We talk about Citizen Science pretty frequently on the NC Science Trail. We highlight important Citizen Science Events, we mark our partners information pages with their Citizen Science endeavors, and we even have a big button on the front page that says, “Be A Scientist.” You haven’t hit that button?? Well, please go ahead and give it a try. I’ll wait…
You’ll notice immediately that the button provides you with two new options to be a scientist: (1) One connects you to our partners who share Citizen Science activities with visitors, like you. (2) The other connects you to statewide programs, like Science Across NC and ecoEXPLORE, that share Citizen Science activities and programs with all ages, all year long. Both options allow you to be involved with scientific research on your own terms, for a day, or for many years. Being involved with Citizen Science projects do make a great impact regarding the amount of data that can be collected for scientific projects, and it can broaden the range where that data can be collected.
If you’re interested in participating in a great urban ecology citizen science project, keep reading. Sara Gagné is back as our summer resident urban ecologist to share news on the uses of technology for acquiring bird data. Afterwards, she’ll tell you how you can get involved this summer to identify and share data about the birds around your nature neighborhood.
If you’d like to read more about Sara’s research you can check that out on her website or her Instagram account.
By Sara Gagné, Urban Ecologist, UNCC
I am thrilled to share that yesterday, UNC Charlotte, the Mecklenburg Audubon Society, and Cape Fear Bird Observatory installed one of the first Motus stations in the North Carolina Piedmont! What is Motus, you ask? Motus, which means “movement” in latin, is an international research community studying the movement and behavior of birds, bats, and insects. Motus is anchored by a network of receiver stations equipped with radio antennae that detect tagged animals as they move through the environment. Many of those animals are migrating birds and you can visualize their long-distance journeys on the Motus website. For example, I followed the journey of a Bicknell’s thrush ‒ a small songbird that breeds in remote northeastern forests and is ranked as globally vulnerable ‒ from where it was tagged in New Hampshire in June of last year to its visit of Fort Macon, NC last October and on to its winter vacation spot near St. Simons Island in Georgia. It was last recorded a few weeks ago by a station near Baltimore as it made its way back up north.
Motus is an example of the advanced technology being deployed to monitor and better understand bird populations in North American and beyond. Much of this technology is driven by professional and community, or citizen, scientists. Motus depends on passionate people to set up stations in meaningful locations like ours at UNC Charlotte, which is filling a major gap in network coverage in the Piedmont. The data produced by Motus and similar projects enable scientific research that is making a difference to bird conservation. For instance, Zoe Korpi at Ohio State University and colleagues used Motus to map the pathways of migratory birds across Lake Erie, showing where offshore wind development should be limited in order to minimize negative impacts on these sensitive species.
In this installment of the Explore Your Nature Neighborhood summer series, you will learn about two remarkable high tech birding projects that are transforming the way people interact with birds and fundamental bird science. In the video, Melissa Dowland of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, will walk you through the Merlin and eBird apps developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Merlin, as its name implies, uses the magic of AI combined with expert knowledge and over 800 million eBird sightings, to help people answer the age old question “what’s that bird?” Merlin includes a Bird ID Wizard that uses a step-by-step process to help you identify birds and tools that identify species based on a photo or a sound recording made by your phone. Merlin’s Sound ID technology is truly amazing. At this time of year, I like to leave my phone out on the deck first thing in the morning so that when I’m ready to sit down, I can marvel over a cup of coffee at all the species I had no idea were waking up with me.
Just like Motus, eBird sightings, made by people all around the world, are powering incredible science. Because of eBird, scientists are now able to track up-to-date and fine-scaled population change in hundreds of bird species. This type of science helps conservationists focus their efforts on the species and the places most in need. You can check out abundance maps on the eBird website, as well as animations that follow a species as it moves back and forth across the continent each year. With eBird, I can pinpoint the specific week of the year that my beloved chimney swifts typically arrive in Charlotte. I also use eBird whenever I’m at the beach to see what others have observed in the local area. This is best in the winter when eBirders report the northern waterbirds that spend the coldest months of the year along the coast of North Carolina. Thanks to the submissions of fellow eBirders, I’ve seen beautiful buffleheads, small diving ducks that breed in northern Canada and Alaska, places I’m not likely to visit anytime soon.
Along with the video, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has created a sound mapping activity that will help you learn the songs and calls of birds in your yard. You’ll map the bird sounds that surround you and, in the process, begin to identify the characteristic phrases of each species. The mapping activity will also help you identify the areas in your yard that birds especially like. Once you’re done, use Merlin to check your work and record your observations. And don’t forget to reflect on the good you are doing for your avian neighbors near and far.
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Thank you to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for partnering with the NC Science Trail.
