LITTLE ROCK — Winter offers some of the best chances to observe and get to know birds. For starters, birds are easier to spot and watch when trees are bare. Regularly stocked feeders in your yard also bring them closer to you.
Here are some opportunities for getting to know songbirds better.
Count them. Through Jan. 5, you can join Audubon’s 110th Christmas Bird Count, a time when volunteers record what they see for scientific purposes. Learn more at audubon. org/Bird/cbc.
Learn for free. The public library is home to many books about birds that can be foundin Arkansas. Other good sources are the Arkansas Audubon Society (arbirds.org) and Audubon Arkansas (ar.audu bon.org). Check out the Bird Discussion List at arbirds.org.
Spend money. Learn how to observe and interpret behavior and communication among birds during a five-week online session offered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology beginning Jan. 6. A basic principle of bird behavior, including courtship and rivalry, is explored each week.
You can purchase this as a gift for someone, too. Another session begins Feb. 17. Cost is $295 ($255 for Cornell Lab members) with a $30 registration fee. More information is at ecornell.com/birds.
Birds in the Hand LLC of Virginia and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have created a $19.99 birding application - the BirdsEye “app” - for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
“It’s like having thousandsof local bird experts in your pocket,” says Kenn Kaufman, author of the Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America.
More information is at getbirdseye.com.
ActiveStyle, Pages 28 on 12/28/2009