Challenge 3 - Bird is the Word

Now that spring has sprung, birds have made their presence known across Ontario. Whether they are visiting bird feeders, singling loudly to attract attention, or migrating to their summer homes, signs of birds are everywhere around us.

In our third Ontario Envirothon Challenge, you are tasked with identifying local birds, either by appearance or song. iNaturalist allows you to either take photos or record audio. Sometimes, birdsong is a more reliable identifier than a blurry photo taken from a distance, especially in the spring when birds are calling for mates.

For your observations to count towards the challenge, you must make note of your reasoning for the ID in the “notes” field of your observation. You should try to observe as wide of a variety of birds as possible, but separate observations for the same species are allowed.

Here are some resources that will assist in your bird identification:

• Envirothon Bird ID Guide
• The Cornell Lab Bird Guide
• Video - The Merlin Bird ID app
• Smithsonian Migratory Bird Centre's key to identifying bird calls
• Birdsong Hero – how to read a spectrogram
• The Feather Atlas

GOALS

As a team, collectively make 10 bird observations. These observations can be photographs, audio recordings, or both. You must make reasoning for the ID in the notes or comments of your observation.

Please submit your observations as a team to this form.

This challenge has been sponsored by

Fleming College

Julkaistu maaliskuu 22, 2023 07:40 IP. käyttäjältä braymade