With all that the Web does for us in the way of bringing us information, actually snowing us with information, it's refreshing to find a Web site that lets us interact meaningfully on an environmental issue — bird conservation. For this you can thank the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (Ithaca, N.Y.) and the National Audubon Society (N.Y., N.Y.).
The Cornell Lab and the National Audubon Society have joined forces to let thousands of birdwatchers across North America add their bird watching tallies to a national data bank — BirdSource — to be "nested" at Cornell.
BirdSource is a central data bank where bird lovers can list their observations of birds seen at feeders in backyards or at schools and on bird walks in parks, sanctuaries and elsewhere. What happens when thousands of people submit their observation data? The Lab says that an estimated 30 to 60 million people watch and feed birds. Forty-five thousand participate each year in National Audubon's Christmas bird counts, which have been conducted since 1900. If only a fraction of these people join the on-line census effort, the results would be quite meaningful.
With bird counts from all over, Cornell University's computers will be able to create maps that show the locations of birds spotted on various days. Compare the locations of birds over time, say throughout the fall, for example, and you'll see a pretty good picture of bird migration. According to the Lab, this information will be available almost instantly to anyone who logs into BirdSource.
Anyone, including backyard bird watchers, will be able to compare the sightings in their area from one year to another, indeed, one season to another. The data will be particularly useful to schools where science teachers will be able to use the data for long-term school science projects. The Lab plans to develop ways for Web visitors to educate themselves about birds and conservation. Pictures and sounds of birds will make the site valuable as an education and research tool.
Beyond the backyard and school uses, BirdSource should prove valuable to researchers. People who study bird populations will be able to monitor the distribution of species over many years to try to understand declines and increases in populations. Perhaps this will help forecast species that are threatened or endangered and thus help conservationists promote practices to avert extinction.
After BirdSource has been up and running awhile, and enough sighting data has been entered, Cornell will be able to examine these data in relation to information on hydrology, landforms, vegetation and weather.
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