Though the National Aviary is closed to the public during the COVID-19 crisis, essential staff are providing care to the birds and online encounters for us at home.

Each week has a theme plus activities for kids. This is Rainforest Week at the National Aviary.

I missed telling you about Tuesday’s Facebook Live encounter but more activities are planned. Today at 1pm (Wed 15 April 2020) you’ll find Ask the Expert with Dr. Pilar Fish on the National Aviary’s Facebook page.

Meanwhile, have fun viewing this cool page of videos including Benito and Sapphira, flamingo courtship dances, a Harris hawk, Penguin Awareness Day 2018, and baby sloth Vivien (2017).

And here’s an added bonus: Christa Gaus with Bubba the Palm Cockatoo.

Check out the Rainforest Week web page for this week’s activities.

Visit the National Aviary’s Education page any time for more to watch and learn.

(screenshots and videos from the National Aviary)

On Tuesday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m, as part of their Science on Screen series, the Tull Family Theater in Sewickley will be showing A Birder’s Guide to Everything, a film about teens wanting to make birding history. The film is paired with an introduction by Dr. Brian Wargo, an educator and official Audubon Society counter at the Allegheny Front Hawk Watch. He will be talking about the successful recovery of bald eagles and peregrine falcons from extirpation in our area.

What: Presentation + movie: Dr. Brian Wargo speaks about the recovery of bald eagles & peregrine falcons followed by the 2013 movie A Birder’s Guide to Everything, a comedy rated PG-13.

When: Tuesday 3 March 2020 at 7:30pm

Where: The Tull Family Theater, 418 Walnut Street, Sewickley PA 15143 (412.259.8542)

Here’s the trailer:

(screenshot from A Birder’s Guide to Everything)

You can help birds on President’s Day Weekend by counting them.

After we learned last fall that 29% of North America’s birds have vanished since 1970, Cornell Lab of Ornithology provided us with 7 Simple ways to help birds. The Great Backyard Bird Count, 14-17 February 2020, is a fun way to do #7: “Watch Birds & Share What You See.”

Counting birds for science is one simple action that individuals can take to protect birds and the places where they live.

GBBC press release, 2020

It’s easy to participate. Everything you need to know is at birdcount.org including this slideshow that explains how to do it. It’s as easy at 1-2-3.

1. Register for an eBird account if you don’t already have one. (GBBC uses eBird.)
2. Count birds for at least 15 minutes during those four days. Yes, the minimum requirement is just 15 minutes of your time! You can count for longer than 15 minutes and in more than one place if you wish.
3. Keep track of the highest number of each species with a separate checklist for each new day, for each new location, or for the same location if you counted at a different time of day. Use your computer or the eBird mobile app to submit your observations.

If you love to take photographs submit your best shots to the GBBC photo contest. Click here for contest information.

You can count birds anywhere —  in your backyard, in a park, at the shore, or on a hike.  Or stay indoors and count birds at your feeders.

Join the Great Backyard Bird Count, 14-17 February 2020.

(2020 poster from birdcount.org)

This mammal and the bird have a cooperative relationship. The red-billed oxpecker eats insects and ticks that it finds in the impala‘s fur. Both of them benefit.

When humans cooperate we benefit, too, and there’s a surprising outcome. Cooperation makes each of us happy and forges trust. When we refuse to work together we become angry and sad.

Sometimes it takes effort to cooperate but it’s worth it. Everyone benefits and it improves our mood.

So my hope for 2020 is that we all — myself included — …

Act kindly. Think kindly. Work together.

Make it a happy new year.

p.s. Did you know that humans are instinctively quicker to cooperate than compete? If we go with our first impulse we’ll do better! Read more here.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption to see the original)

Merry Christmas!

These beautiful decorations are at Phipps Conservatory’s Holiday Magic event that continues after Christmas through 12 January 2020. Don’t miss it, especially at night! Click here for a timed ticket.

(photos by Kate St. John on 18 December 2019)