Bird Quest

Tug Hill Bird Quest

An Outdoor Classroom Right in Your Backyard

Have you been watching birds?

The Tug Hill Bird Quest is a fun way for anyone to learn more about the birds that visit our neighborhoods and backyards. It also provides a yearly record of the types and number of birds that are present at bird feeders during the third full week of May in the Tug Hill region.

The Tug Hill Bird Quest is open to everyone. K-8 classrooms, home schoolers, youth groups, families, and individuals that live in the Tug Hill Region are welcome and encouraged to participate! It's free, it's fun, and it's a great learning opportunity.

Scroll down for all the details and to register!

Taking a break from indoor activities and turning our attention outside to watch birds can refresh us, reconnect us to the natural world, inspire curiosity, and help us become life-long learners. Your observations during this community science event also contribute to our multi-year collection of data about bird activity in our area!

The Tug Hill Bird Quest connects kids with nature and is easy to incorporate into any classroom or home setting!

 

Here's How It Works:

 

  • Early Bird registration before December 31st allows teams to choose to receive emails containing fun facts and learning activities weekly January through March.
  • Don't want to be an Early Bird? All teams can sign up online or by email any time before March 31st to participate. Both Early Bird and regular teams receive Bird of the Day emails in April and May providing pictures and bird identification tips.
  • Teams in need can request to receive birdseed, a bird feeder and/or a Tug Hill natural history guidebook free of charge. All supplies are provided on a first come, first served basis as materials are available. Supplies are either delivered or picked up by teams in mid-April.
  • Teams install and add birdseed to their feeder(s) at least 2 weeks before the official observation week begins.
  • Teams watch each day and record the bird species and how many individuals of each they see during the official observation week.
  • Teams download and complete THTLT's tally sheet and submit the form to THTLT no later than one week after the end of observation week.
  • THTLT compiles the team tally sheets and provides a report to all teams in June.

 

Here's How To Participate..

Register your team here:

Tug Hill Bird Quest REGISTRATION

Download:

Bird Quest: How to Watch & Count Instructions (PDF) »

Bird Quest: Tally Sheet (PDF) »

Have questions or are interested in participating:

Please give Lin Gibbs, our Community Programs Director a call at 315-779-2239 or email her at lgibbs@tughilltomorrow.org.

Learn More... Download these activities and visit these online sites...

Want to watch birds live on camera?

The bird feeding station at Cornell University’s Sapsucker Woods facility near Ithaca, NY is live with sound!

Go see who's there now: allaboutbirds.org/cams/cornell-lab-feederwatch/

woodpecker feeding three babies

Looking for a specific bird?

Learn out more about the birds you see using the North American Bird Guide online at: www.audubon.org/bird-guide

Special thanks to these local businesses who have generously provided bird feeders and seed for the Bird Quest: