What is birdPod?
BirdPod is an Apple iPod loaded with bird songs—and lots more. Unlike a typical bird song CD set, birdPod's bird songs are organized to enable quick identification of bird songs in the field. We think birdPod is the best tool yet for learning bird songs. And, it's fun!
 Learn more at the birdPod website
In this exclusive prize giveaway, we have copies of birdPod Maker Software, Eastern and Western North America . The birdPod Maker Software, Eastern and Western North America, is what you need to get started using birdPod if you already have an iPod and the Stokes CDs.
BirdPod Maker updates song names, splits tracks, removes narration and adds useful additional data to iTunes and enables the use of birdPod playlists. It includes a standard set of playlists by habitat, as well as playlists that match the booklets that come with the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs, Eastern and Western Region.
Learn more here
Here's How To Win One of These Great Prizes
TAKE THE QUIZ AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT. WRITE DOWN YOUR BIRD PHOTO ID ANSWERS BEFORE TAKING THE QUIZ AS YOU WILL NOT SEE THE PHOTOS AGAIN DURING THE QUIZ
1. Carefully read the Surfbirds Review of the Birding Year 2005 and identify the birds in the photographs below. The 20 question challenge will test you on parts of this review and on some of the bird IDs you made. We suggest you write your bird ID answers down before taking the challenge as there is a time limit for each question and you will not see the photos again.
2. Enter The Challenge
You will need to register with a valid email address to enter the challenge. Please state your location when you register. You can take the challenge as often as you want, but the questions are random and will change each time you take it. There is also a time limit for each question, so we encourage you to read the review and identify the bird photos before starting the challenge. If we get more high scorers than we have prizes to give out, then prizes will be awarded as a lottery amongst the highest scorers.
Deadline to enter the challenge and be eligible for a prize is Dec 30th. Winners will be contacted in the first week in January.
Good Luck and Have Fun!
Surfbirds Birding Review of 2005
Birds in the News
Eastern population of the Red Knot heading towards extinction
During 2005, the American Bird Conservancy revealed the plight of the eastern US population of the Red Knot and revealed the cause of the dramatic decline in the bird's available food source on its northward migration. They called for an emergency moratorium on horseshoe crab harvest in the Delaware Bay to protect the Red Knot and other shorebirds.
World's Largest Caspian Tern Colony to be Decimated
ABC also highlighted plans to devastate the world’s largest colony of Caspian Terns. The plan called for the elimination of up to 74% of the tern colony on East Sand Island in the Columbia River on the Washington-Oregon border. More details are here
BIRD FLU - Waterbird culls and wetland drainage could worsen spread of Avian Influenza, BirdLife warns
BirdLIfe International warned that hasty responses to Avian Influenza based on incomplete or unsound data could do great damage to birds and other biodiversity, while actually raising the risk to people and to the economically important poultry industry.Read the full story here
More birds slipping towards extinction
BirdLife International's annual evaluation of how the world's bird species are faring shows that the total number considered to be threatened with extinction is now 1,212, which when combined with the number of near threatened species gives a total of exactly 2,000 species in trouble - more than a fifth of the planet's remaining 9,775 species. Read the full story here
World record White Stork Donna electrocuted
Six years after she was satellite-tagged as a chick, Donna the White Stork has been killed by power lines. Hatched in Belgium, the much-travelled Donna had left her wintering grounds in southern Spain, and died as she reached her breeding site in the Calvados region of France. Donna was important because "no other bird has been tracked on a daily basis for such a long period. Donna provided us with a mass of unique scientific data." Read the full story here
Birdwatchers Code
The growing popularity of birding, prompted the major conservation groups to reitterate sommon sense guidelines that birders should observe. You can read them here
Birders and Blogs
We've enjoyed reading the adventures of our fellow birders all over the world on the Birding Blogs page. One of our favorites this year, has been Birder on a Bike which chronicles the year listing and birding adventures of Norfolk birder Chris Mills. The twist is that Chris has to see all his birds without using motorised transport. The physical and emotional pain of missing a bird is illustrated as Chris struggles with broken spokes, hills and unrelenting East Anglian wind and rain in his year listing quest.
Another very inspiring story came from Charlies Bird Blog and is the story of The Swallow Hunter - the inspiring story of Pierfrancesco Micheloni and the Ebbaken project . Italian birder, Pierfrancesco Micheloni goes to Nigeria to discover why millions of Barn Swallows are being killed every year and attempts to stop the slaughter.
What a Hurricane Season
Birders love foul weather and the interesting migrants that it can displace. At the end of October, hurricane Wilma deposited nearctic migrants from Nova Scotia to Scotland. These two reports tell the story from both sides of the atlantic. Birders from Nova Scotia and Norfolk tell their stories.
The Great Owl Invasion
One of the highlights of the early part of the year was the amazing owl invasion of the northern US states. Alex Cruz's sketchbook beautifully illustrated some of the owling highlights and photos of Great Gray Owls posted by Surfbirds readers can be seen here in the galleries and also in the albums
On the topic of sketchbooks, 2005 saw many updates to the sketchbook section. Richard Allen's sketches often grace Surfbirds and his "Silver and Gold" was a beautiful study of Smews.
Oh and then there was that Woodpecker Story
Unless you have been birding in the outer reaches of some far flung part of the globe with no access to the news, you will have heard about the rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the swamps of Arkansas. Surfbirds ran an interview with one of the finders and here is Cornell's Press Release giving info to birders wanting to go see the bird.
Birding in Iran
With a lot of interest focussed on the Middle East lately, it is important to remember what an avian rich area it is. Seyed Babak Musavi posted a very interesting, illustrated account of the bird life of this region. Read the full story here
Identify the Birds Below
We suggest you write your bird ID answers down before taking the challenge as there is a time limit for each question and you will not see the photos again.
All the following photos can be seen in the Surfbirds Galleries and are copyright of the photographer. Click Photos to Enlarge. (Hint: You can search photos across all the galleries from our photo search page, simply type in the country and all photos of birds from that country will be displayed.)
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Graham Catley
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Graham Etherington
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Robert Hughes
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Paul Burrows
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Scott Jennex
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Ian Boustead
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Glenn Walbek
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Calamospiza
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Tim Avery
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Keith Hague
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Tomas Lundquist
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Russell Wynn
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Dave Gandy
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Peter Simpson
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John C.Folinsbee
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Glenn Walbek
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John C.Folinsbee
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Pete Morris/Birdquest
possibly first photos of this Madagascan bird in the wild?
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János Oláh Jr.
Amongst the rarest birds of the World...
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Carl Downing
This vireo was discovered in Colombia in the early 90s
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Seyed Babak Musavi
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We suggest you write your bird ID answers down before taking the challenge as there is a time limit for each question and you will not see the photos again.
Are you Ready to Take The Challenge? Click Here to Get Started
(Hint: You can search photos across all the galleries from our photo search page, simply type in the country and all photos of birds from that country will be displayed.)
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