help pave the way for some new features we hope to launch in the next couple months. Stay tuned!
We’ve just finished updating the Birdstack database to conform with version 2.1 of the IOC’s world bird list. If your data was affected by any splits or lumps, you will have a notification. For help with the upgrade process, check the taxonomic updates help page and the taxonomic updates screencast.
Version 2.1 contains 10,340 species classified in 39 orders, 224 families and 2198 genera. Highlights include addition of 14 species, including eight albatross species, and 19 English name changes including the Madeiracrest to Madeira Firecrest and Pediunker to Grey Petrel.
You can explore further at WorldBirdNames.org.
The Birds of the Equinox: March 2009 compilation has been posted! Enjoy.
And mark your calendars for June 21, the solstice.
Today (24 March) we added a paragraph to the Birdstack Privacy Policy relating to the potential use of third-party cookies. You can review the changes under the “Cookies” heading in the Privacy Policy.
We’ve just finished updating the Birdstack database to conform with version 2.0 of the IOC’s world bird list. If your data was affected by any splits or lumps, you will have a notification. For help with the upgrade process, check the taxonomic updates help page and the taxonomic updates screencast.
Version 2.0 contains 10,331 species classified in 42 orders, 226 families and 2,199 genera. This is a major update that includes revisions of the family classification as well as species taxonomy. You may notice significant revisions in orders and families based on the results of important genetic studies. Our assumptions and hypotheses about avian systematics are undergoing major revisions as more information becomes available. Among other changes, the list now includes more than 200 recently split and newly described species, revisions of the Old World Warbler families, and a resequencing of suboscine families to align with South American Checklist Committee classification.
You can explore further at WorldBirdNames.org.
Birds of the Equinox is a project to document birdlife around the world during the March equinox, which is this Friday — 20 March at 11:44 a.m. UCT (that’s 7:44 a.m. in New York and 10:44 p.m. in Sydney). We want to hear from you, wherever you are that day! Here’s how.
Depending on your cultural outlook, equinox marks either the beginning or the midpoint of a season. Depending on your hemisphere, that season is either autumn or spring.
It’s an excellent time to stop and reflect on the birds around you. What’s changing? Are birds returning or passing through? Are they departing? Are they singing or molting?
At some point within 12 hours either side of the equinox, go birding — even if it’s just by looking out your window for 10 minutes. Record your observations in a trip on Birdstack. Take pictures. Blog your thoughts. Here are more ideas, an official timetable for participation, and the rules. (And for further inspiration, check out Birds of the Solstice: December 2008).
There are Birdstackers on six continents, and we’d love to have participation from Tasmania to Finland and from Capetown to Gujarat. Entries are due by 27 March, and by 5 April, we’ll post a compilation of your observations, pictures, and thoughts.
If you would like to promote Birds of the Equinox on your blog, you can copy and paste either of these code snippets:
Banner (500px by 110px):
<a href="http://birdstack.com/solar
or
Button (165px by 165px):
<a href="http://birdstack.com/solar
You can also RSVP/promote Birds of the Equinox on Facebook.
Good birding!
